Villanelle Poems - Jess

Villanelle Poems

 

An example of a Villanelle poem is ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’ by Dylan Thomas:

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)

Do not go gentle into that good night,                                                                                                                                               Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,                                                                                                                Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night,

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright                                                                                                                               Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,                                                                                                                          And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night,

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight                                                                                                                        Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,                                                                                                                                     Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light

A Villanelle poem is divided into three segments. The first segment is called the introduction. The second is called the development and the third is called the conclusion.

As you can see in this example and any other Villanelle poem, this lyric form of poetry is quite long. It consists of 19 lines with 5 tercets, 1 quatrain and refrains to end the quatrain and the previous tercets (I have highlighted these refrains). Villanelles have strong opening tercets, with the first and third lines providing a two-barreled refrain. They also gradually build in tone and intensity from one stanza to the next. All throughout the poem there are only 2 rhymes on each line, in this example the rhymes are words similar to 'night' and 'day'.

Jess xx