1. Not just for stuffy old men
Villanelles
Not just for stuffy old men

2. History Started as ballads (songs)
Translated “villanelle” means “country song”
Known as a French form of poetry but most villanelles are written in English.

3. The Form Consists of 19 lines
It is a rhyme-and-refrain pattern consisting of 5 tercets and 1 quatrain at the end.
The rhyme throughout the 5 tercets is ABA and the quatrain at the end is ABAA.
There is a refrain of A1 and A2 throughout the poem.
A1 and A2 represent a word that is repeated at the end of certain lines

4. A Closer Look
Refrain 1 (A1) Line 2 (b) Refrain 2 (A2) Line 4 (a) Line 5 (b) Line 7 (a) Line 8 (b) Line 10 (a) Line 11 (b) Line 13 (a) Line 14 (b) Line 16 (a) Line 17 (b)

5. An Example!
The jargon of poetry can be confusing so let’s look at an example from Sylvia Plath

6. Mad Girl’s Love Song by Sylvia Plath
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; I lift my lids and all is born again. (I think I made you up inside my head.) The stars go waltzing out in blue and red, And arbitrary blackness gallops in: I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead. I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane. God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade: Exit seraphim and Satan's men: I fancied you'd return the way you said, But I grow old and I forget your name. I should have loved a thunderbird instead; At least when spring comes they roar back again.

7. Your turn!
Take your copy of Mad Girl’s Love Song and, using the rhyme and refrain pattern, diagram the poem with your partner.
Be ready to discuss and defend your answers.
You have 5 minutes.

8. Test your knowledge Read the poem with your partner
Determine whether the poem is or is not a villanelle
Use what you know about the definition of a villanelle to support your answer
You will have 5 minutes

9. You be the Author! Write your own Villanelle!
I am not concerned with your abilities as a writer, I am only looking for you to follow the guidelines of the Villanelle (rhyme and refrain)