1. Matt, Zach, Yarden, Morgan
Villanelle
Matt, Zach, Yarden, Morgan

2. History of the Villanelle
Villanella- Italian folk song with a dance created during the Renaissance period
Adopted by the French in the 16th century and became the Villanelle

3. Continued History
The first true Villanelle was the “Villanelle” by Jean Passerat in the 16th century
After the 16th century, the Villanelle lost its popularity and became obscure
Theodore de Banville popularized the form in the 19th century
Many famous poets and writers including Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, Theodore Roethke, Elizabeth Bishop, W.H. Auden, and Dylan Thomas wrote in the villanelle form

4. Structure 19 line poem Five tercets and one quatrain
The first and third lines of the opening tercet are repeated alternately in the last lines of the succeeding stanzas
The refrain then serves as the poem’s final two lines
ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA rhyme scheme

5. Now do you know the villanelle structure? Let’s see!
Reassemble the poem “Villanelle” by Sondra Ball

6. The Villanelle Sondra Ball
Musical and sweet, the villanelle,
like light reflected in a gentle rhyme,
moves to the ringing of a silver bell,
its form creating soft and tender spells.
Like the singing of distant silver chimes,
musical and sweet, the villanelle
flows through the heart, and builds a magic spell
from sunlight and from shadows, and, sublime,
moves to the ringing of a silver bell.
It never arcs into the sharp loud yell
of vast pipe organs. Soft its climb.
Musical and sweet, the villanelle,
like a tiny and translucent shell
catching sunlight in the summer time,
moves to the ringing of a silver bell.
Soft and gentle, tender and so frail,
like light pouring through petals of the lime,
musical and sweet, the villanelle

7. The Villanelle: Thought Questions
What’s the poem literally talking about?
Underline sensory images.
What is a villanelle compared to/personified as?
How does form contribute to the poem’s meaning?
Villanelle structure?
Enjambment?

8. The Waking Theodore Roethke
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I learn by going where I have to go.

9. The Waking: Thought Questions
What’s the poem literally talking about?
Underline nature imagery.
What is/are the mood(s) of the poem?
How does form contribute to the poem’s meaning?
Villanelle structure?
Punctuation?
Capitalization?

10. Homework: Write a villanelle about a phobia
Homework: Write a villanelle about a phobia. Feel free to use that word in your poem!

11. Bibliography