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Villanelle

Contest Judged:  1/26/2019 2:29:00 PM
Sponsored by: | Send Soup Mail
See Contest Description


Contest Description

The Brief

OK, here's a challenge... write me a villanelle!

Your villanelle must have a beautiful, uplifting, or fun theme and be written using either iambic pentameter or iambic tetrameter.

You must get the rhythm and the form right and deliver something gorgeous!

Definition

A villanelle is a 19-line poem with only two rhymes and a pattern of refrains.

It consists of five tercets followed by a quatrain, with the following rhyme scheme, where A1 and A2 are repeated "refrain" lines:

 A1 b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 / a b A2 / a b A1 A2

Small variations in the refrain lines are permitted.

Examples

If you're not familiar with the villanelle form, it's best understood by reading a couple of examples.

I have written a villanelle as an example here:

You Dance - Villanelle by Nina Parmenter

and the following link is also very helpful, with lots of examples:

Villanelle definition and examples

Submitting Your Poem

Please take note of the following, which will help me to keep the judging anonymous:

  • Please left align your poem
  • Do not italicise your poem throughout
  • If you wish to name the contest and sponsor at the foot of your poem, please do so like this:

Contest:

Sponsor:

Prizes

It's a premier contest, so the winner gets a shiny virtual trophy. Ten places max.

Questions?

Please soupmail me if you have any questions. Enjoy!


Book: Shattered Sighs