literature

villanelle tutorial

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Literature Text

the villanelle is a challenging form based on french concepts. it is highly repetitive, using 2 lines as refrains throughout the form, making it hard to progress concepts, let alone a narrative. it is composed of 5 terzains (3 line stanzas) and a concluding quatrain. on the flip side, there are only 2 sets of rhyming words and no real mandatory meter or syllable count, though most modern villanelles use pentameter.

in the following template the first refrain (that is an entire line repeated not just a word or rhyme) is denoted by CAPs (A), the second refrain by BOLD (A) and the general rhyme schemes denoted in lower case ( 'a' for the lines that rhyme with the refrains and 'b' for the secondary scheme).

A
b
A

a
b
A

a
b
A

a
b
A

a
b
A

a
b
A
A
23.12.11

[link] to a very helpful web-page on the form
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