Villanelle

Creative Writing Unit 6 - 3

Poetry, Part 3 and Revision

Getting Familiar with Formal Poetry

6 - 1 Due Date 5/14

6 - 2 Due Date 5/17

6 - 3 Due Date 5/21

6 - 4 Due Date 5/24

6.5.2 CST 6.5.3 TST (Excused) Due Date 5/30

7.1.2 EXAM 7.1.3 Final EXAM Due Date 6/04

​Objectives

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• Explore metrical and rhymed forms, including the heroic couplet, the terza rima, and the sonnet.

• Discover how patterns can add surprise to poetry.

• Observe and explore examples of formal poetry, exploring craft techniques in the writing through guided close reading.

• Reflect on and inquire further into the usefulness, pleasures, and challenges of using poetic forms when writing poetry.

​6.3.1 page 1

​Formal poetry has a long tradition in literature, and many of the world's best-loved poems share the same forms. Each form you're about to learn was originally used hundreds of years ago, but all have proved so popular that poets still use them today. What has given them such lasting power?

The forms we'll look at in this study work with rhyme and other formal elements to create different effects.

​6.3.1 page 2

​The heroic couplet has roots that reach far back into poetry's history. The "heroic" in the form's name comes from its popular use when Greek and Latin epic poems were translated into English (especially during the 18th century), and also from its use in long tales written in verse form, such as Chaucer's 14th-century Middle English classic The Canterbury Tales.

Geoffrey Chaucer used heroic couplets.

The heroic couplet's structure is fairly straightforward: In its English form, each couplet is composed of two lines that rhyme with each other, followed by two more lines that rhyme with each other (another couplet), and so on for as long as the poet (or the epic tale!) requires.

​Traditionally, the lines of a heroic couplet had roughly matching line lengths as well. In English, the heroic couplets used iambic pentameter, meaning they followed a meter pattern of unstressed-stressed syllables, with five stresses (or beats) per line.

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.

—Alexander Pope, British poet (1688 – 1744)

​6.3.1 pages 3-4

​We see some examples from Chaucer and Homer.

Remember that both author's works were translated... and the rhyme and meter must remain.......

Since tightly packed rhymes can often seem stale or cliché, you may need to change your message slightly or create an image that is a little more unusual than you originally intended in order to keep your poem surprising to a reader. These changes may also lead your poem in some creative new directions.

​6.3.1 page 6

​In the 14th century, Dante Alighieri, an Italian poet, invented a rhyme scheme for a long poem he was writing, the Divine Comedy.

The form he created for the Divine Comedy was the terza rima, which uses three-lined stanzas in a weaving rhyme pattern that creates a sense of forward momentum and spaces out the rhymes more than a heroic couplet does.

The rhyme pattern looks like this (with matching letters indicating matching rhymes):

aba, bcb, cdc, ded, efe (and so on . . .)

​As we explore terza rima, notice how different the rhymes feel in this pattern compared to the heroic couplet.

Just adding one space between rhymed lines makes a big difference!

​6.3.1 page 9

​The sonnet, invented in the 13th century, is one of the most famous poetic forms in Western literature. Although it may not be as popular today as it used to be, it's still widely revered and enjoyed.

The sonnet's original form was invented in Italy and became immediately popular among poets and readers alike for its satisfying repeating patterns and concise containment of larger themes.

​There are some variations in the sonnet form, but here is a quick breakdown of its main elements.

The sonnet:

• Always has 14 lines

• Traditionally follows a set rhyme pattern (more on this later)

• Is usually written in iambic pentameter

Italy---Petrarch

England---Edmund Spenser

William Shakespeare

​6.3.1 page 10

​There are two main types of sonnets, named for their distinctive rhyme schemes: the Petrarchan sonnet and the Shakespearean sonnet.

Petrarchan Sonnet

The Petrarchan sonnet (also known as the Italian sonnet) has the followingrhyme scheme, with each letter in the series representing a line and all matching letters indicating matching rhymes.

• Rhyme scheme: abbaabbacdecde or abbacddcefgefg

​Shakespearean Sonnet

In the Shakespearean sonnet (also known as the Elizabethan or English sonnet), the rhyme scheme alternates more and ends with a distinctive couplet.

• Rhyme scheme: ababcdcdefefgg

Most modern American sonnets are Shakespearean, but they vary widely. Some create their own rhyme patterns, and many are not strictly metered. In fact, some contemporary sonnets don't rhyme at all and are recognizable as sonnets only by their 14 lines. Some poets believe that a modern sonnet doesn't even have to be 14 lines, as long as it's close — but that might be pushing things!

​Structure..... From ME

​Italian sonnets are typically structured as 8 lines followed by 6 more = 14

abba abba cdecde

Shakespearean sonnets are typically structured as 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet at the end.

abab cdcd efef gg

In poetry, the volta, or turn, is a rhetorical shift or dramatic change in thought and/or emotion. Turns are seen in all types of written poetry.

​6.3.1 page 14 REVIEW

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• While formal poetry follows a tradition, many modern poets use variations on its forms to keep their poetry fresh and interesting.

• In the English tradition, the heroic couplet is formed by a succession of paired lines that rhyme (aa, bb, cc, and so on) and usually keep to a similar length.

• The sonnet is 14 lines long and has strict, traditional roots in meter and rhyme.

• Terza rima is believed to have been invented by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. By separating the rhymes in a woven interlocking pattern, the form creates a sense of forward momentum and helps the rhymes feel more surprising and interesting when they appear.

​6.3.3 page 1

​Repetition is a technique poets use for several reasons: to emphasize an important image or word, or to create a stylistic effect or a sense of return, similar to the way rhyme works.

It's important to note, however, that repetition can get stale fairly quickly. If a reader sees the same thing written in exactly the same way more than once or twice, he or she may become bored and stop reading.

The repeating forms we're going to talk about incorporate repetition into the structure of a poem and encourage authors to vary the way readers experience the repeated words and phrases.

​6.3.3 pages 2 and 3

​The Labyrinth of Sestina Construction

The sestina, which repeats six line-ending words six times in a spiraling fashion, is one of the most structurally complicated forms of poetry.

The six words that are repeated six times are placed far enough apart that they don't draw attention to themselves.

The form was first invented in the 12th century and has been used with some success by many famous poets since then, including Dante, Petrarch, Ezra Pound, and Elizabeth Bishop.

​There is a sestina pattern explained on page 3. I can't follow this explanation. Maybe you can.

The next slide offers a link to a website that explains it more clearly... in my humble opinion.

There are also sample poems.

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​6.3.3 page 6

​The villanelle is a repeating form of poetry, originally from France.

A villanelle was originally intended to evoke the music played by farmhands.

Whereas a sestina repeats only line-ending words and does not usually rhyme, the villanelle repeats two entire lines throughout and features two rhymes — one that rhymes with the repeated lines and one that rhymes with all other lines — over 19 lines.

The villanelle has no metrical requirements, although traditionally it was written in iambic meter, with three or four beats to a line, and 20th-century villanelles were commonly written in iambic pentameter.

​The rhyme scheme of the whole poem contains the following pattern, where A1 and A2 represent two repeated lines that rhyme with each other, and a represents lines that rhyme but do not repeat the refrain. All other lines rhyme with one another and are marked with b.

A1bA2, abA1, abA2, abA1, abA2, abA1A2

​Ghost Villanelle

BY DAN LECHAY

We never saw the ghost, though he was there—

we knew from the raindrops tapping on the eaves.

We never saw him, and we didn’t care.

Each day, new sunshine tumbled through the air;

evenings, the moonlight rustled in dark leaves.

We never saw the ghost, though: he was there,

if ever, when the wind tousled our hair

and prickled goosebumps up and down thin sleeves;

we never saw him.   And we didn’t care

​to step outside our room at night, or dare

click off the nightlight: call it fear of thieves.

We never saw the ghost, though he was there

in sunlit dustmotes drifting anywhere,

in light-and-shadow, such as the moon weaves.

We never saw him, though, and didn’t care,

until at last we saw him everywhere.

We told nobody.   Everyone believes

we never saw the ghost (if he was there),

we never saw him and we didn’t care.

​6.3.3 page 8

​As you can see, a big part of writing a good villanelle is knowing how to manipulate the repeated lines so they don't seem to be exact repetitions and bore the reader. There are a few ways most writers do this — by changing the context, mainly, and by varying the punctuation within and between lines.

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​6.3.3 page 9

​A form borrowed from Malaysia, the pantoum is another repeating form that many writers find inspiring and beautiful.

Like the villanelle, the pantoum features entirely repeated lines. However, in the pantoum, each line is repeated only once. In each four-line stanza, the second and fourth lines are repeated as the first and third lines of the following stanza.

This process creates a poem in which each stanza shares lines with both the previous stanza and the following stanza. In a very formal pantoum, the second and fourth lines of the final stanza are identical to the first and third lines of the first stanza.

Like the villanelle, it's important to keep in mind how you can vary the repeated lines by changing the context and the punctuation.

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​6.3.3 REVIEW

​

• Keeping repetitions fresh is often a matter of variation. Playing with the punctuation in a line or the atmosphere of the lines around it can change a line drastically.

• The sestina is a complicated long-form poem that uses repeated line-ending words in a spiraling pattern over the course of seven stanzas.

• In a villanelle, two lines are repeated throughout the entire poem, and all lines rhyme with either the repeated lines or with the unrepeated lines.

• The pantoum is like the villanelle in that it uses entire repeated lines, but every line is repeated only once.

​6.3.5 Read

​You are asked to read three poems. They are embedded on the page as hyperlinks:

"Sestina of the Tramp-Royal"

"Another Lullaby for Insomniacs"

"Lissadell"

Remember that there is a Quiz to follow and the Reading Guide can be very helpful for your understanding.

​6.3.7 Discuss

​There are three multi part questions about this lesson. Choose one of the questions and write a thorough response based on one of the three poems.

You may comment on what a classmate posts if you would like. Remember to remain professional and empathetic.

​EXIT SLIP

​Are you kidding? This lesson fries my brain!!!

I wouldn't dream of asking you to answer questions right after we have whizzed through all of this material! You may want to go through it all again, before you try to take the quizzes or do the Discussion.