Writing Exercise: A Villanelle

If you need a break from novel writing or want to challenge your poetic skills, dip your plume in ink and try your hand at a rigid form of poetry like a villanelle. The villanelle consists of 19 lines: 5 tercets [3 lines] and 1 quatrain [4 lines]. The 1st line of the 1st tercet has to be the last of the 2nd and 4th. The last line of the 1st tercet has to be the last of the 3rd and 5th. Then, those two repeated lines have to end the quatrain. The rhyming structure is basically like a stack of Oreos, all the chocolate cookies have to rhyme, and all the cream filling has to rhyme. And at the very bottom is an extra chocolate piece. :)

You can use iambic tetrameter, in essence eight beats per line, or iambic pentameter, ten beats per line.

This may sound complicated, but start simple. If you’ve never written a villanelle, read the instructions again or write them down in your own words so you know what to do. Next, brainstorm and create lists of words that rhyme. Once you have some pieces to work with, see if patterns emerge and if anything strikes a chord of inspiration.

Here’s the first and only one I've written:

~ The Chill ~

Though warmth of sun doth not end nights
As haunting voice springs from the tomb
Love's whispers break the chill that bites

My broken wings don't soar in flights
At dawn you come and fill my room
Though warmth of sun doth not end nights

You raise me up to higher heights
Replace my frost with heat in womb
Love's whispers break the chill that bites

Your presence here rids all my frights
The darkness fades along with gloom
Though warmth of sun doth not end nights

Fret not, my love, the call to lights
Find warmth inside, beyond the doom
Love's whispers break the chill that bites

I'll miss your touch, these hints and sights
But peace has now become my groom
Though warmth of sun doth not end nights
Love's whispers break the chill that bites

But, I will stretch myself to write another one. Push yourself in new directions. Creative exercise is fun and awesome, especially when you accomplish a feat you never thought you could. Keep at it.

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.