English Poetry Questions Medium
A villanelle is a highly structured form of poetry consisting of 19 lines divided into five tercets (three-line stanzas) and one quatrain (four-line stanza) at the end. The structure of a villanelle follows a specific pattern of rhyme and repetition. The first and third lines of the opening tercet are repeated alternately as the last line of each subsequent tercet and then together as the last two lines of the concluding quatrain. This repetition creates a circular effect and gives the villanelle its distinctive form. Additionally, the rhyme scheme of a villanelle is ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA, with the capital letters representing the repeated lines. The strict structure of a villanelle challenges the poet to create a cohesive and meaningful poem within these constraints.