Villanelle

and a poet chooses a form. This aesthetic should complement the artist’s overall theme. In the case of “Woman’s Work” by Julia Alvarez, the chosen form is a villanelle. This form is very restrictive and repetitive, often used to express some sort of obsessiveness. Alvarez slightly modifies the traditional structure of the villanelle repetition and rhyme scheme by using a lot of feminine rhymes and repeating lines in spirit but not necessarily in law. In much the same way, the rigid repetitiveness

desire and death begun when the parrot opened the poem: He orders the Haitians “to be killed/ for a single, beautiful word.” The villanelle is one of the most complex forms in English poetry; therefore, it is ironic that Dove chooses this form for the Haitians’ voices, since the general considers their speech inferior to his Spanish. The dancelike circularity of a villanelle pivots on five tercets that lead to a final quatrain. The first line of the opening tercet is repeated as the final line of the

focuses on living. He passionately and furiously challenges death itself. This poem, which first plainly dispirited me, now evokes in me a sense of motivation and even anger. Dylan Thomas issues this clarion call utilizing deep symbolism and the villanelle style. Dylan Thomas uses symbols to express the theme of resisting our own inevitable mortality, though it may be hard. This theme is summarized in the first stanza: “Do not go gentle into that good night, / Old age should burn and rave at close

to lose his eyesight and was starting to die. 5 years later David Thomas died of pneumonia. The purpose of this poem was to motivate his father to fight death and keep on living. In order to achieve his purpose, he used various strategies such as Villanelle style format, syntax, and diction. One

surroundings when things take a toll. It can be an illusion from reality to protect what one desires to be true feel rather than what is actual. In Wendy Cope’s poem “Reading Scheme,” Cope writes about the child’s viewpoint of an affair by using the villanelle form to illustrate the inability of children to make connections and ultimately argue that innocence is simply an illusion. In order to understand the illusion of innocence in Wendy Cope’s poem we must first familiarize ourselves on the subject

surroundings when problems arise. It is an illusion of reality to protect what the individual desires to be true to what is actual. In Wendy Cope’s poem “Reading Scheme,” Cope writes about an affair more from the perspective of children by using the villanelle form to illustrate the inability of the

pleasurable to read. Winterson has experimented with the art of seduction through her writing style in “Passion”. Villanelle has been characterized as a sexually active woman who is loved by many men however, her heart had been stolen by the Queen of Spade which prevents her from falling in love. For a short time, Winterson has successfully made the readers sympathize with the Villanelle, making her look like the Damsel in distress. Just like waterways of Venice, Winterson has twisted the story, and

different attitude towards death. In the poem “Crossing the Bar”, Alfred Lord Tennyson describes the irrevocable process of dying metaphorically with a peaceful tone; whereas in the poem “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”, Dylan Thomas employs the Villanelle form to encourage his sick father to fight death with an aggressive tone. In “Crossing the Bar”, Tennyson demonstrates death as peaceful and doomful as sailing out to sea, suggesting his accepting attitude towards the end of life and his faith

statements to show this. The two poems share much in common, but they are by no means the same story despite presenting with the same theme of codependent love. The main similarity between the two poems is their style. Both pieces are written as villanelles: nineteen line poems which alternate repeating the first and third line of the poem

ideas surrounding time, the ability to see into the future, and the acquisition of knowledge from the world are discussed. Through the villanelle form, use of time, modal verbs, and rhetorical questions the poet portrays this idea of no one really knowing what the future holds, so we as well just run with it and go with the flow of life. The structure of the villanelle can be used as a representation of Auden trying to make a sense of time and his relationship. The poem has a definite pace that can