How to Write a Villanelle
The villanelle is a 19-line poem built on two refrains and an ABA rhyme scheme. Five tercets followed by a closing quatrain, with the first and third lines recurring throughout as refrains.
Structure
5 tercets (3-line stanzas) + 1 quatrain (4-line stanza) = 19 lines total. Only two rhyme sounds throughout. The first line (A1) and third line (A2) alternate as the final line of each tercet, then appear together to close the quatrain.
Famous Villanelles
- “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas
- “One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop
- “Mad Girl’s Love Song” by Sylvia Plath