The Heart Shall Truly Never Know

A Villanelle

The Heart Shall Truly Never Know

The heart shall truly never know

The pain that lies between the lines;

The mind has chosen not to show.

 

As even whispers duly grow,

On tasty truth as falsehood dines,

The heart shall truly never know.

 

The heart's submerged in darkness' throes;

Between the lines the answer shines.

The mind has chosen not to show.

 

Each painful drop of blood that flows,

Each missing word does undermine.

The heart shall truly never know.

 

With failure's smug triumphant glow

Although it’s tempted to opine,

The mind has chosen not to show.

 

With each recurrent morbid blow,

The mortal life, with death entwines.

The heart shall truly never know;

The mind has chosen not to show.

Author's Note

Villanelle in Iambic tetrameter.

The villanelle is a poem of 19 lines — five triplets and a quatrain, using only two rhymes throughout the whole form. The entire first line is repeated as lines 6, 12 and 18 and the third line is repeated as lines 9, 15 and 19 — so that the lines which frame the first triplet weave through the poem like refrains in a traditional song, and form the end of the concluding stanza. With these repeating lines represented as A1 and A2 (because they rhyme), the entire rhyme scheme is:

A1
b
A2

a
b
A1

a
b
A2

a
b
A1

a
b
A2

a
b
A1
A2
(Taken from http://poetry.about.com/od/poeticforms/g/villanelle.htm)

Reviews

[Tate Morgan]

Excellent

[Ruth]

Goodness love!
Impressive lol
A beautiful poem, each line of your work literally melts into the next you know!
I adore this!
xx

[the_stoic]

i am not exactly passionate about the meter and all . so getting to the write the repetitions seemed a bit forced at times (although i know this has to do with the constraint of the particular form , yet) .. but still in parts its astounding .. like this one

"The heart shall truly never know;
The mind has chosen not to show"

i have interpreted this in my own way yet i feel that it has a deeper meaning that i am still unable to grasp . so kindly enlighten me on this .

keep penning down the words my friend . thanks for sharing

[Vartul]

Good piece.Never cared for meter(If I did, i would've chosen pentameter or trochaic tetrameter) but i really liked your composition.Such Poems are sometimes dark nonsense,and sometimes mystical and allegoric.Thankfully yours isn't of the former type.One thing, I wish the rhymes were more subtle.You must read 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' by Thomas Gray,and wonderful poem that has something to teach us all.

[Aven]

Your each and every word is astounding.

[faryn wolff]

Let's see if I can think of something more constructive to say than 'Gee, this is great!'…

I like the diction more than the meter and rhyme scheme but I don't dislike anything. (Anyway, I generally focus more on diction, which probably isn't as helpful when reviewing poems with set cadence, but oh well.) I particularly like the title/reoccurring line; it speaks of an unsettling, painful truth that resonates importantly within the body of the poem. It is the focal point of the emotion that the poem epitomizes, and aptly worded, at that. You're very good at expressing feelings palpably so that the reader can understand, despite if they've experienced it or not.
Wonderfully written, and I repeat, this is great!

[Sweet_pale_cacophony]

I would agree with audience.As you would know i am too not a fan of controlled meter.In fact my knowledge of techniques pertaining to poetry is poor.I like the content here.The lines repeating here add to the impact.Mind and heart..to satiate both at the same time is a rare feat.To reach there would be to reach harmony and integrity in your life which again is very hard :)

[~~~~~]

Okay so I think you are showing off a bit here :) I personally like the Villanelle form and when written correctly it sounds akin to lyrics. I guess because of its repetition. I read this aloud and the lines seem to flow fluidly, nothing forced but then again I am not a fan of controlled meter. I'll leave that for the more attuned eye. I guess I'm a rebel. However, may I suggest you remove the comma in "The mortal life, with death entwines." I don't think it necessary. The piece itself is gorgeous. I feel that one must attempt to deceive the heart from the truest pains of life in order to protect it in a sense. The heart succumbs to the heaviest burden if our thoughts allow it. Keeping ourselves in denial to escape the pain. There are many wonderful lines here but this one hit the soul for some reason: "On tasty truth as falsehood dines,"

[Dinesh Sairam]

To be honest, the one thing I truly enjoyed were the refrains. I'm not sure why, but meter has hindered the flow in several places here. And also, the last stanza is supposed to wrap up the entire show (That's why it contains two refrains); But I didn't get the 'wrap-up' feel in the last stanza. To be short, you disappointed me mate. But, the usage of words is perfect as in all your poems. So, I'd like to suggest removing meter for consistent flow. That's what I'd say.. Sorry if I wasn't right.. :)

Keep writing.

[Tina Kline]

I enjoyed this, like how it flows so nicely. It seems its talking about secrets, what the mind doesn't reveal the heart won't be troubled by it. Anyway, that's what your poem spoke to me. I really do like this.