Villanelle

A ream of verse and scarce a villanelle.

I stand in shock at how it could be so:

The form I favour favours me not well.

 

Long have I gone with purpose to excel;

My ardent artistry in fickle flow-

A ream of verse and scarce a villanelle.

 

Much have I wafted in its wondrous spell,

Yet now I see its soul was not aglow-

The form I favour favours me not well.

 

Am I not fit, then, as a nonpareil?

Do not my muses shine whene’er they show?

A ream of verse and scarce a villanelle.

 

Do I instead this poetry repel?

Am I in that regard a heinous foe? 

The form I favour favours me not well.

 

To vilify a friend is to compel

Such villainy, indignity, and woe-

A ream of verse and scarce a villanelle;

The form I favour favours me not well.

-EDP

Reviews

[Aura]

Your villanelle was written beautifully, a poetry from that doesn't take a liking to you. But the thing is you try and try until you have it perfected, then you can say that you have written a villanelle before, even if it was difficult and left you stuck in some places! I loved your refrain or the repeating line " The form I favour favours me not well." Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed this :)

[emipoemi]

I'm so glad you did. My message was really that I love the form so much but find I haven't been able to come up with many ideas that work well in the form, so I was basically poking fun at that, lol. But thanks for reading!

[Aura]

Ohhh that also makes Sense!

[Dietrich von Crowe]

Try and try again as I might, this form forever eludes me. And here you have mocked me twice over by not only bringing up this painful thought, but by mastering the form. Yet I'm grateful for the injury.

It's been years since I've been on this site to reflect on the past, and I saw your comments. Thank you for caring about form and rhythm! It's displayed perfectly in this piece alone. Form, content, alliteration... I love it all.

[emipoemi]

Thank you so much! I may have a mastery over the form, but it is indeed a hard form to write in (the second or third hardest in my opinion), so I don't blame you for having trouble. You just have to find the right theme to suit it. As my poem suggests, I absolutely adore the form - it's sooooo good when done right - but amidst prob two hundred poems, I only have about 4.5 maybe (the .5 because that one is a part of a longer piece). You'll find your theme in time and get to experience the thrill that is writing such a poem. Thanks again for stopping by. Glad you enjoyed it.

[AmandaRios]

Love the repetition of "The form I favour favours me not well." Such a strong line. What a beautiful villanelle. :-)

[emipoemi]

Thank you so much! That line is based on experience. Glad you enjoyed it.