The villanelle is a
French form of verse, originating from the 15th or 16th century, and enthusiastically adopted by a number of poets writing in
English over the centuries, up to the present day. Still, the villanelle is relatively obscure, and if it were not for
Dylan Thomas’ "
Do not go gentle into that good night", only academics might be able to recognize one.
William Ernest Henley (
1849-
1903)
A dainty thing's the Villanelle,
Sly, musical, a jewel in
rhyme,
It serves its purpose passing well.
A double-clappered silver bell
That must be made to clink in chime,
A dainty thing's the Villanelle;
And if you wish to flute a spell,
Or ask a meeting 'neath the
lime,
It serves its purpose passing well.
You must not ask of it the swell
Of
organs grandiose and sublime -
A dainty thing's the Villanelle;
And, filled with sweetness, as a shell
Is filled with sound, and launched in time,
It serves its purpose passing well.
Still fair to see and good to smell
As in the quaintness of its prime,
A dainty thing's the Villanelle,
It serves its purpose passing well.