Villanelle

A villanelle requires a specific rhyme scheme
and the repetition of certain lines as refrains.
Here are the rules in a nutshell:

  • The first five stanzas each contain three lines.
  • The sixth (and final) stanza contains four lines.
  • The rhyme scheme is ABA  ABA  ABA  ABA  ABA  ABAA.
  • Line 1 is repeated as a refrain in lines 6, 12, and 18.
  • Line 3 is repeated as a refrain in lines 9, 15, and 19.  

Once you learn the basic rules you can bend them by
slanting the rhyme or altering the words of the refrain slightly.
Confused?  Maybe the following example will help:

      Gunshot Fireworks: A Villanelle

      I hope those were fireworks I just heard outside.
     Gunshots?  Unlikely in this part of town.
     I'll call 911 though, in case someone died.

     My dream state was ended, I woke petrified.
     The heart in my throat is beginning to pound.
     I hope those were fireworks I just heard outside,

     And hopefully 10 o'clock anchormen lied:
     They told me on FOX that a killer's around.
     I'll call 911, just in case someone died.

      A glance at my watch, then a quick change of mind.
     Tomorrow I'm sure to wake up safe and sound.
     Of course those were fireworks I just heard outside.

     With my jacked-up brain, well, it's hard to decide
     Whether I’m making of molehills a mound.
     Why waste 911 calls if nobody died?
    
     Obsessions compel me--need SSRIs.
     A person can't help that he's tightfully wound.
     I hope those were fireworks I just heard outside.
     I'll call 911 though, in case someone died.

                                                  --G. Keilan Rickard