A Villonnet is a hybrid of the Villanelle and the Sonnet. It has the Iambic Pentameter of both, but holds the four-stanza/line structure of the sonnet, while utilizing the two-line rhyme nature of the villanelle. The final stanza replaces the sonnet couplet with a typical villanelle tercet.
The Villonnet is another hybrid form created by D. Allen Jenkins. This is a recent invented form which is said to be a cross between a Villanelle andSonnet.
The Villonet is:
- a poem in 15 lines, made up of 3 quatrains followed by a tercet.
- metric, iambic pentameter.
- rhymed, A¹bbA²cddceffeA¹bA² or A¹xxA²bxxbcxxcA¹xA² x being unrhymed.
- NOTE: Jenkins also used A1xxA2axxA1axxA2
- L1 is repeated as L13 and L4 is repeated as L15.
Thanks to Judi Van Gorder for the resource at PMO
Example poem
Rooted in Love (Villonnet)
A spell was cast to keep me from my bride
Our lives could not be taken, we were changed;
Our molecules were vastly rearranged.
And I could break the spell if I but tried.
I metamorphed, becoming half a man
My wizard gave mobility to me,
and said, “You must now find your sweetheart’s tree.
Touch it and you’ll become as you began”
I searched the valleys- climbed up many hill,
I followed rumors sent from other trees;
and pheromones relayed by helpful bees,
and when I found her, she was lovely still.
A spell was cast to keep me from my bride
The one who cast the spell had been deranged
and I could break the spell if I but tried.
© Lawrencealot – Oct. 20, 2013
Visual Template