Villonnet

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 #1
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. 
Rooted #2
© Lawrencealot – Oct. 20, 2013 
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