villanelle

American  

[vil-uh-nel] / ˌvɪl əˈnɛl /

noun

Prosody.

1. a short poem of fixed form, written in tercets, usually five in number, followed by a final quatrain, all being based on two rhymes.

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villanelle British  

/ ˌvɪləˈnɛl /

noun

1. a verse form of French origin consisting of 19 lines arranged in five tercets and a quatrain. The first and third lines of the first tercet recur alternately at the end of each subsequent tercet and both together at the end of the quatrain

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Etymology

Origin of villanelle

1580–90; < French < Italian; villanella, -elle

Example Sentences

At the moment, he was attempting a villanelle, a poetic form more complex than even the most complicated dance step.

From Literature

We love a good sonnet, acrostic or villanelle.

From Washington Post

Elizabeth Bishop’s wrenching villanelle, “One Art,” can be seen this way.

From Washington Post

In “Missing Dates,” a haunting villanelle about helpless love and despair, William Empson writes: “Slowly the poison the whole blood stream fills./ The waste remains, the waste remains and kills.”

From Washington Post

Her own verse often drew on classical forms such as the villanelle, sestina, tritina and sonnet, and sometimes incorporated references to ancient mythology and medieval legend.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• ballad
• composition
• epic
• lyric
• poetry
• rhyme
• sonnet
• verse
• writing