View synonyms for villanelle

villanelle

[ vil-uh-nel ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

, Prosody.

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

villanelle

/ ˌvɪləˈnɛl /

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

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

C16: from French, from Italian villanella

The great villanelle of serial failure, the inevitability of which is perfectly underscored by the form.

The Villanelle is written in five three-lined stanzas, concluding with one of four lines.

The Villanelle has been called "the most ravishing jewel worn by the Muse Erato."

And so it proved; he heard a sweet voice singing an old villanelle with a slow and melancholy refrain.

This he followed by English versions of the rondel, rondeau and villanelle.

Here, as in the villanelle, a change of signification in the repeated lines is thought to add to the charm of the form.

April 18, 2024petrichor

[pet-ri-kawr]

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