Student Villanelle
Ezra Pound once said that writing poetry was like dancing gracefully while carrying pounds of chains draped over
your shoulders and arms-a striking image that has stayed with me…
It's just like hell to write a villanelle
Like Ezra's art, with bound, contracted lines-
You need to chain your dance to do it well.
Each line must count its segments in a cell.
To fail to do so will result in fines-
To write a villanelle is just like hell.
Repeated, patterned, clear as any bell
Must fall the step & rhythm of your rhymes-
You need to dream of chains to do it well.
Whole lines repeat as well: form is parallel.
The poem as a fork with just two tines.
It's just like hell to write a villanelle,
To try to say well what any one can tell-
And say it like rare gems caught up from mines.
You need to dance with chains to cast that spell.
My clumsy words rise out of deep-sunk well,
Drawn up with pain, but potent too with signs-
To write a villanelle is just like hell.
You need to chain your dance to do it well.
If you would like to read more, I hope you will enjoy