villanelle whimsy
My thoughts emerge pell-mell
I place them in a row
& find a villanelle
Was there a way to tell
what swirled amid the snow
when thoughts emerged pell-mell?
I lade them from the well
admiring where they go
amid the villanelle
The tolling of the bell
had sorrows to bestow
as thoughts emerged pell-mell
The silence cannot quell
the burning & the glow
inside the villanelle
Within your forest fell
a tree I didn't know
when thoughts emerged pell-mell
within my villanelle
d.i.
I place them in a row
& find a villanelle
Was there a way to tell
what swirled amid the snow
when thoughts emerged pell-mell?
I lade them from the well
admiring where they go
amid the villanelle
The tolling of the bell
had sorrows to bestow
as thoughts emerged pell-mell
The silence cannot quell
the burning & the glow
inside the villanelle
Within your forest fell
a tree I didn't know
when thoughts emerged pell-mell
within my villanelle
d.i.
posted by david raphael israel at 9:16 AM
6 Comments:
Sorry i dont get it
Well, one reading of the final stanza might be: "I was unable to guess at the nature of your response as I set down my thoughts." (As I'm not "there," how am I to know what tree falls, what sound it makes, how things feel in inwardness of another?) Admittedly, incomprehension wasn't what I might've aimed / hoped for. Still, that's amid the range of sylvan possibilities.
cheers, d.i.
I've never tried a vilanelle before. You make it look easy!
River,
hope you try!
The form can be lovely in its sort of "folk-dance" quality: a peculiar formalism that can be "idea-generative." (Think of it as dance-steps perhaps?) Overall, I find it more charming than say the sonnet. (There's that potential for a hint of the hypnotic.) The repetition makes it a "meditative" form, no?
These kinds of forms are good trying first simply as an exercise or an experiment. Then one may develop one's own approach & relationship with them.
I'll relax in my (imagined) easychair and look toward yours . . .
btw thanks for stopping by here; I'm a blogo-newbie you'll note.
cheers, d.i.
Hey, this is really good. What other forms do you work with? Nicely done, David! I've tried the sestina before, but I am not Ezra Pound!
Enemy my Friend --
I'm relieved to learn you're not Ezra Pound. Had you been, you'd be quite an old man by now!
What forms do I favor? I've dabbled in many (and invented many others); but forms I resort to most are the villanelle, the ghazal, and the shi [8-line form from classical Chinese]. Also, the rubai [aaba quatrain, a sorta-sibling of the ghazal; the plural is rubaiyat: think Khayyam]. In future postings, perchance I'll present (inter alia) specimens exemplifying all of these.
Oh, I also like the Pantoum. I've only recently dipped a few toes in it (including some group Pantoum composition, in fun).
cheers, d.i.
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