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The Villanelle
The VILLANELLE is a highly specialized form and is difficult to write without seeming trite or repetitive. It is a French Verse form with 19 lines divided into 5 TERCETS and 1 QUATRAIN. Two rhymes or repeated lines predominate. This often gives the poem a circular feeling. Fill in the rhyme scheme next to the following poem:
The Waking
Theodore Roethke
I wake to sleep but keep my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep but keep my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
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Read the poem aloud. How does it sound?
Which lines are repeated? Write the lines below.
Circle the alliteration in each line and write down the words next to the line.
Are the words important to the poem? Why or why not?
Read the poem again, paying more attention to the repetition. What feeling do you get?
What is a paradox? List the paradoxes in the poem.
Look at the first stanza. What do you think it could mean?
If a Villanelle gives you a circular feeling, what could Roethke be analyzing the circle of?
What is the imagery in the 4th stanza. Why is Roethke making comparisons to nature?
What do you think he is trying to say in the final stanza?
Do you think the villanelle is an effective form? Why or why not?
Below, write your interpretation of the poem, making references to literary forms and devices.