Ronnie McGinn's Poetry Page

Villanelles are a nightmare; there is no other way to say it. The form is originally French and didn't appear in English until the later 1800s.

It is 19 lines long, and in some forms only uses two rhymes, while also repeating lines throughout the poem. The first five stanzas are triplets, and the last stanza is a quatrain. The tricky part is that the 1st and 3rd lines from the first stanza are alternately repeated such that the 1st line becomes the last line in the second stanza, and the 3rd line becomes the last line in the third stanza. The last two lines of the poem are lines 1 and 3 respectively, making a rhymed couplet. Confused?

A villanelle needs no particulary meter or line length, so feel free to experiment with the form. It is terribly obsessive and can bring out the emotions of any neurotic writer. Every time I try, I'm never sure if it's right.

The Empty House

I heard a footstep on the stair
And quickly slipped out of my bed
Searched high and low, no one was there.

Grim thoughts sent shivers through the gloom
And ghostly horrors filled my head
I heard a footstep on the stair.

My eyes went searching every room
Tense heartbeats pounded fear and dread
Searched high and low, no one was there.

The silence echoed like a tomb
"Is someone there" I faintly said,
I heard a footstep on the stair.

And yet the sound by what or whom
Was loud and clear and in my bed,
Searched high and low, no one was there.

The mystery's hanging in the air
And spreads a chill throughout my room
I heard a footstep on the stair,
Searched high and low, no one was there.

© Ronnie McGinn