It was a story much too long to tell.
So carefully, he chose the words to say.
To say it using just a villanelle.
He’d met her, but he didn’t know her well.
A married woman, she was known to stray.
It was a story much too long to tell.
His longing for her had begun to swell.
What phrase would bring her heart within his sway?
To say it using just a villanelle.
With eventide he heard the distant knell.
He thought he’d leave it for another day.
It was a story much too long to tell.
But offering the key to her hotel,
Smiling, she turned as if to lead the way!
To say it using just a villanelle.
So deep in love those fallen lovers fell.
Together hand in hand they walked away.
It was a story much too long to tell.
To say it using just a villanelle.
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About Louis William Rose
“I am an advocate for Liberty.
What I do for Liberty I do not do for profit or fame. I seek no office other than the office of parliamentarian, and no reward other than for myself and my fellow men and women to live in a free country.”
Louis William Rose is a lifelong student of parliamentary procedure and political process. He has served as parliamentarian for various organizations. A political philosopher, poet, singer, and writer, his articles have been published on-line and in pro-liberty papers in Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, and Montana.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of North Florida, graduating summa cum laude in 2004, with an additional two years of graduate work in political philosophy.
Mr. Rose is an outspoken supporter of the basic rights of man, especially freedom of speech, association, religion, individual rights to personal defense and property, and of republican, constitutional forms of government.
He is married to the lovely Jamy Sue Rose, an award winning nature photographer and a Florida Master Naturalist and guide. He has two sons, Edward, a hydroponic farmer in the panhandle of Florida, and Alexander, a successful real estate developer.
Interesting post Grace. The villanelle is one of my favroite classical forms. I remember reading my first in Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man and being intrigued. I have to say, though, that I disagree with Strand and Bolan. Rather than the repeated lines being a repudiation of forward motion , I think many fine villanelles *rely* on forward motion to cast new light on repeated lines and bring forth a delicate and understated shades of meaning. For example, One Art (which you mention in the post) has in my mind at least a fairly clear, albeit implied, narrative. The sense of progression through time is a counterpoint to the quiet, steady agony of loss. That agony emerges as a synthesis between the forward motion of the narrative and constant presence of loss in life.