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Literature vocabulary · Genres and Forms

Villanelle

Meaning in literature, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In literature, villanelle means: A nineteen-line poem with two repeating lines and two rhyme sounds.

In Turkish: villanelle

How it is used

Use in form analysis; track how the repeating lines change their force as the poem develops.

Example sentences

  1. The villanelle repeats a promise until it begins to sound like a desperate plea.

    Repetition changes the emotional pressure of the same words.

  2. We marked the two rhyme sounds before attempting our own villanelle.

    The exercise identifies a formal constraint before composition.

Common collocations

  • write a villanelle
  • villanelle form
  • rhyme schemeThe pattern of rhymes at the ends of lines in a poem or stanza, shown with letters, for example ABAB, where lines with the same letter rhyme.
  • stanzaA group of lines in a poem, separated from other groups by a space, that works like a paragraph in prose.

More terms: Genres and Forms

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