A Winter’s Tale

Today I thought I'd try my hand at a villanelle again. It has been a while since I last wrote in this highly structured form.

Strange as it may seem for a poem with such a rigid rhyme scheme, the villanelle did not start off as a fixed form. During the Renaissance, the villanella and villancico (from the Italian villano, or peasant) were Italian and Spanish dance-songs.

French poets who called their poems “villanelle” did not follow any specific schemes, rhymes, or refrains. Rather, the title implied that, like the Italian and Spanish dance-songs, their poems spoke of simple, often pastoral or rustic themes.

This poem, while structured in the form, also follows that tradition in speaking of pastoral and rustic themes of winter.

A Winter’s Tale

Snow embraces branches of tree
The dryad dancing in the grove
North wind brings joy and ecstasy

Ice bound land, the senses flee
Visions of white, a treasure trove
Snow embraces branches of tree

The tall ships rise and fall, at sea
In strong waves, hard they strove
North wind brings joy and ecstasy

Winter wonderland for you and me
The dryad and satyr, dance in grove
Snow embraces branches of tree

Snow storm, joining land and sea
The Fates a tapestry have wove
North wind brings joy and ecstasy

Safe harbour, so secure the key
The ship finds shelter in the cove
Snow embraces branches of tree
North wind brings joy and ecstasy