poetry essay help(two part)

The Villanelle

a 19 line poem: five stanzas with three lines each; and a final stanza with four lines

two rhyme sounds that repeat through the whole poem

two refrains = a repeated line we hear several times

Form

The rhyme scheme is ABA

Line 1 ends on rhyme A

Line 2 ends on rhyme B

And this pattern continues throughout the five stanzas

The 1st line of the 1st stanza serves as the last line of the 2nd and 4th stanzas (= refrain 1)

The 3rd line of the 1st stanza serves as the last line of the 3rd and 5th stanzas (=refrain 2)

In the final stanza, we hear rhyme A, rhyme B, and then both refrains

Mad Girl’s Love Song: Sylvia Plath

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead; (rhyme A (“-ead”), refrain 1)

I lift my lids and all is born again. (rhyme B (“-in”))

(I think I made you up inside my head.) (rhyme A, refrain 2)

The stars go waltzing out in blue and red, (rhyme A)

And arbitrary blackness gallops in: (rhyme B)

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead. (refrain 1)

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed (rhyme A)

And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane. (rhyme B)

(I think I made you up inside my head.) (refrain 2)

God topples from the sky, hell's fires fade: (rhyme A)

Exit seraphim and Satan's men: (rhyme B)

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead. (refrain 1)

I fancied you'd return the way you said, (rhyme A)

But I grow old and I forget your name. (rhyme B)

(I think I made you up inside my head.) (refrain 2)

I should have loved a thunderbird instead; (rhyme A)

At least when spring comes they roar back again. (rhyme B)

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead. (refrain 1)

(I think I made you up inside my head.) (refrain 2)

The Pantoum

Pantoums are five stanzas, with four lines each (they can rhyme; but don’t have to)

Form: The second and fourth line of each verse is repeated as the first and third lines of the next

The final stanza uses lines 1 and 3 from the first stanza as its lines 2 and 4

The fun thing about the Pantoum is that the repetition doesn’t need to be exact! You can rephrase, or rework, the lines when you repeat them. See below for an example:

Descent of the Composer: Airea D. Matthews

When I mention the ravages of now, I mean to say, then. 1 (new)

I mean to say the rough-hewn edges of time and space, 2 (new)

a continuum that folds back on itself in furtive attempts 3 (new)

to witness what was, what is, and what will be. But what 4 (new)

I actually mean is that time and space have rough-hewn edges. 2

Do I know this for sure? No, I’m no astrophysicist. I have yet 5 (new)

to witness what was, what is, and what will be. But what 4

I do know, I know well: bodies defying spatial constraint. 6 (new)

Do I know this for sure? No, I’m no scientist. I have yet 5

to prove that defiant bodies even exist as a theory; I offer 7 (new)

what I know. I know damn well my body craves the past tense, 6

a planet in chronic retrograde, searching for sun’s shadow. 8 (new)

As proof that defiant bodies exist in theory, I even offer 7

what key evidence I have: my life and Mercury’s swift orbits, or 9 (new)

two planets in chronic retrograde, searching for sun’s shadow. 8

Which is to say, two objects willfully disappearing from present view. 10 (new)

Perhaps life is nothing more than swift solar orbits, or dual 9

folds along a continuum that collapse the end and the beginning, 3

which implies people can move in reverse, will their own vanishing; 10

or at least relive the ravages of then—right here, right now. 1

Ballad

Your ballad must be at least five stanzas, and each stanza has four lines

Form: A series of four-line stanzas

Rhyme scheme: lines 2 and 4 of each verse rhyme / lines 1 and 3 are free

Here are the first 5 stanzas of Rime of the Ancient Mariner: Coleridge

It is an ancient mariner

And he stoppeth one of three.

“By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,

Now wherefore stoppest thou me?

The bridegroom’s doors are opened wide,

And I am next of kin;

The guests are met, the feast is set:

Mayst hear the merry din.”

He holds him with his skinny hand,

“there was a ship,” quoth he.

“Hold off! Unhand me, grey-beard loon!”

Eftsoons his hand dropped he.

He holds him with his glittering eye—

The Wedding-Guest stood still,

And listens like a three years' child:

The Mariner hath his will.

The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:

He cannot choose but hear;

And thus spake on that ancient man,

The bright-eyed Mariner.

📷Castaway dogURL https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1167967/The-castaway-dog-swam-SIX-miles-shark-infested-waters-survived-FOUR-months-desert-island.html

📷Men Walk on MoonURL https://www.nytimes.com/section/learning

📷Fyre FestURL https://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/the-fyre-festival-was-a-luxury-nightmare