Please write a villanelle, perhaps as one of your Easter poems.
A villanelle is a 19 line poem consisting of five 3-line stanzas (triplets) and a final, 4-line stanza (quatrain). The lines are iambic pentameter. Not only is the rhythm regular and the rhyme scheme tight, but the poem uses line repetition, not only limiting the rhyme scheme thereby but also creating an internal, formal set of references. Despite its tight appearance, a well-turned villanelle "progresses" from beginning to end so that nuances of the central ideas are examined; we might also describe this as "building" upon the ideas of the lines in the first stanza. A well-known example of this progression is Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle."
Please refer to Patterns of Poetry for the precise order of repeated lines and for the rhyme patterns.
There are various ways to begin writing a villanelle. One that I suggest for exercise and practice is this: write three lines of iambic pentameter. Two of the first three lines must rhyme; these will be lines one and three. The other line ends with its own sound; it will be line two. The lines you choose also need to posit interesting ideas; if they are general or vague or bland, you will tire of them quickly. But choose three lines that are interesting as starting points. Let the end of the poem come when you get to it.
You will quickly discover that the initial rhyme words you choose are important. If there are few rhyming alternatives, you will quickly feel locked in and the poem will simply appear rhyme-driven. What I am suggesting is that once you have written these lines, you may want to create a list of rhyming words to help you know what your options ar.
