Analysis of Villanelle
On the brink of the cusp of the cuff
clutched in our slowly swelling hand
where all is alive and dying
Fungus froths across rotting soil
withering cliffs divide sea from land
on the brink of the cusp of the cuff
Backs bent low under the ache of toil
Relentless wind scatters grains of sand
where all is alive and dying
A bottomless caldera hisses and boils
as molten iron trickles in a silver band
on the brink of the cusp of the cuff
Time castes men into serfs and royals
cowering under the gods’ reprimands
where all is alive and dying
Grains of wind gather around a serpent’s coil
as sons of Adam topple to be the first to stand
on the brink of the cusp of the cuff
where all is alive and dying
Scheme | AbC dbA dbC xbA xxC dbAC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 101101101 101010101 11101010 10101101 100101111 101101101 111100111 01011111 11101010 0100101001 110101000101 101101101 111011010 100100110 11101010 11110010101 1111010110111 101101101 11101010 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 683 |
Words | 136 |
Sentences | 1 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4 |
Lines Amount | 19 |
Letters per line (avg) | 29 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 93 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 23 |
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Submitted on May 01, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 40 sec read
- 12 Views
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"Villanelle" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 16 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/90149/villanelle>.
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