Lecture 2.4.4 – Dylan Thomas and the Villanelle Form
Lecture Overview
Teacher introduces Dylan Thomas the Welsh Poet and his poem 'Do Not Go Gentle Into that Goodnight' The poem is structured in a form called a Villanelle. The Villanelle is a French verse form consisting of 19 lines , 5 three-line stanzas and a final four line stanza Two of the lines are repeated word-for-word throughout the poem In literature three lines of verse are called a tercet and four lines are called a quatrain (in music four musicians make up a quartet from the French word quatre). The French word for three is trois (tercet/trois) Rhyme Scheme is formal: The first and third lines of the first stanza repeat alternately in the following stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA. This means that the final word in the first and third lines in every tercet rhyme together, and the middle lines also rhyme with each other Teacher shows the poem but does not read it in its entirety instead just points out the tercets (3 lines), the quatrain (4 lines) and the rhyme scheme and the repeated line which come together to end the poem. This is a very difficult poem form to write and demanding therefore there are very few examples in literature Link to play Michael Sheen's dramatic reading (2:40) Note: You will need a VPN to access YouTube if you are in China.