The Vianelle, at least for me, has always been one of the harder forms of poetry to write. There is not a set meter or syllable count required, but it is the rhyme scheme that I find hard to follow.
The poem has nineteen lines, with five stanzas being three lines and the last stanza being four lines. The first and third line from the first stanza repeat throughout the poem, the first line being the last line of the second and fourth stanzas, and the third line of the first stanza being the last line of the third and fifth stanzas. In the last stanza, which is four lines, the first line of the first stanza is the third line, and the last line of the first stanza is the fourth line of the last stanza. (Yeah, confusing, right?).
There is no set meter or syllable count in the lines of a Vianelle poem, but the poet should probably try to keep them close to the same (eight to ten syllables long).
Below I’ve written a Vianelle, hopefully my explanation will make more sense when it’s read.
~*~
The sun has risen once again
And again the day has begun;
So once more I pick up my pen
*
Should I write about “Now”? or times “Back then?”
Of many topics I can choose but one
The sun has risen once again.
*
On the paper, the words will blend
Writing can be work, and yet fun
So once more I pick up my pen.
*
Sometimes all at once, sometimes now and then
Sometimes, ideas a-plenty, sometimes just one.
The sun has risen once again.
*
If daydreaming my time I spend
No writing will I get done
So once more I pick up my pen.
*
I’ve written since I can’t recall when
I’ll probably write ’til my final setting sun;
The sun has risen once again
So once more I pick up my pen.
© Stacey Uffelman 9-15-15
Often when writing a Vianelle, as with this one, I write the repeating lines first on the paper (it helps to write them on lined paper so you know where they’ll go) and then write the rest of the poem “around” them. 🙂