Best Villanelle Poems   Login  | Join PoetrySoup
Submit a Poem
Get Your Premium Membership
spacer
Pinterest button

Best Villanelle Poems

Below are the all-time best Villanelle poems written by Poets on PoetrySoup. These top poems in list format are the best examples of Villanelle poems written by PoetrySoup members

View ALL Villanelle Poems

Search for Villanelle poems, articles about Villanelle poems, poetry blogs, or anything else Villanelle poem related using the PoetrySoup search engine at the top of the page.

Definition & Discussion of Villanelle Poems
Read Villanelle Poems

See also: Best Famous Poems



123
Details | Villanelle Poem

Darling, you dragged me in too deep

Darling, you dragged me in too deep 
And abandoned me like an anchor in a lonely sea.
You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep. 

I was doomed once suspicion began to creep
As it swam in your words that lacked in honesty. 
Darling, you dragged me in too deep.

Please tell me, did you lose an inch of sleep 
Making empty promises and cheating on me?
You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep.

I should've listened to doubt upon taking a leap,
Love should carry no doubt; certainty is key.
Darling, you dragged me in too deep, 

This torturously lonely sea does weep     
That you could ever reach such a cold degree.
You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep,

But apparently I'm a promise not worth keeping;
If you want to call this love, I'll say it can't be. 
Darling, you dragged me in too deep,
You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep. 

By Anne Currin 


Details | Villanelle Poem

Priorities Viewed by a Dying Man

Death be not proud but humble with strife
Old man flicks ashes, has one last choke
‘Tis nothing to fear, just the nature of life
 
Many passed before him, cut off like a knife
They fester in his memory with this his final smoke
Death be not proud but humble with strife

In youth there were ladies, his courtships were rife 
But never a vow, no promises he spoke
‘Tis nothing to fear, just the nature of life
 
He lived wild and free, never seeking a wife 
Much wealth he acquired, never to be broke 
Death be not proud but humble with strife

He failed to see beyond the edge of gold’s knife
Shared nothing, loved no one, found no comforting cloak 
‘Tis nothing to fear, just the nature of life
 
Tonight he wishes that he should have changed his life
He snuffs his candle, knows he’ll not feel heaven’s stroke
Death be not proud but humble with strife
‘Tis nothing to fear, just the nature of life


by Carolyn Devonshire
Written June 5, 2010


Details | Villanelle Poem

Through the Winter Cold he Rode

By  the  moonlight,  night's  pearly  softness  glowed,
In  their  slumber  deep,  fog  skirted  knolls  shoaled;
Through  the  winter  cold,  clickety  clack  he  rode.

Down  the  twisted  alleys  and  to  highroad,
Flew  out  in  wind  his  fluttering  hair  gold;
By  the  moonlight,  night's  pearly  softness  glowed.

In  the  silence  bare  as  the  mist  bellowed
O'er  the  turrets  enshrouded  in  their  fold;
Through  the  winter  cold,  clickety  clack  he  rode.

His  shadow  tossed  on  the  water  that  flowed,
As  galloped  o'er  the  bridge, ' twixt  moorlands  old;
By  the  moonlight,  night's  pearly  softness  glowed.

Meet  his  bonnie  lassie  her  chin  furrowed
'neath  her  cherry  lips  in  his  hands  to  hold;
Through  the  winter  cold,  clickety  clack  he  rode.

Her  dark  eyes  under  green  eaves  that  mellowed,
Where  blushes  of  their  love  in  whispers  told
By  the  moonlight,  night's  pearly  softness  glowed;
Through  the  winter  cold,  clickety  clack  he  rode.


``
For the Contest : "Villanelle Me"
Sponsored by Catie Lindsay


Details | Villanelle Poem

Lifeless Eyes of Ted Bundy

Lifeless were the eyes of infamous Ted Bundy
No remorse, all emotion had been doused
His gaze pierced my soul as I gave testimony
 
He maintained there’d been too much publicity
Four coeds attacked in a sorority house
Lifeless were the eyes of infamous Ted Bundy
 
This demon had the nerve to make a bogus plea
“Move my trial or there’ll be no justice,” he groused
His gaze pierced my soul as I gave testimony
 
To explain news coverage in Tallahassee
Reporters took the stand, court quiet as a mouse
Lifeless were the eyes of infamous Ted Bundy
 
I took the stand shaking, did not want him to see me
I was sweating so much, wet stains were on my blouse
His gaze pierced my soul as I gave testimony
 
It appeared his conscience was totally guilt-free
What kind of excuse could this death machine espouse
Lifeless were the eyes of infamous Ted Bundy
His gaze pierced my soul as I gave testimony 
 
*Entry for Catie’s “Villanelle Me” Contest
 
Note:  Serial Killer Ted Bundy successfully convinced the court he could not get a fair 
trial in Tallahassee because there had been too much pre-trial publicity surrounding 
his attacks on four Florida State University co-eds in their sorority house.  After 
Tallahassee reporters were required to testify, Bundy’s trial was moved to South 
Florida.  Bundy assaulted and murdered at least 30 young women, and possibly 
many more, in the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, 
and Florida between 1974 and 1978. After more than a decade of denials he 
confessed to 30 homicides, but the true total remains unknown.


Details | Villanelle Poem

Date Night (and the day after)

Opening line from "Highway Five Love Poem" by Ruth L. Schwartz


This is a love poem for all the tomatoes
I squished to make our Date-Night spaghetti.
Our love, like the pasta, was shiny.  So the story goes.

We sit at our table, between us a rose
Red as the marinara I chose.  (He let me).
This is a love poem for all our tomatoes.

We watch the steam, which the mouth quickly blows
Away (like the wind and those petals the day he met me).
Our love, like the pasta, was sticky.  So the story goes.

We sip our red wine.  Chianti, it has a good nose.
(In the morning, do you think he will regret me?)
This is a love poem.  For all our tomatoes

Are gone, just as the wine hides grapes squished by toes
in authentic California vineyards.  (You get me?)
Our love, like the pasta, was steamy.  So the story goes.

We finish our meal with gestures the other knows.
(I wonder if he'll someday forget me.)
This isn't a love poem for all our tomatoes.
Our love, like our pasta, was al dente.  So our story goes.


Details | Villanelle Poem

What Lurks Within

Beware the secrets castles keep,
In empty chambers tucked away,
Within your soul they do not sleep.

There, quietly within they creep
Kept hidden from the light of day.
Beware the secrets castles keep.

Lost down behind where conscience weeps
The secrets know they cannot stay.
Within your soul they do not sleep.

Through many walls it slowly seeps
Till when our peace becomes the prey.
Beware the secrets castles keep.

We're warned that what we sow we reap.
At harvest time we'll have to pay.
Within your soul they do not sleep.

Loud echos from within betray
The secret truths that were delayed.
Beware the secrets castles keep.
Within your soul they do not sleep.


Written 3/23/2013
In more of a 19th century form using tetrameter


Details | Villanelle Poem

A Plastic Life



As smug and arrogance sleep soundly in their linen beds and dream

Of things to fill their lives, to stop the weekday blues

wreaking havoc on their self-esteem


The poor and needy beg and fight for scraps and at night they scream

in lonely damp doorways, filled with their daily dose of booze

As smug and arrogance sleep soundly in their linen beds and dream.


The workers caught in the rat-trap of life commuting to desks to be seen

As the conscientious guardians preventing the bosses’ P’s and Q’s

wreaking havoc on their self-esteem


The shirkers twist the system around their little fingers and cream

Off the best for themselves with a total disregard for those who lose

As smug and arrogance sleep soundly in their linen beds and dream


The lost and the lonely wander aimlessly through life seeking to redeem

A glimmer of hope trying to retain their dignity while others snooze

wreaking havoc on their self-esteem


As the rest flounder and struggle always swimming upstream

Choking and drowning looking for someone to accuse

As smug and arrogance sleep soundly in their linen beds and dream

Wreaking havoc on their self-esteem.


© 23/3/2013


Details | Villanelle Poem

Bewitched

Ageless and amazingly, the nerves sing,
butterflies flutter within the begin
like the bowed tension of a cello’s string.

Let the trailing flow of sweet kisses sting.
Pain so close to passion, adrenaline,
ageless and amazingly, the nerves sing.

Nipping ear and throat so breathtaking,
as we fall and roll on the white bear skin
like the bowed tension of a cello’s string.

Peacock feathers trace the grace amazing,
flames dance high on the walls of the cabin
ageless and amazingly, the nerves sing.

Double backed, we ride through the heat lightning.
in the firelight her eyes are fetchin’
like the bowed tension of a cello’s string.

My wife, my life, my so happy ending,
who but thee could there be so bewitchin’?
Ageless and amazingly, the nerves sing,
like the bowed tension of a cello’s string.


Details | Villanelle Poem

A Loving Son

They always said, “Please bother us no more” when Tommy sang, and Mom would stick her head inside his room. “We need to shut your door!” And once he loudly sobbed because he tore his toy plane, but all his father said was, “I cannot be bothered any more.” Another time he fell and felt so sore, but Mother quickly wiped the spot that bled, said, “Go to sleep. I’m going to shut the door.” He learned to neither ask them questions nor expect attention, for he felt great dread of hearing their “Please bother us no more.” One day a young man thought, “What’s living for? No more tears do I have left to shed. . . I’d better not forget to shut the door.” They heard the shot and ran and saw the gore. Their loving son lay silenced on his bed. The note read, “I will bother you no more. Mom and Dad, I remembered to shut the door.” by Andrea Dietrich non-winner in a recent contest now for PD's "any poem you posted this week.... "


Details | Villanelle Poem

Hot Day

A steady hum vibrating one constant low
Surrounding me in tiny hummingbird beats
The two giant fans warm and hot breezes blow

The fuzzy sound vibrates on pulsed in it’s drones
All vision blurs dimly in dark shadowed heat
A steady hum vibrating one constant low

The yellow window’s shade drawn down indigo
Gaze at it’s outline, with my hands on my feet
The two giant fans warm and hot breezes blow

My round Papasan chair of plush wicker holds
My languid form as I relax there complete
A steady hum vibrating one constant low

Within the dark, my lap cat’s bright green eyes glow
I’m clothed only in my silhouette’s repeat
The two giant fans warm and hot breezes blow

Reflect in beta waves of calm peace I know
On blue walls, my fairy outline shifts and beats
A steady hum vibrating one constant low
The two giant fans warm and hot breezes blow




123