What to Submit?
1 OLD (2019) or RECENT original poem, on any theme. ONLY Villanelle form is acceptable. Please date your poems, contest name, sponsor on the bottom, and NO NAMES or markings of any kind.
Villanelle
A villanelle is a type of poem that consists of nineteen lines with two refrains and two repeating rhymes. The poem is made up of a quatrain that is preceded by five tercets. The third and first lines of the first tercets are alternately repeated in the final lines of the subsequent stanzas; and in the last verse, the refrain works as the two closing lines of the poem. Using lowercase letters for the refrains and uppercase for the rhymes, the poem can be represented as b1 B c2 / B C b1 / B C b2 / B C b1 / B C b2 / B C B1 b2.
Example
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
Prizes
First Prize, Trophy
Second Prize, Glory
Third Prize, Glory
Fourth through Tenth, Glory
Preparing Your Entry
Submit one copy of your poem online. Format your poem. Please make your entry easy to read — no illustrations, only bold, italics, or standard fonts accepted, also, centering is fine too.
English Language
Poems should be in English. Poems translated from other languages are not eligible unless you wrote both the original poem and the translation.
A Note to Poetry Contestants
You are welcome to enter this contest, whether or not you won a prize in one of my previous contests.