The Villanelle…

is a poem with strict rules! They are notoriously tricky to write because of their strict form and double refrain. This highly structured poem has nineteen lines that consist of five tercets (three-line stanzas) followed by one quatrain (four-line stanza). Villanelles also have a specific rhyme scheme of ABA for their tercets, and ABAA for the quatrain.

Two well known examples of the villanelle are Dylan Thomas’s “Do not go gentle into that good night” and Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art.” 

The first villanelle in the form known today was written in 1606 by the French poet Jean Passerat. It’s an old form, which is why I love Charles Baxter’s contemporary take on the villanelle, a persona poem written by his dog. Enjoy!

Dog Kibble: A Villanelle

by Tasha, Charles Baxter’s dog

Life is never meaningless: there is always food.
All day I sit upon the stairs, nose between the bars,
and consider kibble–it’s smell, its taste, its mood.

and I am happy. We walk back to the woods
after lunch (me and the humans) and under leaves there are
so many dark crunchy things to eat that I should

not eat but I eat anyway. They are so good!
Even when they make me sick at home or in the car,
I like them. I like to eat. I brood

about the taste of kibble hours before it’s chewed.
They keep my meals in the kitchen in a plastic jar.
Don’t put me on your couch, please, Dr. Freud,

I’m sweet and simple and I’m good.
When I’m sad or sick, not up to par,
I sleep downstairs curled near the toilet. I’m not crude.

I’ve known shame, and joy, and I have viewed
Delicious sights. I don’t wander. I don’t go far.
Life isn’t meaningless because there’s food.
Consider kibble: its smell, its taste, its mood.

~ Charles Baxter

From Unleashed: Poems by Writers’ Dogs, ©1995 Crown Publishers, Inc.

Charles Baxter is the author of the novels The Feast of Love (nominated for the National Book Award), First Light, Saul and Patsy, Shadow Play, The Soul Thief, and The Sun Collective, and the story collections Believers, Gryphon, Harmony of the World, A Relative Stranger, There’s Something I Want You to Do, and Through the Safety Net. His stories have appeared in several anthologies, including The Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize Anthology, and The O. Henry Prize Story Anthology. He has won the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story. Baxter lives in Minneapolis.