Villanelle for a Dog Uncut (TOLT)
by Susan M Phillips
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Rated "G" by the Author.
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I've been working through Stephen Fry's book The Ode Less Travelled, a kind of how-to book on poetry. It has inspired several poems and I will post some of them here. Each will be marked TOLT and details of the relevant exercise may even be listed at the bottom, as it is here. I'm having fun, so indulge me :)
This is my attempt at a villanelle (worked and reworked here on my den). A villanelle is a rustic Italian poetic form that follows certain strict rules of repetition and structure - six stanzas consisting three tercets and a quatrain with the first and last lines of the first stanza alternately repeated in following stanzas and completing the poem with both lines - - - well, it's easier to see in the poem than it is to explain.
Just in case it isn't blaringly apparent, this is allegorical and is as much about a doting wife's attitude towards her errant husband as it is a dog lover's tale.
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VILLANELLE FOR A DOG UNCUT
When my old dog comes back home to me, his tail a wagging
And his eyes, like molten honey, gaze directly into mine
He knows that I’ll forgive him and there’ll be no nagging.
And though I have no money and the rent is lagging,
He knows his supper will be on the plate each night at nine
When my old dog comes back home to me, his tail a wagging.
And when he’s out I guess that likely he’ll be bragging
How no bitch on heat round here will ever have to pine.
He knows that I’ll forgive him and there’ll be no nagging.
So, though gossips have a field day and my pride is sagging
And the shame may send my ego into terminal decline,
When my old dog comes back home to me, his tail a wagging
It doesn’t seem to matter how my heart’s been dragging,
Just his being here makes everything seem absolutely fine.
He knows that I’ll forgive him and there’ll be no nagging.
But now he’s getting older his libido’s flagging
And his other loves have found some other ways to pass the time
When my old dog comes back home to me, his tail a wagging
He knows that I’ll forgive him and there’ll be no nagging
© Susan M Phillips 2008
(TOLT ex 14 p229)
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| Reviewed by Charlie |
2/6/2008 |
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| This too, is really very good. I know that most villanelle's are in iambic pentameter, but they can be of any foot length-- don't have to be iambic or trochaic. I like your rocking feet here. --Charlie |
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| Reviewed by Regis Auffray |
1/31/2008 |
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Surely this cannot be easy to compose. In my humble estimation, you have done a masterful job, Susan. Thank you. Love and peace to you,
Regis |
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| Reviewed by Connie Faust |
1/30/2008 |
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Susan, I know more about mayonaise than metrics, but I like this poem. Don't know what kind of dog is your old dog, but I see a floppy, frazzle-haired Benjy type loping down the road. It's such a cute story, and I love the form. (What on earth is a Villanelle?)
Connie |
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| Reviewed by Andre Emmanuel Bendavi ben-YEHU |
1/30/2008 |
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A Villanelle is a poetic form, threfore it must obey the rules,
– which are, sound, imagery, rhythm, rhyme and metrical structure. "Villanelle for a Dog Uncut (TOLT)" only lacks metrics.
I have enjoyed the reading of "Villanelle for a Dog Uncut (TOLT)".
In admiration,
Andre Emmanuel Bendavi ben-YEHU |
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