Entertainment / Literature / Villanelle: A genre of poetry consisting of nineteen lines--five tercets and a concluding quatrain. The form requires that whole lines be repeated in a specific order, and that only two rhyming sounds occur in the course of the poem. A number of English poets, including Oscar Wilde, W. E. Henley, and W. H. Auden have experimented with it. Here is an example of an opening stanza to one poem by W. E. Henley: A dainty thing's the Villanelle, Sly, musical, a jewel in rhyme. It serves its purpose passing well. A double-clappered silver bell, That must be made to clink in chime, A dainty thing's the Villanelle. And if you wish to flute a spell, Or ask a meeting 'neath the lime, It serves its purpose passing well.
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Entertainment / Literature / Scansion: The act of 'scanning' a poem to determine its meter. To perform scansion, the student breaks down each line into individual metrical feet and determines which syllables have heavy stress and which hav MORE