Villanelle of His Lady's Treasures

by Ernest Christopher Dowson

  I took her dainty eyes, as well

  As silken tendrils of her hair:

  And so I made a Villanelle!

    I took her voice, a silver bell,

    As clear as song, as soft as prayer;

    I took her dainty eyes as well.

    It may be, said I, who can tell,

    These things shall be my less despair?

    And so I made a Villanelle!

    I took her whiteness virginal

    And from her cheek two roses rare:

    I took her dainty eyes as well.

    I said: "It may be possible

    Her image from my heart to tear!"

    And so I made a Villanelle.

    I stole her laugh, most musical:

    I wrought it in with artful care;

    I took her dainty eyes as well;

    And so I made a Villanelle.

The poem above is an example of a Villanelle. The Villanelle is a form of poetry that consists of nineteen lines with rhymes throughout. Watch the video below to learn more about the specific structure of a Villanelle.