Napowrimo’s Prompt: “Today, we’d like to challenge you to write a poem that is inspired by a piece of music, and that shares its title with that piece of music.”
Because we are focusing on music today, I decided to write a villanelle, a form that dates back to Italy during the 16th century. Villanelles were songs, so it seemed a good fit. The form enjoyed a revival during the 19th century and to brush up on the form, I studied a villanelle by Oscar Wilde, titled “Theocritus” (check it out here). The villanelle consists of 5 tercets & a quatrain with a specific rhyme scheme, sometimes restricting syllables, but apparently not always. If you want to learn more about Oscar Wilde’s poem, you can find a fascinating article by the Guardian on the poem:https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/29/poem-of-the-week-theocritus-villanelle-oscar-wilde
You will notice the repetition of two refrains selected from the first stanza.
La Vie en Rose: A villanelle
“I thought that love was just a word/They sang about in songs” (Edith Piaf)
When I hear La Vie en Rose,
I want to stroll through Paris in the rain.
Do you, like Edith, believe in love?
Nymphs and fawns in fountain spray,
in Champs-Élysées, leaves skitter black with rain,
when I hear La Vie en Rose.
Rose-colored glasses at twenty did betray.
Still, I want to see a love-filled world.
Do you, like Edith, believe in love?
My music box played the song every day.
Love escaped me but not the pain
when I hear La Vie en Rose.
Whether Paris, Rome or the place you stay,
love and desire are in your domain.
Do you, like Edith, believe in love?
Rose petals fall away—
dried, brittle, crumbled once again
when I hear La Vie en Rose.
Do you, like Edith, believe in love?
Jacquelyn Markham (4/17/2024)
Poet Voice 