While Evan is in the hospital recovering from an injury, he meets Nolan. Nolan is a teenage boy who writes poetry. He’s obsessed with it. It’s at this point that Evan discovers that everyone needs a passion. That having something you’re passionate about gives you the strength to go on. Sometimes it’s the only thing.
Besides the obvious passion of Nolan’s poetry, Evan is impressed that Nolan didn’t just slap words on a page. He put thought and planning into it. He put feeling into it. Nolan loved structure. Villanelles were his favorite. A villanelle is a very structured, nineteen-line poem utilizing only two end rhymes throughout. It consists of five, three-line stanzas (tercets) and ends with a four-line stanza (quatrain). The first and third lines of each tercet repeat one rhyme, while the middle line of each tercet rhymes with the other middle lines. The concluding quatrain repeats both of the previously established rhymes. Sounds complicated, I know, but once you see an example, the structure is easily recognized.
Here’s the villanelle Nolan wrote that changed Evans life.
Let in the Light
Lead me out of here, to another place.
Lift the blanket, let in the light.
I am not immune to sorrows embrace.
Beneath the armor, I wear another face.
Beneath the hurt I am a bird in flight.
Lead me out of here, to another place.
On my knees, I crawl through muted space.
Searching for escape, giving up the fight.
I am not immune to sorrow’s embrace.
Suffocating, I search for air, just a trace.
Lift the blanket, let in the light.
I am not immune to sorrow’s embrace.
It is endless, I lay here in this space,
Waiting for when the moment is right.
Lead me out of here, to another place.
I am not immune to sorrow’s embrace.
If you like this poem, go online and check out my two absolute favorite villanelles:
Don’t go into that good night by Dylan Thomas
and
Mad Girl’s Love Song by Sylvia Plath
I took a class on how to write villanelles. I like WikiHow’s page on how to write a villanelle: http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Villanelle
Try writing one yourself! It’s challenging but fun. I would love to do a future blog posting all your villanelles if you want to email them to me!