Contrast/Villanelles/”Villain-elle” (With Watercolors and Elephants)
I am a great lover of villanelles. I am reposting “Villain-elle” today because it illustrates an important tool in villanelle writing: contrast.
Contrast in poetry, the subject of a thoughtful prompt by Victoria C. Slotto for dVerse Poets Pub , is a useful tool for effects in all poetry, but it is especially useful in the repeating, and potentially static, lines of a villanelle. Contrast in a villanelle can come through changes in meaning, homonyms, enjambment (the breaking up and running over of lines), elephants. (Note that I tried to put the lines of the poem in the drawings but they are incomplete and blurry so I’ve put them below each drawing, and the full poem below that.) (I am also linking this poem to the poets’ rally.)
He twirled his ‘stache when he thought no one could see
and kept away from rope and railroad track,
for a cartoon villain was not what he would be–
what he sought was originality.
Wearing a hat that was not quite white, nor black,
he twirled his ‘stache when he thought no one could see,
until the day he met that Miss Bonnee,
whose single smile made all his knees go slack.
Though a cartoon villain was not what he would be,
she steered him to a classic robbery,
a bank heist with a gun, a car out back,
He twirled his ‘stache when he thought no one could see,
but see they could, if only digitally.
She whispered, as she relieved him of the sack,
that cartoon villain was not what he would be,
“my hero,” and other murmured fiddle-dee,
till his bent head received a good hard whack.
She twirled her stash when she thought no one could see.
A cartoon villain was not what she would be.
Here’s the poem without elephants!
VILLAIN-ELLE
He twirled his ‘stache when he thought no one could see
and kept away from rope and railroad track,
for a cartoon villain was not what he would be–
what he sought was originality.
Wearing a hat that was not quite white, nor black,
he twirled his ‘stache when he thought no one could see,
until the day he met that Miss Bonnee,
whose single smile made all his knees go slack.
Though a cartoon villain was not what he would be,
she steered him to a classic robbery,
a bank heist with a gun, a car out back,
He twirled his ‘stache when he thought no one could see,
but see they could, if only digitally.
She whispered, as she relieved him of the sack,
that cartoon villain was not what he would be,
“my hero,” and other murmured fiddle-dee,
till his bent head received a good hard whack.
She twirled her stash when she thought no one could see.
A cartoon villain was not what she would be.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
P.S. If you like humor, poetry or elephants, don’t forget to check out my books NOSE DIVE, GOING ON SOMEWHERE and 1 MISSISIPPI on Amazon. Thanks much.
P.P.S. = Accidentally dropped “Whack” painting from first posting of this. So sorry! (Kind of tired when posting but had a nap now!)
Explore posts in the same categories: elephants, poetry, Uncategorized, villanelleTags: children's villanelle, illustrated villanelle, Karin Gustafson, manicddaily, poetry with elephants, Villain-elle
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
ManicDDaily 
December 22, 2011 at 4:55 pm
Brilliant – drawings, villanelle, words and all. I’m so glad you posted this.
December 22, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Ha. Thanks so much. K.
December 22, 2011 at 7:09 pm
This was an imaginative piece of work
December 22, 2011 at 8:01 pm
Damn, you’re good, Karin. I enjoyed both versions, as well as the didactic re: the villanelle. I’ve only written one of these…an intimidating form for me. Although I love sestinas. Go figure.
December 22, 2011 at 8:28 pm
Ha, thanks. Villanelles much shorter than sestinas!!!! Also you only have to come up with a few lines after you’ve got the main two. (Lazy person’s form!) K.
December 22, 2011 at 10:03 pm
the drawing were amazing, but the fact that you can write a classic form with the cartoons is even more amazing
December 22, 2011 at 10:20 pm
Thanks very much, Zongrik.
December 22, 2011 at 10:22 pm
Well, this was an unexpected treasure to come upon tonight! The drawings were great, but then the poem…..amazing!
December 22, 2011 at 10:32 pm
Thanks so much, Mary.
December 23, 2011 at 8:43 am
Came back to look again! Love it even more.
December 23, 2011 at 8:51 am
Thanks so much! I felt kind of terrible to realize I’d dropped it, as I like that particular painting. Thanks. Have a lovely holiday. K.
December 23, 2011 at 12:21 am
this is fabulous…love that you included illustrations as well…a delight ful read…and love the new header as well…
October 26, 2012 at 8:47 pm
haha was great to revisit this…i had forgotten about this one….what fun…so creative…i love it k
October 26, 2012 at 9:06 pm
Thanks so much, Brian. It was a lot of fun to make the pics. k.
December 23, 2011 at 12:59 am
this is just awesome karin.. i have never ever read and seen such a creative villanelle before..love the illustrations..
December 23, 2011 at 2:02 am
Thanks to kind commentators. I realize I left one of the paintings out when posting earlier! The “Whack” painting, which is kind of pivotal. Oh dear. It’s that season, I guess, for forgetting stuff, even as remembering! I’ve fixed it now. Thanks.
December 23, 2011 at 4:17 am
Most enjoyable and the illustration glorious.
December 23, 2011 at 11:39 am
What a fun and creative way to illustrate a poem. I have more difficulty, myself, with structured poetry but you make it look easy.
December 23, 2011 at 11:48 am
Fiddle-dee stash-stache
Cheeky fun
A femme fatale and
An elephant gun!
December 23, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Ha! Poor guy. Fun art.
December 23, 2011 at 12:31 pm
A very adroit and whimsical villanelle–I love the drawings and the plays on words, esp in the final stanza–twirling her stash indeed. Poor elephant chump. You are making me want to revisit this form, Karin, you do it so smoothly and have so much to say with it. Hope your holidays are as delightful as this poem.
December 23, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Thanks so much, Joy. Hope your holidays are full of Joy! K.
October 26, 2012 at 10:24 am
Still every bit as much fun as the first time–now I seem to also catch an updated Bonnie and & Clyde reference. (I think this is the one that made me go write the villanelle I re-posted yesterday, too.)
October 26, 2012 at 10:42 am
Yes – Bonnee – I needed the accent on the second syllable to make the meter work. Yours quite a bit more serious! I have a mask one – quite different from yours but serious – about a soldier with a burned face. It’s actually the one of mine that I probably feel proudest of as poetry. https://manicddaily.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/expression-of-emotion-in-poetry-muted-burned-soldier/
December 23, 2011 at 5:33 pm
Oh, this is just too good. It’s not fair that one person should be so good at so much.
December 23, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Ha! That’s very kind (not true! But kind.)
Have a wonderful holiday. K.
December 23, 2011 at 5:51 pm
playful and handsome art. wow.
December 28, 2011 at 11:49 pm
informative, creative, fabulous!
December 29, 2011 at 9:46 am
I love it–with or without the pics! A wonderful and well told story, using a nice form!
http://charleslmashburn.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/another-will-be-born/
December 29, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Fun bit of whimsy. Thanks!
December 29, 2011 at 9:00 pm
this is pretty, amazing, when is the book coming out? 🙂
happy rally!!!
http://lynnaima.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/souls-paradise/
December 30, 2011 at 2:14 pm
This is a new form I have never known about. I have learned quite a bit by this posting. I enjoyed the drawings, too. I thought the whole things was brilliant.
Happy Rally,
Isadora
Isadora
January 4, 2012 at 9:54 am
very, very artful! love it.
the elephantoons were really neat additions, too.
bottom line: an enjoyable read, indeed.
October 26, 2012 at 7:15 am
[…] the most fun one is probably an illustrated one I did as a children’s story called Villain-elle. (With […]
October 26, 2012 at 7:40 am
very cool…remember this one…ha…never trust an elephant who twirls his ´’stache or stash..ha…..love your sense of humor k…and very cool illustrations
October 26, 2012 at 7:42 am
Thanks, Claudia. Yes, you have to look out for mustached elephants. k.
October 26, 2012 at 7:54 am
Love this, it’s absolutely brilliant. I shall be chuckling for the rest of the day – and I’m not normally a chuckler! Thanks a lot for the link.
October 26, 2012 at 7:55 am
Thank you, Dave. I thought it would be up your alley. Your chuckle is much appreciated. k.
October 26, 2012 at 8:59 am
I’m delighted to find there’s more to the turnip entry today…very smart, indeed! and I love your illustrations..
October 26, 2012 at 10:05 am
Thanks. I intended to do something with it – I also have a Pant-oum, but I just haven’t had the time really, and not sure children would actually like. k.
October 26, 2012 at 10:56 am
How cool and fun and beautifully illustrated. Why not publish? Baba is not the last word in elephants!
October 26, 2012 at 9:06 pm
Thanks, Susan. I should do something with it. I worked pretty hard on illustrations at one time, but I’ve been awfully busy. But thanks for your interest. k.
October 26, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Haha and impressive that you managed to tame the form to use it for expressing a narrative, which by its nature it resists. Loved the illustrations and the silliness. Thanks for directing me to it.
September 19, 2013 at 6:11 pm
So glad you led me to this delightful villanelle and the cool illustrations. Much fun. Now I have an additional incentive to answer Bjorn’s challenge to write a murder villanelle. Very well done, Karin.
September 19, 2013 at 10:10 pm
Thanks so much. Good luck with it! k.