Annie FinchVillanelles (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets Series)

Villanelles are sly and pleasing poems that employ a nice circularity, with two lines repeated cleverly throughout the poem. Famous villanelles include Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle" and Elizabeth Bishop's "One Art." This collection dishes up many more; some are classic but most are written by living poets. The villanelles range from the serious to light and are, indeed, astonishing in their variety. Though one could quibble about a couple of the choices, most of the poems are just great. High moments come from Marilyn Hacker, Rhina P. Espaillat, Kate Bernadette Benedict, Taylor Graham, Marilyn Nelson, C. K. Williams, and many more.

Villanelles fascinate me. Their form is almost magical, if not bewitching in its one-line refrains, inserted when you least expect them.This volume is excellent, not as a collection of examples, but as a compilation of lyrical invention that keeps opening up each time you read any one of the poems. I'm very glad Everyman published these poems, for one doesn't find the form unless he happens to stumble upon it in random collections.

Knowing the book is small in size like the other books in the Pocket Poets series, you'd think there are fewer poems inside, but there are a surprising number of poems from a very diverse company of poets. I used this book to teach a course on Villanelles and found it a fantastic and comprehensive resource. Especially valuable is the final section on Villanelle Variations.

A very useful book for exploring the form of the villanelle.

This is a comprehensive collection of an uncommon form of poetry. The editors do an excellent job of compiling some of the best examples of villanelles in this anthology.

A brilliantl little volume of poems! It includes several of the most well-known villanelles, but also many excellent poems that I'd never read before. I highly recommend.

This form is very interesting and this is quite a good representative anthology.It is easy to find a favorite here.

beautiful shape