Earlier this year I came across an excellent television documentary on the life and work of Dylan Thomas, and was reminded of his splendid poem, ‘Do not go gentle into that good night.’ (https://poets.org/poem/do-not-go-gentle-good-night)
The poem is a villanelle, a French verse form consisting of five three-line stanzas and a final quatrain, with the first and third lines of the first stanza repeating alternately in the following stanzas.
I spent some time in looking at further examples of poems that use this organisation, and, as I had never tried this before, set myself the task of trying to write one of my own.
As I cast around for a suitable subject, my attention was somewhat distracted by political events in the United Kingdom, and my own reactions to them. I used these reactions as the basis for my villanelle.
At about the same time, I noticed a call from a print journal for submissions of new poetry, and, having nothing else ready to go, I sent off my political piece.
I heard nothing from the journal for some months, and presumed that the work had been rejected. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to receive a copy of the current edition in the post, with my poem included.
So quickly had events in Parliament galloped onwards that the Prime Minister, whose shenanigans had inspired the original outburst, had been replaced twice-over during the gap between my submission and publication.
Fortunately, my reactions to those in power during the period remained (and remain) pretty much the same. Here is my attempt:
Villanelle for Boris and Friends
.
Hold back the tears, stifle the rising sigh.
Now is a time emotion must be shed.
Anger remains. Let softer feelings die.
.
We saw the crooked smiles; we heard each lie,
And knew that honesty had gone, and truth had fled.
Hold back the tears, stifle the rising sigh.
.
A hapless leader sought to justify
His faults, and promised golden days ahead.
Anger remains. Let softer feelings die.
.
In crowded streets we heard the homeless cry,
In crumbling flats saw children go unfed.
Hold back the tears, stifle the rising sigh
.
And yet they still continued to deny
Dishonesty, and disown all they’ve said.
Anger remains. Let softer feelings die.
.
Until they all admit we were misled,
And call back every falsehood that they spread,
Hold back the tears, stifle the rising sigh.
Anger remains, let softer feelings die.
.
(First published in The Journal, Issue 67, ISSN1466 – 5220, November 2022)
Copyright © Gordon Gibson 2022