Reaction to Villanelles- Zach

The villanelle, purely due to its general form, automatically provides a tone of power and significance. It is much like how the I-V-vi-IV chord progression weaves through much of pop music, giving emotional weight to songs, regardless of their other aspects. I find that the Thomas, Plath, and Auden poems particularly create an eerie mood. Perhaps it’s their serious themes, as opposed to Wilde’s general lightheartedness. But more convincing is that the repetition on its own brings to mind an insane person repeating thoughts continuously, obsessed with a single idea that prevents him or her from seeing the broader context of his or her life. Wilde’s villanelle, on the other hand, uses repetition to present a beseeching of a god, which also upon further reflection brings me a similar sense of eeriness, due to my association of prayer with helplessness.