Lesson 32

1. Describe a villanelle by explicating the stanza pattern and the rhyme scheme of this poem. How many different end rhymes are in the poem? How many times is each sound repeated? Which words are repeated exactly at the ends of lines, in what pattern? How does the last stanza use the rhyming words? Why is this appropriate at the end of the poem?

-         A villanelle is a poem with nineteen lines altogether. There are five stanzas of three lines each, and one last stanza with four lines in it. It can be of any length or have any meter but has a rhyme scheme of aba. Line one is repeated in lines 6, 12, and 18. Line 3 is repeated in lines 9, 15, and 19. In terms of a villanelle, The Story We Know fills it very well. The stanza pattern and rhyme scheme are both identical to that of a villanelle. There are 13 a end rhymes and 6 b end rhymes in the poem. The words that are repeated exactly at the end of lines are “Hello” and “know.” Hello is repeated at the ends of lines 1, 6, 12, and 18. “Know” is repeated at the end of lines 3, 9, 15, and 19. The last stanza uses rhyming words in an abaa form. This is appropriate for the end of the poem as it finishes the poem off very well. The rhyming couplet in the last two lines brings together the two words that have been constantly repeated in the whole poem (Hello and know).

1. Isolating the b rhymes (middle line of each tercet) gives us this list: fine, wine, nine, line, pine, sign. What is the significance of each of these words to the whole poem?

-         In isolating the b rhymes, each word shows a different stage in meeting someone. The first one, “fine,” could be someone’s answer when asked how they are (when first meeting a person). The next word is “wine.” This word shows the next stage in someone’s meeting by going out for a meal and getting some wine. Next, the word is “nine,” which shows that the time they have dinner would be at eight or nine. The word that comes next is “line.” Line is in reference to someone going on in their lives after meeting. The next word, “pine,” shows that as time goes on and snow starts to come, good-byes are starting to come. Then, “sign,” is saying that someone is at a place, maybe a bus station or an airport, where they must leave by following a sign. This is the point where a person would say good-bye. The succession of b rhymes in the poem shows the succession of a person’s relationship from meeting and saying hello and finally saying goodbye.

1. Incremental repetition tends to augment meaning and accumulate significance. What variations in meaning are present in the following groups of repetitions and what is their effect?

-         In each group of recurring repetitions, there are variations that have occurred. The first Hello, in line one, is the Hello said when two people meet. This is evident as the line says, “The way to begin is always the same. Hello.” I think there might be a typo in a part of the book as line 6 says, “The way to begin is simple, sane, Hello,” while the question says, “same, Hello.” The Hello in line 6 is that a Hello at a second meeting at “lunch tomorrow” (4). The hello in line 12 is that same hello after having known someone for a while, when the end is near, but when a person doesn’t want to say good-bye. In line 18, the Hello is describing how that is “the way we all begin and end.” The variations on the word Hello show the passage of time, each being the same word, but having a different meaning as a person goes through life.

-         The next set of words that repeat is “Good-bye.” In line 3, the Good-bye is something said at the end of a first meeting. In line 9, this Good-bye is said at the end of the night after a second meeting. The Good-bye in line 15 is saying that it is “the end of every story we know.” Good-bye is something that is said at the end of every meeting, and it is known very well. The last Good-bye is in line 19 where “Good-bye is the only story.” Because this signifies the end of someone’s meeting, good-bye is the last thing the two people will say to each other.

-         The last repetitions have to do with the word “know.” In lines 1-3, the narrator says, “The way to begin is always the same. Hello, / Hello. Your hand, your name. So glad, just fine, / and Good-bye at the end. That’s every story we know.” In a person’s life, Hello has always been the beginning Good-bye is the end of someone’s meeting. Line 9 starts a sentence with the word “know” in it. Lines 9-11 say, “In the end, this is a story we know / so well we don’t turn the page, or look below / the picture, or follow the words to the next line:” In this statement, the thing that each person “knows” is that when a person says, “Good-bye,” it is the end of the story as they know it. In this case, a person is afraid to go on because they anticipate saying good-bye and know it will be the end. Line 15 says, “Good-bye is the end of every story we know.” Again, this is something each person knows. Each person knows that good-bye is the end of a meeting. Line 15 simply states, “We know, we know.” What was just said previously was, “Hello, Good-bye is the only story” (18-19). “Know” said twice is just because Hello and Good-bye are the things that each person knows as a beginning and an end.