by Martha Warnes

Created on: July 28, 2007

How can true passion be constrained? Expressing one's deep, fervid emotions (and by utilizing what better literary form than poetry) should be an unbridled exercise, without the restraints of sonneting.

For example, in the seventeenth century, at a time when the sonnet was flourishing, I suspect there would have been far more societal repression and inhibition, at least on the surface. And in respectable circles (where great poets would, of course, hope to be recognized and accepted) it might well have been a no-no to publicly exhibit emotions, whether in writing or in the flesh, in a manner that did not conform to the strict parameters of the day. What went on behind the closed doors of everyday life, especially with the aristocracy, is another thing altogether! All bets were off then - not to mention the constricting corsets and camisoles, periwigs and pantaloons, bustles and boots.

The sonnets can and should be appreciated and enjoyed for what they are, or were when most were written. But four or five centuries later, in this modern era when just about anything goes, the villanelle, with fewer constraints than the sonnet, would lend itself to considerably more freedom to express one's passions poetically. And the acceptable repetition of lines is a good device for adding suitable emphasis. (Besides, if you should run out of ideas before you reach the nineteenth line, you can always just repeat a line - very convenient when writer's block takes over.)

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