Paradelle
Encyclopedia
A paradelle is a modern poetic form which was invented by United States Poet Laureate Billy Collins
as a parody of the villanelle
.
Some poets also missed the parody and took the form seriously, writing their own paradelles. Others, knowing of the hoax, nevertheless decided to see what they could do with a form as strict as the paradelle's. Thus, although invented as a hoax, the paradelle has taken on a life of its own. In 2005, Red Hen Press published an anthology of paradelles. When the book was released, a panel on the paradelle was held at the West Chester University Poetry Conference
featuring contributors to the book Annie Finch
, R.S. Gwynn, and David Mason
as well as editor Theresa Welford.
Billy Collins
Billy Collins is an American poet, appointed as Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. He is a Distinguished Professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York and is the Senior Distinguished Fellow of the Winter Park Institute, Florida...
as a parody of the villanelle
Villanelle
A villanelle is a poetic form that entered English-language poetry in the 19th century from the imitation of French models. The word derives from the Italian villanella from Latin villanus . A villanelle has only two rhyme sounds...
.
Derivation
Billy Collins originally said the paradelle was invented in eleventh century France, but he later admitted that he invented it himself to parody strict forms of poetry, particularly the villanelle. His sample paradelle, "Paradelle for Susan" (c1997), was seemingly intentionally terrible, completing the final stanza with the line "Darken the mountain, time and find was my into it was with to to".Form
When Collins first published the paradelle, it was with the footnote "The paradelle is one of the more demanding French fixed forms, first appearing in the langue d'oc love poetry of the eleventh century. It is a poem of four six-line stanzas in which the first and second lines, as well as the third and fourth lines of the first three stanzas, must be identical. The fifth and sixth lines, which traditionally resolve these stanzas, must use all the words from the preceding lines and only those words. Similarly, the final stanza must use every word from all the preceding stanzas and only these words."The Paradelle Now
Not all reviewers of Collins' book recognized that the paradelle was a parody of formal poetry and of amateur poets who adhered to formalism at the expense of sense. Some reviews criticized "Paradelle for Susan" as an amateurish attempt at a difficult form without ever understanding that this was, indeed, the point.Some poets also missed the parody and took the form seriously, writing their own paradelles. Others, knowing of the hoax, nevertheless decided to see what they could do with a form as strict as the paradelle's. Thus, although invented as a hoax, the paradelle has taken on a life of its own. In 2005, Red Hen Press published an anthology of paradelles. When the book was released, a panel on the paradelle was held at the West Chester University Poetry Conference
West Chester University Poetry Conference
West Chester University Poetry Conference is an international poetry conference that has been held annually since 1995 at West Chester University, Pennsylvania, United States. It hosts various panel discussions and poetry craft workshops, which focus primarily on formal poetry, narrative poetry,...
featuring contributors to the book Annie Finch
Annie Finch
Annie Finch is an American poet. She is author of numerous books of poetry as well as poetry translation, poetry anthologies and criticism, opera libretti, and poetic collaborations with visual art, music, theater, and dance. Her writings on poetry address topics including meter and prosody,...
, R.S. Gwynn, and David Mason
David Mason
David Mason was an English orchestral, solo and session trumpet player. He played the flugelhorn for the premiere of Ralph Vaughan Williams's ninth symphony and the piccolo trumpet solo on The Beatles' song "Penny Lane"....
as well as editor Theresa Welford.