Poem by William Ernest Henley

Villanelle

A dainty thing's the Villanelle.
Sly, musical, a jewel in rhyme,
It serves its purpose passing well.

A doublc-clappered silver bell
That must be made to clink in chime,
A dainty thing's the Villanelle;

And if you wish to flute a spell,
Or ask a meeting 'neath the lime,
It serves its purpose passing well.

You must not ask of it the swell
Of organs grandiose and sublime-
A dainty thing's the Villanelle;

And, filled with sweetness, as a shell
Is filled with sound, and launched in time,
It serves its purpose passing well.

Still fair to see and good to smell
As in the quaintness of its prime,
A dainty thing's the Villanelle,
It serves its purpose passing well. 

1. In Hospital. 18. Children: Private Ward
2. Rhymes and Rhythms. 12. Some Starlit Garden Grey with Dew
3. Ballade of the Toyokuni Colour-Print
4. Rhymes and Rhythms. Epilogue
5. Rhymes and Rhythms. 20. The Shadow of Dawn

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