VILLANELLE
A villanelle is a poem of nineteen lines, and which follows a strict form that consists of five tercets (three-line stanzas) followed by one quatrain (four-line stanza). Villanelles use a specific rhyme scheme of ABA for their tercets, and ABAA for the quatrain.

A Villanelle for Anne
They failed to thieve her fine and noble mien
when Anne Boleyn endured the bloody stand.
Poor Queen! So swift the sword on Tower Green.

1533 could not foresee
this heinous act by Cromwell’s sinful hand,
yet still they failed to thieve her noble mien.

‘Twas Henry, so obsessed with rage to glean
a son and heir for merry England.
Proud Queen. So swift the sword on Tower Green.

How stealthily does fortune warp the scene.
Betrothed in majesty; so bluntly damned,
And yet, they failed to thieve her noble mien.

The ‘hangman from Calais‘ equipped the scheme.
In haste he struck the deadly blow. Poor Anne!
Poor Queen. So swift the sword on Tower Green.

In face of death prevailed a humble queen.
‘God praise the King; long may he rule the land’.
That day, they did not steal her noble mien.
Hail Queen! So swift the sword on Tower Green.