The villanelle form, characterized by repeating lines and a fixed rhyme scheme, emphasizes the themes and mood of a poem like Victor James Daley's 'Villanelle'. Its structure can symbolize the persistent nature of memory or sorrow, and in 'House on the Hill', it may highlight the enduring gloom associated with the house's decay.
The form of a villanelle with its repeating pattern of lines contributes significantly to the theme or meaning of a poem. In Victor James Daley's Villanelle, the repetitious structure underscores themes of memory, persistence, or the haunting nature of the past—this can be seen as the first and third lines of the first stanza reoccur throughout the poem. The rigid structure of the villanelle, with its set rhyme scheme (aba aba aba aba aba abaa) and the repeating lines known as the refrain, can enhance the poem’s mood or message by emphasizing key thoughts or feelings.
For instance, the repetition might mirror an obsession, a sense of inescapability, or the cyclical nature of certain experiences. The villanelle’s form, with its balance between repetition and variation—much like the changing yet constant aspects of a house or natural landscape—can also suggest the tension between change and stability, an idea often explored in literature and poetry. In the case of House on the Hill, the fixed form of the villanelle may serve to reinforce the sense of gloom and desolation, suggesting that, just like the repeated lines, the house's state of decay and the emotions it evokes are unchanging and recurrent.