Thanks, Rhina and Pua, for the generous reception you gave my terzanelle. I wrote it flipping back and forth on my computer between my word processor and the Turco poem, which I used as a template for the form. But the experience I drew upon was countless unsuccessful attempts at writing a villanelle. Writing a terzanelle provides many of the same challenges, I think, although it seemed somewhat less constricting because of the rotating repetends.
I'm surprised this form isn't at least as popular as villanelles, since it provides more scope while allowing many of the same incantatory effects to be created. Off the top of my head, the only villanelle I truly admire is Roethke's "I Wake to Sleep," though I recently came upon Rhina's "Song" ("From hair to horse to house to rose") and so I may have to expand my list. Dylan Thomas's famous one has a lot to admire, but I so object to the central idea and philosophy of the poem that I find I cannot ultimately accept the authority of the poet's voice. Give me "Fern Hill" any day. I'd rather "sing in my chains" than "rage."
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