Stalemate Rejected

He knew she would capitulate at last;

His opening gambit she could not dismiss.

Their endgame surely would be unsurpassed

His knightly attributes were not outclassed

By rivals. He was absolute on this.

He knew she would capitulate at last.

He’d castle early and with great bombast,

Never to be accused of cowardice.

Their endgame surely would be unsurpassed.

Through an adjournment he would stand, steadfast

And dream once more of that sweet kiss.

He knew she would capitulate at last.

Adjudication bright, was his forecast,

The judgement fair and free from prejudice.

Their endgame surely would be unsurpassed.

There was no reason to be so downcast –

He was three moves away from untold bliss.

He knew she would capitulate at last.

Their endgame surely would be unsurpassed. 

 

Heather Shaw

Dec ‘14

This is a villanelle which is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes, with the first and third line of the first tercet repeated alternately until the last stanza, which includes both repeated lines. The villanelle is an example of a fixed verse form. The word derives from Latin, then Italian, and is related to the initial subject of the form being the pastoral.