Forgotten Ground Regained

Confession

A Found Alliterative Villanelle
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes not iniquity, and in whose spirit, there is no guile.—Psalm 32
Some still night when the stars were shrill 1glib questions multiplied at tongue’s tip. 2I should be sorry for this but when the sun came 3, 4
touching the hills with a hot hand 4 offering flowers, [you promised to answer my prayers] 5some still night. [but the starts were shrill,
not with love but looking at it [leaning askance]. 6In the thick tide of night, [my untied tongue lashed out]. 7I should be sorry for this but when the sun came
I had forsaken all but this poor basement of bone, [because] 8the deep peace of wild places [stumbled past me, past] 9some still night, when the stars were shrill.
I came face to face with the proud priests and their intolerant look 10.The air, a staircase for silence, [was heavy with solace]. 11I should be sorry for this but when the sun came
[magnifying the] memory of a face forever setting [fraught with] 12silence, [while] holding with its gloved hand, the wild hawk of the wind, 13[I remembered.] On some still night, when the stars were shrill,I should’ve been sorry for this... then the Sun came.
In Forgotten Ground Regained, Issue 9, Winter 2026 Psalms and Meditations
Citations to Poems by Dylan Thomas:
(1) “This,” (2) “No,” (3) “The Untamed,” (4) “Walter Llywarch,”
(5) “Together,”
(6) “The Meeting,” (7) “Evans,”
(8) “This,” (9) “The Untamed,”
(10) “Indoors,” (11) “Kneeling,”
(12) “Strangers,” (13) “The Untamed”
Poet’s Notes
In lieu of end rhyme of a traditional villanelle, alliteration is used. This poem is almost a true cento (of the 186 words, 30 were added; however, T.S. Eliot unhesitatingly called some of his poems a cento even though he included many of his own words).
The structure and refrains of a villanelle, however, are kept. The citations of the mostly alliterative lines are footnoted and are from the works of the Welsh poet, R. S. Thomas (repeated citations reflect different portions of that poem were used, but repeated lines of the Villanelle are only cited for the first time of use). A few words have been added in brackets for additional alliterative effects and/or for the sake of clarity and rhythm. Words within a citation may have been changed slightly for pronoun consistency or tense consistency.
The villanelle form was chosen because whenever I hear the word villanelle, I immediately think of another Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas. The poem was also inspired by Psalm 32 in its entirety.
Copyright © John C. Mannone, 2025
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