Lonely Hearts

"Lonely Hearts"
Wendy Cope
p974

Question 2 Why is the form of the villanelle so appropriate for the subject matter and structure of this poem?

First, according to the Google dictionary, a villanelle is a nineteen-line poem with two rhymes throughout, consisting of five tercets and a quatrain, with the first and third lines of the opening tercet recurring alternately at the end of the other tercets and with both repeated at the close of the concluding quatrain.

The structure of this poem suits its content because it mirrors the origin of the tercets of the poem. The title "Lonely Hearts" refers to the personals section of a newspaper. This section normally includes brief descriptions of an individual and what they are searching for in a companion. Being a villanelle, the poem is able to mimic the short paragraphs posted in this section of the newspaper which adds to the overall effectiveness of the poem by creating a realistic feel, as if the reader is literally reading personal ads.

As far as the content contained within the poem, the villanelle is an excellent medium through which to convey the point of the poem. The separation of the tercets allows each one to function as the voice of each of its individual speajer. Also, the tercets are all unrelated materially, but they are tied together by the refrains "Can someone make my simple wish come true?" and "Do you live in North London? Is it you?" (Cope, 974-975). Through the repetition of these phrases, the poem is able to connect what would otherwise be separate posts; it allows for a better flow of the poem and to emphasize the loneliness of each individual.