Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Theocritus; A Villanelle" by Oscar Wilde is a poem that employs the villanelle form, a 19-line poetic form consisting of five tercets (three-line stanzas) followed by a quatrain (four-line stanza). Villanelles have a specific rhyme scheme (ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA ABAA) and two refrains (lines that repeat according to the villanelle structure).

This poem adheres to the villanelle structure perfectly. The two refrains are "O Singer of Persephone!" and "Dost thou remember Sicily?", and these two lines alternate as the final line of each stanza, before appearing together as the final two lines of the quatrain that concludes the poem.

The poem is an invocation to Theocritus, an ancient Greek bucolic poet who is known for his idylls, poems that depict pastoral scenes and the dialogue of shepherds. By invoking Theocritus, Wilde effectively communicates his nostalgia and yearning for the pastoral world that Theocritus depicts in his poetry.

The recurring refrain "Dost thou remember Sicily?" carries a note of longing and invokes the images of Sicily's natural beauty, the place where Theocritus wrote his idylls, and which becomes synonymous with an idyllic, pastoral world. The other recurring line "O Singer of Persephone!" refers to Theocritus's poetry about Persephone, the Greek goddess associated with the change of seasons and the bounties of agriculture, further deepening the pastoral theme.

Throughout the poem, Wilde utilizes various references to Greek mythology and Theocritus's own works, such as "Amaryllis," "Simaetha," "Hecate," "Polypheme," "Daphnis," and "Lacon." These allusions serve to transport the reader into the bucolic world of Theocritus's poetry, and they also suggest Wilde's deep familiarity with classical literature.

Furthermore, Wilde also uses the repetition inherent in the villanelle to underline the sense of yearning for Sicily and the pastoral life it represents. Each repetition deepens the sense of longing and serves to build a rhythm that echoes the cyclical nature of pastoral life and the changing of seasons, a common theme in Theocritus's poetry.

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