<p>For those still uncertain, here’s nother excellent villanelle by Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney:</p>
<p>Villanelle for an Anniversary</p>
<p>A spirit moved. John Harvard walked the yard,
The atom lay unsplit, the west unwon,
The books stood open and the gates unbarred.</p>
<p>The maps dreamt on like moondust. Nothing stirred.
The future was a verb in hibernation.
A spirit moved, John Harvard walked the yard.</p>
<p>Before the classic style, before the clapboard,
All through the small hours of an origin,
The books stood open and the gate unbarred.</p>
<p>Night passage of a migratory bird.
Wingflap. Gownflap. Like a homing pigeon
A spirit moved, John Harvard walked the yard.</p>
<p>Was that his soul (look) sped to its reward
By grace or works? A shooting star? An omen?
The books stood open and the gate unbarred.</p>
<p>Begin again where frosts and tests were hard.
Find yourself or founder. Here, imagine
A spirit moves, John Harvard walks the yard,
The books stand open and the gates unbarred.</p>
<pre><code>– Seamus Heaney
</code></pre>