Jane's Villanelle

By Faith Thompson

“It was a sweet view—

sweet to the eye and the mind…

seen under a sun bright,

without being oppressive.”

(Jane Austen)

You made an art of freedom in restraint,

O wilderness! O careful cultivation!

Lover, lady, lion, patron saint.

You took your finest brush in hand to paint

Your little corner of the world and nation.

You made an art of freedom in restraint.

Your strokes were sure, nor were your colors faint—

O depth and hue and violent saturation!

Lover, lady, lion, patron saint.

You went about your work without complaint,

Seeing—singing—laughing at privation.

You made an art of freedom in restraint.

O mild and mannered—equal to acquaint

The heart with its own deepest palpitations.

Lover, lady, lion, patron saint.

O placid! O riotous! O unconstrained constraint—

O true falcon, in spite of every fetter and frustration—

You made an art of freedom in restraint.

Lover, lady, lion, patron saint.

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Faith Thompson’s work has been published in many journals, including The Lyric, Mezzo Cammin, The Measure Review, and The Orchard Poetry Journal. She is the 2022 recipient of the Lyric Prize and the Leslie Mellichamp Prize. She received her MFA at Georgia College & State University. Her first poetry collection, Harmony & Counterpoint, is available from Kelsay Books. She teaches at Point Park University and Westmoreland County Community College, and lives with her husband in Blairsville, Pennsylvania. You can find her work at fairingforward.wordpress.com.