A dainty thing's the Villanelle.
Sly, musical, a jewel in rhyme,
It serves [its]1 purpose passing well.

A double-clappered silver bell
That must be made to clink in chime,
A dainty [thing's]2 the Villanelle;

And if you wish to flute a spell,
Or ask a meeting 'neath [the]3 lime,
It serves [its]1 purpose passing well.

You must not ask of it the swell
Of organs grandiose and sublime-
A dainty thing's the Villanelle;

And, filled with sweetness, as a shell
Is filled with sound, and launched in time,
It serves [its]1 purpose passing well.

Still fair to see and good to smell
As in the quaintness of its prime,
A dainty thing's the Villanelle,
It serves its purpose passing well.