A Dainty Thing's The Villanelle

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

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

      And if you wish to flute a spell,
        Or ask a meeting 'neath the lime,
      It serves its 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 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.