-to monsieur Jean Passerat
        ("Inventor" of the villanelle)

I recommend you undertake despair.
Challenge yourself. Admit you just can't fix
the part of hope that lies in disrepair.

Declare how "fair is foul and foul is fair."
Take this bon mot to heart, and when it sticks,
I recommend you undertake despair.

"Facile, j'espere," you say. "Elementaire!"
To this "espoir" I urge you to affix
the parted "des-" that lies in dis-repair.

In time you'll find you really couldn't care
that Frenchy maledictions come to nix.
I recommend you. Undertake despair:

The undertaker looks so debonair
each night he lies beneath the crucifix
imparting hope that lies in Dis. Repair

takes place below, where Kore must bear
her paradox, where Thanatos plays tricks,
ends what it takes to undertake despair:
the part of hope that lies. In Dis, repair!

(Ac: Tampa Review)