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Teignmouth'

(a villanelle) by Margaret Sheppard

Teignmouth'

A charming town beside a changing sea
Is Teignmouth with its pier and famèd Ness
In the whole wide world this is the place for me

I’ve journeyed five continents to see
The famous sights which do impress;
A charming town beside a changing sea

Despite the lures of Rome and gai Paris
Or cities which stunning styles possess
In the whole wide world this is the place for me

Sample the local breakfast, lunch or tea
The kindness, goodness and largesse!
A charming town beside a changing sea

The view is unsurpassed when standing on the quay
Where fishing boats and cargo ships do rest
In the whole wide world this is the place for me

The Teign with all its natural beauty blessed
The constant ebb and flow within the estuary
A charming town beside a changing sea
In the whole wide world this is the place for me


A villanelle is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes with the first and third line of the first tercet repeated alternately until the last stanza, which includes both repeated lines.

by kind permission of Margaret Sheppard ©2019
photo by Michael Brown©2018

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