The Rapist's Villanelle

The Rapist's Villanelle is a poem that seems nice and light, but it has a dark twisted undertone. The poem is about a man that is so obsessed with this woman that he stalks, rapes, and tosses her aside. 

The woman is very high class. Money is not an issue for this woman, her purse was crocodile skin and her blouse and shoes were designer. "Her slender purse was crocodile, Her blouse was from Bendel's, as were her shoes. She spent her money with such perfect style" (Lines 4-6). The woman may also be well traveled because she had a yellowish green, hand-made, sweater from Scotland. "At her hand-knitted sweater from the Isle of Skye, at apres-skis of bold chartreuse" ( Lines 10-11).

"At how she never once surmised my guile. My heart was hers—I'd nothing else to lose." (Lines 16-17) These lines may be an indication that the speaker actually knows the woman. Perhaps the man has made advances at the woman and asked her out and she turned him down. He then watches her from afar, noting her habits and every move. Then, one night he takes it to far. "Enchanted by her, mile on weary mile I tracked my darling down the avenues. I couldn't help myself. I had to smile" (Line 13-15). The speaker is so consumed by the woman's every move that he follows her home one night and rapes her.
Tom Disch didn't hold anything back when writing this poem. The imagery that he uses forces you to create a picture of the words in your mind. He allowed for imaginative freedom. The fact the the poem is a villanelle, which were originally dance-songs sung by a Renaissance troubadours with a pastoral or rustic theme and no particular form, makes the idea of the poem stronger.