THE RONDEAU

A form of lyric poem originating from early sixteenth-century France. Its fifteen lines are divided into three stanzas, consisting generally of five, four and six lines respectively, and taking a phrase or word from the first line to use as a refrain to end the second and third stanzas.

The ten-line variation of the rondeau is divided into two stanzas with the opening word of the poem tacked on to the end of each verse as a refrain.


The Deuce, to do his Bad Deed of the Day,
Prepared to lead some innocent astray;
Inspired a so-called friend to challenge me
To write a Rondeau. 'For a bet, said he.
'You're on,' I said, and started straight away.

The thing was - what on earth was it to say,
This fifteen-liner: easy - mere child's play?
And then it turned out unexpectedly
The deuce to do.

Its end is its beginning. That's OK,
Perhaps, for starters. But, to my dismay,
I've plagiarized a line of T.S.E. ,
I give It up. By now, I hope you'll see
It is (1 will repeat it, if I may)
The deuce to do.

=====

In shortish poems like rondeaux
Thoughts are tied up in a bow:
There, loose ends never will be found
Because, to be kept neat and round,
They're clipped, like bonsai, as they grow.

They're not allowed to spread, and so
Ideas cannot take root below
their little piece of potted ground,
In shortish poems.

But they may stay, when others go,
In the mind; like a rainbow
Their structure's airy, yet it's sound:
By changeless laws its shape is bound;
Some poets speak more than they know
In shortish poems.

=====


A Thespian Rondeau

'Edmond is dead, my lord' - that was my line
(In King Lear, Stratford, 1949).
Although I didn't have to learn a lot.
The line is quite important to the plot,
And Larry told me I was 'just divine'.

I was First Messenger; made the part mine.
In tights and jerkin, suavely Saturnine,
I gave my reading everything I'd got:
'Edmond is dead, my lord.'

I'd have preferred a line more sapphirine -
'The multitudinous seas incarnadine'
Rolls on the tongue (that's from the 'nameless Scot').
But still I thank the Lord above for what
He once allowed: a draught of vintage wine,
'Edmond is dead, my lordl'

======


TEN-LINE RONDEAU

Perhaps it will be sweet, this by and by;
Perhaps by then I'll even understand
Why bird in bush was never bird in hand;
Perhaps that far-too-Iong-awaited pie
Will cease from floating aimless in the sky
And land up on my plate, and still taste grand -
Perhaps!

Perhaps those quaint proverbial pigs will fly,
My airy castles stand on solid land-
And I will be a famous poet and ~
This ten-line rondeau catch a reader's eye -
Perhaps! -

***********


THE RONDEAU REDOUBLE


This verse form begins with a quatrain rhymed abab, the four lines of which are repeated in turn as the final lines of the four ensuing stanzas. The final quatrain, also rhymed abab, uses new material, but part of the first line of the first stanza is appended as a final refrain.


When you have done a Rondeau and Rondel
And you are battered by the storms of praise,
Sit down and weave an even stronger spell,
Turning your pen to unaccustomed ways.

On the Rondeau Redouble set your gaze:
A wind of verse that sings like Philomel,
Catches and blows your fancy to ablaze
When you have done a Rondeau and Rondel.

Its notes chime slowly like a passing-bell,
Then dance and pirouette like coryphees,
Till all will swear it is a nonpareil
And you are battered by the storms of praise.

Be firm of purpose, though the world dismays,
And poets take the easy path to Hell
(I fear not many of them nowadays
Sit down and weave an even stronger spell).

Mix your Rondeau Redouble very well,
As strong and saucy as a mayonnaise
Yet delicate and fragrant as Moselle,
Turning your pen to unaccustomed ways.

Rouget de Lisle once made the Marseillaise
And gladdened his revolting clientele;
You too will be bombarded with bouquets,
Though you be modest as the shy gazelle,
When you have done.


*****************


THE RONDEL

The rondel is a lyric poem of thirteen or fourteen lines that has two rhymes, usually rhymed abba abab abbaab, but there are variations to this. In the fourteen-liner the first two lines become the refrain, used three times altogether, sometimes with variations. The thirteen-liner omits one or other of the two lines of the final refrain.


The rondel's a fourteen-line form,
And two of its lines are repeated -
A bit like a chorus that's greeted
With joy as the listeners warm.

Though only two rhymes are the norm
It sounds pretty neat - when completed
The rondel's a fourteen-line form
And two of its lines are repeated.

When needing a verse to perform,
And epic stuff leaves you defeated,
Exhausted, or just overheated,
To ride out the verse-speaking storm,
The rondel's a fourteen-line form,
And two of its lines are repeated.

====


Breathe deeply, and then
Write down a Rondel;
Settle down in your den,
Prepare yourself well,

And lift up your pen.
I know you can't spell,
But do it, pell mell:
Breathe deeply, and then

Try not to rebel;
Though you cluck like a hen
And you're wanting to yell
And you feel about ten,
Breathe deeply, and then
Write down a Rondel.


**************


THE RONDELET

Anybody
Can write an airy rondelet.
Anybody
(past the stage of reading Noddy)
Can cook one up -no sweat -
But never one that has,
as yet, Anybody.

====

Rondolet at 7 a.m.
I can't get up. ..
Not yet. It would be suicide.
I can't get up.
I haven't had my morning cup
Of tea. It's far too dark outside.

And then there's Kate, my lovely bride!
I can't get up.


*************

THE CHAUCERIAN ROUNDEL

This form is derived from the rondel and is rhymed abb aba abba, using two rhymes, with the first line repeated in the second and third stanzas as a refrain.


A scriveyn bent on ribaudye
Might choose a roundel to contain
His comedy, with a refrain,

An ancient form of prosody
As used by Chaucer, in the main,
A scriveyn bent on ribaudye.
Though tales of lust and bastardy
Go on and on, this rhyming chain
Can spread his wit, like seeds of grain -
A scriveyn bent on ribaudye.

=====

Chaucerian Roundel of the Demented Rhymester


Why should I want to find a rhyme for 'orange'?
Others, I know, have tried before and failed;
Through every rhyming dictionary I've trailed.

I sit here, feeding from my little porringe-
R, writing lists of words that rhyme (like 'flailed');
Why should I want to find a rhyme for 'orange'?

Though I'm insured for Act of God, and/or Inj-
Ury, I'm not sure if my mind's entailed .....
I think I'm going mad. ..my brain's derailed!
Why should I want to find a rhyme for 'orange'?


=====


When I walk the Pilgrim's Way,
Ghosts of Knight and Nun and Reeve
Ride beside me, I believe.

Still the lark of Chaucer's day
Carols of an April eve
When I walk the Pilgrim's Way.

Pilgrims on the way to pray -
Are these fantasies I weave?
Call me, if you like, naive
When I walk the Pilgrim's Way.


*************

THE ROUNDEL

The roundel was devised by Swinburne from the rondeau. A lyric poem of eleven lines, rhymed abab bab abab, the first part of the first line is repeated as a refrain to form the fourth and eleventh lines. As an alternative, the refrain can be unrhymed.


Examples:

With luck and a fair wind, you'll find some of these in other files on "the cage unhitched" website.

Have fun,

Neil