The Rondelet (or roundelay) is a brief French form of poetry. It consists of one stanza, made up of seven lines. It contains a refrain, a strict rhyme scheme and a distinct meter pattern.
The word is the diminutive of rondel, a similar, longer verse form. This is the basic structure:
Line 1 :: A—four syllables
Line 2 :: b—eight syllables
Line 3 :: A—repeat of line one
Line 4 :: a—eight syllables
Line 5 :: b—eight syllables
Line 6 :: b—eight syllables
Line 7 :: A—repeat of line one
The refrained lines should contain the same words, however substitution or different use of punctuation on the lines has been common.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I Take exception to Wikipeia’s inclusion of “Roundelay” as a synonym.
It is a completely different form to be documented in this blog. Since I took exception, I made a change to the Wikipedia Entry.
Pasted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondelet>
The Rondelet is a French form consisting of a single septet with two rhymes and one refrain: AbAabbA. The capital letters are the refrains, or repeats. The refrain is written in tetra-syllabic or dimeter and the other lines are twice as long – octasyllabic or tetrameter.
Pasted from <http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/rondelet.html>
Note the Shadowpoetry allows line-length variance.
The Rondelet is a brief French form of poetry. It consists of one stanza, made up of seven lines. It contains a refrain, a strict rhyme scheme and a distinct meter pattern.
The word is the diminutive of rondel, a similar, longer verse form. This is the basic structure:
Syllabic 4/8/4/8/8/8/4
Rhymed AbAabbA
Where A is the refrain
The refrained lines should contain the same words, however substitution or different use of punctuation on the lines has been common.
Related forms: Dryden’s Roundelay, Rondelet, Roundelay, Termelay
Example PoemWrite a RondeletA Rondelet.
Four lines tetrameter should be.
A Rondelet.
Dimeter for the other three.
Trochees or iambs; up to thee.
This simple template sets you free.
A Rondelet.
Visual Template
