Rondel (poem) explained

A rondel is a verse form originating in French lyrical poetry of the 14th century (closely related to the rondeau, as well as the rondelet).[1] Specifically, the rondel refers to "a form with two rhymes, three stanzas, and a two-line refrain that repeats either two and a half or three times: ABba abAB abbaA(B)."

Definition

Scholars have observed that the rondel is a relatively fluid construction, not always adhering to strict formal definitions. J.M. Cocking wrote that "the reader who comes across a poem bearing the title rondel by Banville, Rollinat, Dobson or Bridges and is curious enough to look for a definition of this form is likely to be more confused than enlightened."[2] Jeremy Butterfield, writing for Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage, goes so far as to state that "there is no fixed metre" for the rondel.[3]

Origins and evolution

The origins of the rondel, however, are not so mysterious as its definition. The rondel first rose to prominence as a monophonic song in the 13th century and was associated with "round" folk dances. [4]

Later, famed Middle English poet Geoffrey Chaucer would adapt the French Rondel to serve as the basis for The Knight's Tale.[5] In the Chaucerian Rondel, two tercets followed by a quatrain comprise each stanza. Later, English poet and critic Algernon Charles Swinburne would devise the roundel, a form based on the rondeau rather than Chaucer's Rondel.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics . Princeton University Press . 2017 . 9780190681173 . Greene . Roland . 4th Online . Princeton, New Jersey. . Rondel.
  2. Cocking . J..M. . 1951 . The "Invention of the Rondel . French Studies . V . 1 . 49–55 . 10.1093/fs/v.1.49 . 0016-1128.
  3. Book: Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage . Oxford University Press . 2015 . Butterfield . Jeremy . 4nd . Oxford, United Kingdom. . Rondel..
  4. Book: Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages . Oxford University Press . 2010 . Bjork . Robert E. . Oxford, United Kingdom . Rondel.
  5. Web site: Eberhart . Lawrence . 2014 . Chaucerian Roundel . Poets Collective.