A roundel (not to be confused with the
rondel) is a form of verse used in English language
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...
devised by
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as ''Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition ...
(1837–1909). It is the Anglo-Norman form corresponding to the French ''
rondeau''. It makes use of refrains, repeated according to a certain stylized pattern. A roundel consists of nine lines each having the same number of syllables, plus a refrain after the third line and after the last line. The refrain must be identical with the beginning of the first line: it may be a half-line, and rhymes with the second line. It has three stanzas and its rhyme scheme is as follows: A B A R ; B A B ; A B A R ; where R is the
refrain
A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...
.
Swinburne had published a book ''A Century of Roundels''. He dedicated these poems to his friend
Christina Rossetti
Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well known in Brit ...
, who then started writing roundels herself, as evidenced by the following examples from her anthology of poetry: ''Wife to Husband; A Better Resurrection; A Life's Parallels; Today for me; It is finished; From Metastasio.''
[Rossetti, Christina , ''The Complete Poems'', Penguin Books, London ,2001, ]
Examples
Swinburne’s first roundel was called "The roundel":
A roundel is wrought as a ring or a starbright sphere, ''(A)''
With craft of delight and with cunning of sound unsought, ''(B)''
That the heart of the hearer may smile if to pleasure his ear ''(A)''
A roundel is wrought. ''(R)''
Its jewel of music is carven of all or of aught - ''(B)''
Love, laughter, or mourning - remembrance of rapture or fear - ''(A)''
That fancy may fashion to hang in the ear of thought. ''(B)''
As a bird's quick song runs round, and the hearts in us hear ''(A)''
Pause answer to pause, and again the same strain caught, ''(B)''
So moves the device whence, round as a pearl or tear, ''(A)''
A roundel is wrought. ''(R)''
Swinburne’s poem "A baby's death" contains seven roundels. The fourth roundel became the song "
Roundel: The little eyes that never knew Light," set to music by the English composer
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
.
Notes
See also
*
Rondel (poem)
A rondel is a verse form originating in French lyrical poetry of the 14th century. It was later used in the verse of other languages as well, such as English and Romanian. It is a variation of the rondeau consisting of two quatrains followed b ...
*
Rondeau (poetry)
A ''rondeau'' (; plural: ''rondeaux'') is a form of medieval and Renaissance French poetry, as well as the corresponding musical chanson form. Together with the ballade and the virelai it was considered one of the three ''formes fixes'', and one ...
External links
{{wikisource, A Century of Roundels
Poetic forms