Forms of Poetry: What's a Rondeau?

Fridays are always great, but they're even better when they're FORM FRIDAYS! And just to throw a little extra alliteration at you on this happy Friday, we're going to be talking about a fantastic form of poetry that hails from France: the Rondeau.

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Buckle up; we're going back in time!

The rondeau was popular in 13th century France, and, like most forms of poetry we love (like the villanelle), the rondeau was originally used in a musical context. Rondeaus were considered an expression of romantic feelings, spirituality, and even melancholy; essentially, they were considered an emotional form.

So, how does one write a rondeau? Let's break it down with a graphic:

so, as you can see, a rondeau is a form of poetry containing 15 lines (although they can also be written in a 10 line form; read more here). Each line is typically octosyllabic, and there are only two rhymes throughout the poem. Like the pantoum, the rondeau utilizes repetition by using a refrain.

Chaucer's "The Parelement of Fowls" is considered one of the most famous examples of a rondeau written in English. John McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" is one of the most famous American examples, written after World War I. Read McCrae's poem and the syllables and rhyme scheme:

Seems easy enough, right? Now that you've been introduced to a new form of poetry, we're turning things over to you. Try writing a rondeau, and tell us about your experience in the comments below!