What is a Rondeau?

A Rondeau is a form of lyrical poetry with a number of variants, built around a central refrain.

History

The Rondeau first emerged in France during the 13th Century. Along with the Ballade and Virelai, it is considered one of the three Formes Fixes—or fixed forms—which much of French poetry derives from. Despite widespread usage, the fixed forms would fall out of favour in the 15th Century, though the Rondeau would undergo comparatively few changes. It is believed that the form evolved from a musical device found in songs of the time, in which a soloist would carry the song while a chorus echoed a refrain. After the 15th Century, this poetic form began to lose the refrain when copied out by scribes, and it is unclear how long refrains could be in Rondeaux of the time. What remains of the refrain is now known as ‘rentrement’ or ‘re-entry.’

As part of the bedrock of French poetry, there are a number of variants of the Rondeau, including the Rondeau Simple, which later evolved into the Triolet, and Rondeau Quatrain, which led to the Rondel.

There is no single moment that can be pointed to as the emergence of the English Rondeau. We know Chaucer wrote at least two, one of them appearing in ‘The Parliament of Fowls.’ Sir Thomas Wyatt (who many believe brought the Sonnet into English usage) certainly used the form in the 16th Century, though it is during the 19th and 20th Centuries the form became truly established in English.

Form

The Rondeau is a very difficult beast to pin down, with many variants to the form, and therefore, while I state these rules as facts, there are numerous deviations and contradictions to be found.

In a strictly traditional Rondeau we expect to see either ten, thirteen or fifteen lines, with eight syllables in each line, excluding refrains which may have as few as four.

The refrain is usually stated at the start of the piece, either on its own or—more commonly—as the start of the first line.

Rondeaux tend to only use two rhymes, though the refrain is exempt from a rhyme scheme. It could be considered a third rhyme in itself, though this seems disingenuous. In a typical fifteen line Rondeau, the lines are grouped in three stanzas: a quintet, a quatrain and a sestet (5, 4, and 6 lines). In this the rhyme scheme would be laid out as follows:

A
A
B
B
A

A
A
B
R

A
A
B
B
R

For this example A and B are the two rhymes and R stands for the refrain.

In the Rondel variant, the stanzas instead form two quatrains and then either a quintet of a sestet. The first two lines in this form are the refrain, giving a rhyme scheme as follows:

A
B
b
a

a
b
A
B

a
b
b
a
A
(B)

In this case, capitals stand for refrains and lowercase are individual lines that follow the rhyme scheme. As such, the refrain is not a separate rhyme but part of the conventional rhyme scheme throughout.

Use

As with most forms that rely on a refrain, the Rondeau is a great tool to deal with obsession. This could be love or despair or spiritual devotion, what matters is that the subject is consuming and total. This justifies the constant repetition of a refrain, it becomes an addictive idea. ‘On Flander’s Field’ tackles the horrors of war, itself a consuming subject (one only needs to look at the news), though many are joyous affairs.

The hardest parts of a Rondeau are firstly finding enough end rhymes, and secondly finding a refrain worth repeating. Many a good poem has been ruined when the poet runs out of rhymes. I would therefore suggest that the poet contemplating the Rondeau sticks to simple language. Don’t attempt to use weird words simply for the joy of using those words, instead push your simple language further. Just as every colour can be made with red, yellow, blue, white, and black, so great poetry can be made of the simplest parts.