Rondel Supreme: Poetic Forms
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the rondel supreme, which is a French poetic form with refrains.
The rondel supreme is a French poetic form with the following guidelines:
- 14-line poem broken into three stanzas.
- First two stanzas have four lines and final stanza has six lines.
- Rhyme scheme: ABba/abAB/abbaAB (capital letters are refrains).
- No restrictions on syllables or subjects.
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Play with poetic forms!
Poetic forms are fun poetic games, and this digital guide collects more than 100 poetic forms, including more established poetic forms (like sestinas and sonnets) and newer invented forms (like golden shovels and fibs).
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Here’s my attempt at a rondel supreme:
Respects, by Robert Lee Brewer
We asked for flowers,
but we received dirt--
a full bag of earth
to bury hours.
Beneath the glowers
of sadistic mirth,
we asked for flowers,
but we received dirt.
Radio towers
could broadcast our hurt,
though he was a flirt
beneath the bowers--
we asked for flowers,
but we received dirt.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
