Roundel: Poetic Forms
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the roundel, an English 11-line variant of the roundeau.
Poetic Form Fridays are made to share various poetic forms. This week, we look at the roundel, an English 11-line variant of the roundeau.
Roundel Poems
The roundel (not to be confused with the rondel) is an English variation of the roundeau that was introduced by Algernon Charles Swinburne. Here are basic guidelines:
- 11 lines
- three stanzas (quatrain, tercet, quatrain)
- the opening of the first line becomes a refrain of the fourth and 11th lines and rhymes with lines two, five, seven, and nine
- rhyme pattern: abaB bab abaB
- while there's no set syllable count per line, the lines within the poem are consistent, except for the refrain lines, which are more concise
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Here’s my attempt at a roundel:
Spirits, by Robert Lee Brewer
Again, I roam the old graveyard
as if it were a second home
or I its solitary guard.
Again, I roam
alone and compose this sad tome
as if a cemetery bard
could collect ghosts beneath a dome
and release them, broken and scarred,
like hair that passes through a comb
for this world to take or discard.
Again, I roam.
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.
