Monday, January 28, 2008

Monday Poetry Stretch - Rondel/Roundel

A rondel is a variation of the roundeau. In the book A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms, Paul Janeczko calls it a roundel and defines it this way.
A roundel is a three-stanza poem of 11 lines. The stanzas have four, three, and four lines in them and a rhyme scheme of abab bab abab. Ah, but there's more. Line 4 is repeated as line 11 -- not an easy trick!
The roundel in the book, entitled A Silver Trapeze, was written by Alice Schertle, a woman who once said "Writing poetry is difficult, absorbing, frustrating, satisfying, maddening, intriguing – and I love all of it!" I'm with her there.

Here is a roundel about a roundel.
The Roundel
By Algernon Charles Swinburne

A roundel is wrought as a ring or a starbright sphere,
With craft of delight and with cunning of sound unsought,
That the heart of the hearer may smile if to pleasure his ear
A roundel is wrought.

Its jewel of music is carven of all or of aught--
Love, laughter, or mourning--remembrance of rapture or fear--
That fancy may fashion to hang in the ear of thought.

As a bird's quick song runs round, and the hearts in us hear
Pause answer to pause, and again the same strain caught,
So moves the device whence, round as a pearl or tear,
A roundel is wrought.
Will you join us this week in writing a roundel? Leave me a comment about your poem and I will post the results later this week. Happy writing!

5 comments:

  1. I like this one. I'm working on mine.

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  2. Here is my attempt.

    http://havingwrit.blogspot.com/2008/01/blue-roundel.html

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  3. You can view my attempt at http://dianemdavis.livejournal.com/49585.html.

    I'll have to try this again sometime, and spend more time on it. it's fun to work to a problem. The more complicated the better.
    diane

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  4. I can't believe I finally got this one! Thank you for the challenge - turns out I needed to get this out.

    Stillness

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  5. I've posted mine today for Friday Poetry. Had to sweat a little over it!

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