Difference between revisions of "Rondeau (verse form)"
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| − | The word ''''rondeau'''' - pronounced RON-dow, {{IPA| | + | The word ''''rondeau'''' - pronounced RON-dow, {{IPA|'rɒn dəʊ}} - is used in the discussion both of poetry and of music. The plural of ''''rondeau'''' is ''''rondeaux'''', which may be pronounced either RON-dow, {{IPA|'rɒn dəʊ}} or RON-dowz, {{IPA|'rɒn dəʊz}} - although ''[[OED]]'' records what it calls a ''(rare)'' ''rondeaus''. |
The '''rondeau''' is a [[verse form]] which, like its close relations, the '''[[rondel]]''' and the '''[[roundel]]''', has two distinctive features: the use of a very small number of rhymes and the presence of a [[refrain]]. A '''rondeau''' has fifteen lines, uses only three rhymes, and repeats the first half of the opening line as a [[refrain]] at lines 9 and 15. The lines of a '''rondeau''' are usually [[iambic]] [[tetrameter]]s, i.e., contain four [[iambic]] [[foot|feet]], apart from the [[refrain]]s, which have two [[iambic]] [[foot|feet]]. The rhyme scheme is: AABBA AABC, AABBAC. | The '''rondeau''' is a [[verse form]] which, like its close relations, the '''[[rondel]]''' and the '''[[roundel]]''', has two distinctive features: the use of a very small number of rhymes and the presence of a [[refrain]]. A '''rondeau''' has fifteen lines, uses only three rhymes, and repeats the first half of the opening line as a [[refrain]] at lines 9 and 15. The lines of a '''rondeau''' are usually [[iambic]] [[tetrameter]]s, i.e., contain four [[iambic]] [[foot|feet]], apart from the [[refrain]]s, which have two [[iambic]] [[foot|feet]]. The rhyme scheme is: AABBA AABC, AABBAC. | ||
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| − | Dobson wrote many '''rondeaux''', among them 'You Bid Me Try', 'When | + | Dobson wrote many '''rondeaux''', among them 'You Bid Me Try', 'When Burbage Played' and 'In After Days' - the last of which may be found in ''The Oxford Book of English Verse'' (no. 830). |
| − | As a [[verse form]] the '''rondeau''' originated in the [[Middle Ages]] in France, where, particularly from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, it was often used for poems that were set to music and sometimes accompanied by dancing. A piece of music in this style is also known as a '''rondeau''', and its form is the ancestor of the later '''[[rondo]]'''. | + | As a [[verse form]] the '''rondeau''' originated in the [[Middle Ages]] in France, where, particularly from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, it was often used for poems that were set to music and sometimes accompanied by dancing. A piece of music in this style is also known as a '''rondeau''', and its form is the ancestor of the later '''[[rondo]]''', which came via Italian.. |
| − | See further [[rondo]], [[rondel]], and [[roundel]]. | + | ::See further [[rondo]], [[rondel]], and [[roundel]]. |
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| − | [[Category:Verse forms]][[Category:Prosody]][[Category:Culture]][[Category:European culture]][[Category:Disambig]] | + | [[Category:Verse forms]] |
| + | [[Category:Prosody]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Culture]] | ||
| + | [[Category:European culture]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Disambig]] | ||
| + | [[Category:French words]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Italian words]] | ||
Latest revision as of 11:36, 15 November 2020
The word 'rondeau' - pronounced RON-dow, IPA: /'rɒn dəʊ/ - is used in the discussion both of poetry and of music. The plural of 'rondeau' is 'rondeaux', which may be pronounced either RON-dow, IPA: /'rɒn dəʊ/ or RON-dowz, IPA: /'rɒn dəʊz/ - although OED records what it calls a (rare) rondeaus.
The rondeau is a verse form which, like its close relations, the rondel and the roundel, has two distinctive features: the use of a very small number of rhymes and the presence of a refrain. A rondeau has fifteen lines, uses only three rhymes, and repeats the first half of the opening line as a refrain at lines 9 and 15. The lines of a rondeau are usually iambic tetrameters, i.e., contain four iambic feet, apart from the refrains, which have two iambic feet. The rhyme scheme is: AABBA AABC, AABBAC.
As an example, here is 'On the Hurry of This Time' by Austin Dobson (1840-1921)::
- With slower pen men used to write
- Of old, when "letters" were "polite";
- In Anna's or in George's days
- They could afford to turn a phrase,
- Or trim a straggling theme aright.
- They knew not steam; electric light
- Not yet had dazed their calmer sight;
- They meted out both blame and praise
- With slower pen.
- They meted out both blame and praise
- Too swiftly now the hours take flight!
- What's read at morn is dead at night;
- Scant space have we for Art's delays,
- Whose breathless thought so briefly stays;
- We may not work - ah! would we might! -
- With slower pen.
Dobson wrote many rondeaux, among them 'You Bid Me Try', 'When Burbage Played' and 'In After Days' - the last of which may be found in The Oxford Book of English Verse (no. 830).
As a verse form the rondeau originated in the Middle Ages in France, where, particularly from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, it was often used for poems that were set to music and sometimes accompanied by dancing. A piece of music in this style is also known as a rondeau, and its form is the ancestor of the later rondo, which came via Italian..
