Rondel (poem)

Definition

Scholars have observed that the rondel is a relatively fluid construction, not always adhering to strict formal definitions. J.M. Cocking wrote that "the reader who comes across a poem bearing the title rondel by Banville, Rollinat, Dobson or Bridges and is curious enough to look for a definition of this form is likely to be more confused than enlightened." Jeremy Butterfield, writing for Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage, goes so far as to state that "there is no fixed metre" for the rondel.

Origins and evolution

The origins of the rondel, however, are not so mysterious as its definition. The rondel first rose to prominence as a monophonic song in the 13th century and was associated with "round" folk dances.

Later, famed Middle English poet Geoffrey Chaucer would adapt the French Rondel to serve as the basis for The Knight's Tale. In the Chaucerian Rondel, two tercets followed by a quatrain comprise each stanza. Later, English poet and critic Algernon Charles Swinburne would devise the roundel, a form based on the rondeau rather than Chaucer's Rondel.

References

References

1. (2017). "The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics". Princeton University Press.
2. Cocking, J..M.. (1951). "The "Invention of the Rondel". French Studies.
3. (2015). "Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage". Oxford University Press.
4. (2010). "Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages". Oxford University Press.
5. Eberhart, Lawrence. (2014). "Chaucerian Roundel". Poets Collective.