A rondel is a verse form originating in French lyrical poetry of the 14th century (closely related to the rondeau, as well as the rondelet).^[1] Specifically, the rondel refers to "a form with two rhymes, three stanzas, and a two-line refrain that repeats either two and a half or three times: ABba abAB abbaA(B)."^[1]

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."^[2] 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.^[3]

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. ^[4]

Later, famed Middle English poet Geoffrey Chaucer would adapt the French Rondel to serve as the basis for The Knight's Tale.^[5] 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.