Poetic form

What is a Rondeau?

Definition

A rondeau is a 15-line French form rhyming AABBA AABR AABBAR, in which the poem's opening words return twice as a refrain.

The rondeau came out of medieval French song and kept the chorus: fifteen lines in three stanzas (five, four, six), spun from only two rhyme sounds, with the poem's own opening words — the rentrement — returning as a short refrain at the end of the second and third stanzas. The scheme reads AABBA AABR AABBAR, where R is that returning phrase.

The most famous rondeau in English is John McCrae's 'In Flanders Fields' (1915), and it shows exactly what the form can do: each time 'In Flanders fields' returns, it tolls lower. A rondeau's opening words must work three times — as a greeting, a hinge, and a goodbye — which is why choosing them is most of the job.

Structure of a rondeau

15 lines in three stanzas: five lines, then four, then six
Rhyme scheme AABBA AABR AABBAR, where R is the refrain
The refrain (rentrement) repeats the poem's opening words at lines 9 and 15
Only two rhyme sounds carry the whole poem

How to write a rondeau

Choose your opening phrase as if it were a title — it must bear repeating and deepen each time.
Stock up on rhymes before drafting: you'll need roughly eight A-rhymes and five B-rhymes.
Write so the refrain shifts meaning on each return — same words, lower note.
Study 'In Flanders Fields' to hear how the final refrain can close like a door.