Verse Forms - the Rondeau

The Rondeau

Basic features & history of the verse form:

Number of lines	15
Structure / divisions	Quintet / quatrain / sestet
Rhyme scheme	aabba / aabR / aabbaR
Meter	In English, usually iambic tetrameter
Refrain line or lines	Yes — opening words of the first line recur as the refrain (designated as R)
Time / place of origin	Late 13th or early 14th century France
Medieval / Renaissance poets associated with this form	Charles d'Orleans, Clement Marot, Sir Thomas Wyatt
Examples written in English by or before —	14th century (Chaucer)

An example of a rondeau:

For to Love Her for Her Looks Lovely
by Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542)

1 (a) For to love her for her looks lovely

2 (a) My heart was set in thought right firmly,

3 (b) Trusting by truth to have had redress :

4 (b) But she hath made another promise,

5 (a) And hath given me leave full honestly.

6 (a) Yet do I not rejoice it greatly :

7 (a) For on my faith I loved too surely :

8 (b) But reason will that I do cease

9 (R) For to love her.

10 (a) Since that in love the pain's been deadly,

11 (a) Me think it best that readily

12 (b) I do return to my first address ;

13 (b) For at this time too great is the press

14 (a) And perils appear too abundantly

15 (R) For to love her.

A Brief Guide to Some Medieval and Renaissance Verse Forms