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A Century of Roundels

by Algernon Charles SWINBURNE (1837 - 1909)

Before Sunset

A roundel (not to be confused with the rondel) is a form of verse used in English language poetry devised by Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909). It is a variation of the French rondeau form. It makes use of refrains, repeated according to a certain stylized pattern. A roundel consists of nine lines each having the same number of syllables, plus a refrain after the third line and after the last line. The refrain must be identical with the beginning of the first line: it may be a half-line, and rhymes with the second line. It has three stanzas and its rhyme scheme is as follows: A B A R ; B A B ; A B A R ; where R is the refrain. Swinburne had published a book A Century of Roundels. He dedicated these poems to his friend Christina Rossetti, who then started writing roundels herself, as evidenced by the following examples from her anthology of poetry: Wife to Husband; A Better Resurrection; A Life's Parallels; Today for me; It is finished; From Metastasio. (Summary by wikipedia)

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Listen next episodes of A Century of Roundels:
A Flower-piece by Fantin , A Landscape by Courbet , A Night-piece by Millet , A Singing Lesson , Aperotos Eros , Concord , Dead Love , Discord , Envoi , Eros , Flower-pieces; Love Lies Bleeding & Love in a Mist , In Guernsey , In Sark , Insularum Ocelle' , Marzo Pazzo , Mourning , On an Old Roundel , Sleep , Sorrow , Three Faces; Ventimiglia, Genoa & Venice , To Catullus