rondel

rondel The rondel is a French fixed-form of poetry that was quite popular in the 15th and 16th centuries. It has three stanzas of four, four, and five lines each (eight-syllable lines). Line-pairs one / two and seven / eight are identical and the last line is the same as the first. There is a strict rhyme scheme (ABba abAB abbaA). Some Romantic poets revived the form, but with alterations to some of the rhyme rules.