Rondeau

The Guile of A Beleaguered Heart

Her broken heart
conceals its wounds in her coy smiles—
her broken heart
bears up against grief—not one part
of her inner terror defiles
her angelic mask , her high style—
her broken heart.


Her tears are dried—
now that time has had its wild ways
her tears are dried—
in her boudoir she cried and cried…
locked in…isolated for days,
she wept like a lone cast away—
her tears are dried.


Her hardened heart,
locked tighter than a dead man’s chest—
her hardened heart
chained and shackled with martial art,
wracked with fright, an unwelcome guest—
twisted with hurt, she was depressed…
her hardened heart.


Now her calm smile
masks the terrors of abandonment—
now her calm smile
and her beacon bright eyes begile
past harsh and accusing torment…
a new façade…controlled content…
now her calm smile…


Rondelet 01-14-2012
A,b,A,a,b,b,A
4, 8, 4, 8, 8, 8, 4


The Rondelet is a 7 line Syllable counted genre: 4, 8, 4, 8, 8, 8, 4 - the third and seventh lines are a repeat of the first line. The word is the diminutive of rondel, a similar, longer verse form. The rhyme scheme is A,b,A,a,b,b,A. The refrained lines should contain the same words, however, substitution or different use of punctuation on the lines has been common.

Etymology: The term roundelay originates from 1570, from Modern French rondelet, a diminutive of rondel meaning "short poem with a refrain," literally "small circle". From Old French rondel, a diminutive of rond meaning "circle, sphere," originally an adjective from roont. The spelling developed by association with lay (noun) "poem to be sung" (Wikipedia).

Bibliography: Michel Barrucaud, François Besson, Eric Doumerc, Raphaelle Gosta de Beaurregard, Aurélie Guilain, Wendy Harding, Isabelle Keller-Privat, Catherine Lamone, Lesley Lawton et Sylvie Maurel, An introduction to poetry in English, Presses Universtitaires du Mirail, Toulouse (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=roundelay).

...As Time Goes By...

Our bodies grow old and our hair turns gray;
quickness in our steps is slowed and labored,
but our hearts are filled with joy each new day.
Are we now different? How have we been changed?

Each fine morning I say you have not aged;
we read news and drink tea at the café
I speak of this and that like a graybeard—
our bodies grown old and our hair turned gray.

Once we thought we were made of sterner clay—
rock hard stuff mined from a far mountain range,
then fired in a red hot forge every day—
now, our quickened steps are slowed and labored.

You, my brown beauty shaking your tabor,
singing love songs—such a tasty soufflé—
loving naively in a green arbor—
then our hearts were filled with joy each new day.

This morning, dinning in the cabaret,
you tell me life makes you feel stale and caged—
smoke surrounds you—I call you Lady Day…
Why are we different? Tell me how we changed?

You say, life is a sharp, deadly saber—
I say, time is like everyman’s valet…
a caring mover, a waiting neighbor
bearing an ancient, delicate bouquet
of bodies grown old…

The rondeau redoublé is a complex form written on two rhymes, but in five stanzas of four lines each and one of five lines. Each of the first four lines (stanza 1) get individually repeated in turn once by becoming successively the respective fourth lines of stanzas 2, 3, 4, & 5; and the first part of the first line is repeated as a short fifth line to conclude the sixth stanza. This can be represented as - A1,B1,A2,B2 - b,a,b,A1 - a,b,a,B1 - b,a,b,A2 - a,b,a,B2 - b,a,b,a,(A1).

In “As Time Goes By” John Daleiden has used incremental variation in the refrain lines, thus, marked A1 i, A2 i, B1 i, and B2 i; i indicates the use of incremental variation. The variations are indicators of the passage of time.

Rondeau (poetry) from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia