The rondeau ("round") is a medieval formes fixe poem that features 15 lines with a set rhyme scheme, broken into three stanzas – quatrain, quintet, and sestet.
The rondeau is characterized by repeating lines of the refrain and the two rhyme sounds throughout. It derives from the rondel, which first appeared in the 12th century, and is related to the triolet and its popular descendant, the villanelle.
| Rhyme: | aabba-aabR-aabbaR |
| Structure: | 15 lines, three stanzas – quatrain, quintet, sestet |
| Measure/Beat: | Iambic tetrameter |
| Common Themes: | Death, forlorn love, tributes, love |
| Other Notes: |
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