Rondeau

A rondeau is a fifteen-line poem with only two rhyme sounds, in which the opening words of the first line return twice as an unrhymed refrain.

The opening of McCrae's poem shows the two rhyme sounds the form allows, "blow" and "row".

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,

John McCrae, 1915

What it is

A rondeau has fifteen lines in three stanzas. Only two rhyme sounds are used throughout. The first words of line one return as a short refrain at the end of the second and third stanzas, and the refrain does not rhyme with the rest.

How to spot it

Check the line count and the refrain. If the poem is fifteen lines long, uses two rhyme sounds, and a short, unrhymed phrase from the opening returns at the end of the second and third stanzas, it is a rondeau. The refrain is usually only the first few words of line one, so it can read like an echo, not a repeated line. Modern poets sometimes loosen the rules, but a poem called a rondeau should keep the refrain.

Why it matters to a writer or editor

The refrain gives the poem a tolling sense, as if the speaker keeps returning to one thing. The form is small enough to attempt and tight enough that every word has to count.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most famous rondeau in English?

In Flanders Fields by John McCrae, written in 1915. The words "In Flanders fields" return as the refrain.