British Male-Authored Poem Types

The roundel introduced by Algernon Charles Swinburne is an English variation of the French rondeau, joining a lengthy list of the form’s descendants. In practice, it’s essentially a shortened version of the rondeau, retaining the traditional refrains and two-sound rhyme scheme.

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The English roundelay is a stanzaic verse form that uses rhymed sixains and extensively employs refrain, almost to the exclusion of any unrepeated lines. Roundelay can otherwise refer to a short simple song that employs refrains and neither should be confused with the unrelated American “rondelay” poem form.

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