The Rondeau is a French form of 15 lines in 3 stanzas: quintet, quatrain and sestet. 13 of the lines are of 8 syllables, and 2 of the lines are a refrain of 4 syllables. The rhyme scheme is aabba aabR aabbaR. For this contest any foot and meter is fine so long as it is consistent for each line of 8 or 4 syllables.
Two wonderful Rondeaux at Old Poetry are "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/4123-Paul-Laurence-Dunbar-We-Wear-the-Mask and "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/6634-John-McCrae-In-Flanders-Field Each of these poems uses the first half of the first line as the refrain, but that is not a requirement for the form or the contest. It is kinda cool though.
Two wonderful Rondeaux at Old Poetry are "We Wear the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/4123-Paul-Laurence-Dunbar-We-Wear-the-Mask and "In Flanders Fields" by John McCrae http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/6634-John-McCrae-In-Flanders-Field Each of these poems uses the first half of the first line as the refrain, but that is not a requirement for the form or the contest. It is kinda cool though.
Enter a Rondeau per the description given above. See below for what is not allowed, notes on presentation and a caution against some kinds of poetry and content.
Do NOT Enter:
Poems already entered in other open contests
Presentation:
Light colored, plain backgrounds
Large, dark fonts
Poems already entered in other open contests
Poems with gold, silver or bronze All Poetry trophies
More than one All Poetry pre-write
Light colored, plain backgrounds
Large, dark fonts
If the poem includes Adult content, label it as such.
Reserves must be replaced by poems before the contest fills up or they will be deleted.
No subject matter or content is explicitly excluded. However, I do not have much tolerance for foul language, gross sentimentality or deliberate offensiveness. If the poem includes Adult content, label it as such.
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on November 24
- Rewards: Gold: 750, Silver: 500, Bronze: 250
- Final notes: The Rondeau is a form which I do not often see. I very much appreciate the poems entered in this contest. The authors used the form with great emotional and intellectual effect. Several noted that their entries in this contest were the first they had tried. I hope all are encouraged by the success they achieved with this form.
A contest is just a means of challenging poets to write and getting their poetry read. The points awarded to a few entries just allow their authors to add more contests so even more poetry will be written and read. However, the poem is the thing which remains long after the contest is forgotten. I am proud to have seen every poem entered in this contest, and I look forward to seeing more of your work in time to come.
Contest Winners
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• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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Sometimes I think there is a plan
ordained by God for mouse and man,• Commented on by judge. [remove]
Gold trophy winner
Silver trophy winner
Bronze trophy winner
Entries [12]
1 - 12 of 12
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Before the night, once green you grew
autumn marking your days too few,• Commented on by judge. -
I've bid goodbye through sacred rite
And sorrows peak has reached its height.
by katie marie 17 lines, 10 comments, on Nov 1 7:08 PM. In Rondeau, grief, loss, friendship, sad, comfort, death• Commented on by judge. -
And truth is never found in spite,
Nor love the ground for vicious slight ...by waydownuponjoy 20 lines, 12 comments, on Dec 4 7:41 AM 2008. In Contest, Society, Spiritual, Thoughts• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
The obsession rules, gone is all free will,
yet something deep inside is fighting still.• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
If you would dream of me tonight,
you'd drown my heart in wild delight.• Commented on by judge. -
As we danced under the moonlit sky
delighting in skin as if pudding pie• Commented on by judge. Prewrite -
We re-create what undermines,
Take down the fence that oft’ confines ...• Commented on by judge.
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Comments
1 - 18 of 18
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May we reserve a spot?
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I will allow reserves, but I really do not like them. I have found myself excluded from contests because several reserves took up the alloted number of entries.
You may reserve, but if the contest fills up before you submit a poem, I will delete your reserve to allow others to enter.
Is that fair enough? -
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Completely, fair.
Thank you.
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Whell, I have never understood the point of limiting the number of entries to a ompetition. It is just one of the many mysteries about "Allpoetry",
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No mystery when it's hard enough to decide between 20 poems which is the best.
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Some of the "quickies" do fill up very quickly, but I guess that is the point of those contests. It seems that those should definitely not allow "reserves" since they generally have so few slots. It is frustrating to write a poem in response to some of their interesting challenges only to discover the last slot was filled a few minutes before you finished, and that several of the slots are filled by "reserves."
Most of my contests are framed in such a way that they do not attract even 20 qualified entries. Due to my approach to commenting on others' work, I find it difficult to judge more than 20 entries in a fair and timely manner. It is out of respect for those who do enter that I limit my contests to 20 entries.
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Damn I have an almost finished one, but it's a love poem, I'll try for another
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I enjoy aesthetically pleasing love poems written with maturity and universal appeal, but too many of them seem of the adolescent variety. I am afraid to allow them for fear the contest would fill up with poems which meet all the rules but speak of love from a too narrow or youthful perspective with undeveloped artistry. I might drown in pools of syrup and tears or other less savory fluids before I could finish judging the contest.
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No subject matter or content is explicitly excluded now. Each poem will be considered on its merits and against all other entries.
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But it is usually far easier to choose a winner out of a field of two or three hundred - as this raises the chances of attracting work of real merit.
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I do not know that it would be easier to select a winner, but I do agree that a larger field does raise the chances of encountering a higher number of estimable candidates.
There are several All Poetry participants who are recognized for their professionalism and artistic achievements beyond this site which caters primarily to amateurs such as myself. Their contests tend to attract the most accomplished professionals and talented amateurs on site. To be fair, those folks probably do need to have a wide open field for their contests. Besides my slow commentary and judging style, I just don't have that kind of reputation, and my contests do not have that cachet.
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I love Rondeau's, one of my favourite forms...
I will add a couple here for you to read, they are sensual in nature...
http://allpoetry.com/poem/5251993
http://allpoetry.com/poem/4748653
hope you enjoy...
Cheers -
I would disagree with you about the length of the refrain. Four syllables are NOT mandatory. The poets who introduced the form into Belarusian (Maksim Bahdanovic) and Ukrainian (Lesya Ukrayinka) both used a two-syllable refrain.
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I suspect there are variations on every form especially from language to language. After all, a sonnet does not have to be Petrarchan or Elizabethan to be perceived a sonnet.
As I read about the rondeau in preparing to post this contest I found that some descriptions of the form's conventions were more strict than others. I did not invent the form, and I am not a scholar or expert on its history. While the rhyme scheme seems to be de rigueur, I have no problem with considering entries which do not adhere strictly to 8 and 4 syllable counts. For me that is more of a guideline than a rule to help amateur poets compose or refine their rondeaux for this contest. It may influence my "ear" when it comes time to select finalists, but I hope I am perspicacious enough to rank entries according to their poetic merit in toto and not strictly on contested conventions of form.
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I've always been fond ...
of "In Flanders' Fields", but never knew it was a rondeau. Live and learn, I guess. -
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I have read poetry journals, collections and anthologies for years, but most poems are not identified in these by their forms. As I read and learn more about poetic forms and structures, authors and specific poems, I discover new aspects of old familiar friends and develop more respect for the artistry of poetic offerings from writers new and old.
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Since "In Flanders' Fields" is a rondeau ...
it would suggest that Captain McCrae was a real poet, and wasn't just dabbling when he wrote the poem. It is odd that he threw it away and that it was only through the efforts of a comrade that it was saved and later published. I wonder if he ever wrote anything else that was published? -
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McCrae was educated at a time when a student of English and Mathematics might go on to become a renowned physician in both civilian and military environments while thinking of himself primarily as an artilleryman. If ever there was a Renaissance Man, he was. Scholar, poet, doctor and soldier, he seems to have been a person largely free of self-doubt. When he saw a thing to be done and himself the man to do it, he did it.
29 of McCrae's poems are posted at Old Poetry.
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