A Rondel: Herein Lies the Truth

I never claimed to know it all,
but there are things I know are true.
Not what I say but what I do,
I’m what I am, not what I’m called.

At times I’ve felt I’ve hit a wall
Been maligned, like I’ve been screwed
I never claimed to know it all,
but there are things I know are true.

Truth be told, life takes its toll
Some lied to me? But they were few.
At this stage, friends, what can I do?
In truth, “the readiness is all.”
…I never claimed to know it all.

“If it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is all.”
Hamlet: Act 5, Scene 2,

Thanks, Daniel.  I like yours. I've never written one of these --- but looks easy enough.  I'll whip one up soon an post it.

Rondel


A French form consisting of 13 lines: two quatrains and a quintet, rhyming as follows: 

A
B
b
a 

a
b
A
B 

a
b
b
a
A. 

The capital letters are the refrains, or repeats.


Example:

A Rondel for Margarita

On the carousel, on a summer's day,
As the rest of the fairground goes gliding by,
We coast together, now low, now high,
But how quickly the moment slips away.

She laughs at the music, elfin and fey,
She laughs for joy at the sapphire sky,
On the carousel, on a summer's day,
As the rest of the fairground goes gliding by.

How sweet her delight in simple play,
Someday, without me, she'll take to the sky,
Brave little fledgling, ready to fly.
We must hold these moments while we may
On the carousel, on a summer's day.

Copyright © 2004 Gail Kavanagh
 
from Shadow Poetry