The Roundel

Algernon Charles Swinburne 1837 (London) – 1909 (London)



A roundel is wrought as a ring or a starbright sphere,
     With craft of delight and with cunning of sound unsought,
   That the heart of the hearer may smile if to pleasure his ear
     A roundel is wrought.
    Its jewel of music is carven of all or of aught--
     Love, laughter, or mourning--remembrance of rapture or fear--
   That fancy may fashion to hang in the ear of thought.
    As a bird's quick song runs round, and the hearts in us hear
     Pause answer to pause, and again the same strain caught,
   So moves the device whence, round as a pearl or tear,
     A roundel is wrought.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
56

Quick analysis:

Scheme abcBbabcbdB
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 596
Words 108
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 11

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Algernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He wrote several novels and collections of poetry such as Poems and Ballads, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Swinburne wrote about many taboo topics, such as lesbianism, cannibalism, sado-masochism, and anti-theism. His poems have many common motifs, such as the ocean, time, and death. Several historical people are featured in his poems, such as Sappho ("Sapphics"), Anactoria ("Anactoria"), Jesus ("Hymn to Proserpine": Galilaee, La. "Galilean") and Catullus ("To Catullus"). more…

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