Rondeau Redoublé (and scarcely worth the trouble, at that)
The same to me are sombre days and gay.Though joyous dawns the rosy morn, and bright,Because my dearest love is gone awayWithin my heart is melancholy night.
My heart beats low in loneliness, despiteThat riotous Summer holds the earth in sway.In cerements my spirit is bedight;The same to me are sombre days and gay.
Though breezes in the rippling grasses play,And waves dash high and far in glorious might,I thrill no longer to the sparkling day,Though joyous dawns the rosy morn, and bright.
Ungraceful seems to me the swallow's flight;As well might Heaven's blue be sullen gray;My soul discerns no beauty in their sightBecause my dearest love is gone away.
Let roses fling afar their crimson spray,And virgin daisies splash the fields with white,Let bloom the poppy hotly as it may,Within my heart is melancholy night.
And this, oh love, my pitiable plightWhenever from my circling arms you stray;This little world of mine has lost its light....I hope to God, my dear, that you can sayThe same to me.
Words in this poem
- sombre n.
- Gloom; obscurity; duskiness; somberness.
- morn n.
- The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
- loneliness n.
- The condition of being lonely; solitude; seclusion.
- bedight v. t.
- To bedeck; to array or equip; to adorn.
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- ungraceful a.
- Not graceful; not marked with ease and dignity; deficient in beauty and elegance; inelegant; awkward; as, ungraceful manners; ungraceful speech.
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- hotly adv.
- In a hot or fiery manner; ardently; vehemently; violently; hastily; as, a hotly pursued. [From Hot, a.]
- plight v. t.
- To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait. [OE. pliten; probably through Old French, fr. LL. plectare, L. plectere. See Plait, Ply.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Rondeau Redoublé (and scarcely worth the trouble, at that) is in the public domain. This text is taken from Enough Rope: Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #68353; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Dorothy Parker, Rondeau Redoublé (and scarcely worth the trouble, at that), in Enough Rope (1926), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #68353, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/parker-enough-rope/rondeau-redoubl-and-scarcely-worth-the-trouble-at-that.html, id L27393.
Form and metre
Rondeau Redoublé (and scarcely worth the trouble, at that) is 25 lines in 6 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABAB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB gayA · brightB · awayA · nightB
- 2 ABAB despiteA · swayB · bedightA · gayB
- 3 ABAB playA · mightB · dayA · brightB
- 4 ABAB flightA · grayB · sightA · awayB
- 5 ABAB sprayA · whiteB · mayA · nightB
- 6 ABAB- plightA · strayB · lightA · sayB · me
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The same to me are sombre days and gay. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Though joyous dawns the rosy morn, and bright, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Because my dearest love is gone away | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Within my heart is melancholy night. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| My heart beats low in loneliness, despite | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘/ |
| That riotous Summer holds the earth in sway. | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| In cerements my spirit is bedight; | 10 | ·····/˘·˘/ |
| The same to me are sombre days and gay. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Though breezes in the rippling grasses play, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And waves dash high and far in glorious might, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| I thrill no longer to the sparkling day, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Though joyous dawns the rosy morn, and bright. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Ungraceful seems to me the swallow's flight; | 10 | ˘/˘····/˘· |
| As well might Heaven's blue be sullen gray; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| My soul discerns no beauty in their sight | 10 | ··˘/·/˘··· |
| Because my dearest love is gone away. | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| Let roses fling afar their crimson spray, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/·/˘· |
| And virgin daisies splash the fields with white, | 10 | ·/˘/˘····· |
| Let bloom the poppy hotly as it may, | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Within my heart is melancholy night. | 10 | ·····/˘·˘· |
| And this, oh love, my pitiable plight | 10 | ·····/˘˘˘· |
| Whenever from my circling arms you stray; | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| This little world of mine has lost its light.... | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| I hope to God, my dear, that you can say | 10 | ·········· |
| The same to me. | 4 | ···· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.