Dream Cottage

A rondeau for the Whispers of the Soul Contest.

Come with me, I'll show you a castle,
Where lush fields of greenery nestle
Beneath the vast,cerulean sky;
Holding nice dreams, hopes and wishes high;
Surrounding the beautiful dale.

There lies the sweet home of dreams ample,
Pretty girls with plaited hair amble.
A placid, limpid lake lies nearby.
Come with me.

Flocking with plenty sheep and cattle,
The fields emanate a gay babble,
Which is neither a laugh nor a cry;
Neither a choked tear nor a sad sigh,
But is an abundance of chortle.
Come with me.

Form Rondeau
A Rondeau is a French form, 15 lines long, consisting of three stanzas: a quintet, a quatrain, and a sestet with a rhyme scheme as follows: aabba aabR aabbaR. Lines 9 and 15 are short - a refrain (R) consisting of a phrase taken from line one. The other lines are longer (but all of the same metrical length).