Moonlight [rondeau]

The gentle strains of midnight's moon
Are wrapped within this lonesome gloom
And faint rays of cold embrace tight
The frail body of a graceful sprite -
.........Soft whispers of a falling plume.

The owls sing, red roses bloom
Dazzling us with their sweet perfume
Such wondrous scene of pure delight -
.........Gentle strains of midnight.

Silver waves of translucent fume
Step in your peaceful, silent room
Painting on walls shadows of white
Outlined in heavenly bright light
Alike the deep blue sea's frail spume -
.........Gentle strains of midnight.

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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).