redondilla

American  

[re-dawn-dee-lyah] / ˌrɛ dɔnˈdi ljɑ /

noun

Prosody.

1. a Spanish verse form in which each stanza consists of four lines, each with eight syllables, and a rhyme scheme abba.

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Etymology

Origin of redondilla

1830–40; < Spanish, equivalent to redond ( o ) round (< Latin rotundus ) + -illa diminutive suffix

Explanation

Redondilla, a four-line verse,
eight neat syllables for each line.
I have written one; here is mine,
Now you write one, better or worse. The syllable count for a redondilla may vary, but it's usually eight syllables per each of four lines. So this traditional type of Spanish poem is a quatrain ("a four-line verse") with octosyllabic ("having eight syllables") lines. A redondilla typically has an ABBA rhyme scheme, meaning that the first and last lines rhyme, and the second and third lines rhyme. The word redondilla literally means "little round one," perhaps representing how the poem comes full circle, the last line rhyming with the first.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

redondilla

Conde has given a translation of certain Spanish-Arabian poems, in the measure of the original, from which it is evident, that the hemistich of an Arabian verse corresponds perfectly with the redondilla.

From The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic — Volume 2 by William Hickling Prescott