The Black Dog

A roundel

The black dog settles by my side

He tracks my footsteps through the fog

He shares my bed, in lieu of bride

The black dog.

 

Together trudge through sucking bog

The sodden marsh of life, I tried

To run, he followed at a jog

 

And soon he had regained my side.

I shrugged, and carried on life’s slog

For none that walks but walks beside

The black dog.

Author's Note

This is a roundel, a form most associated with the poet Swinburne, and a variant of the French roundeau form. A roundel has 11 lines and a rhyming scheme of abaB bab abaB. The fourth and eleventh lines are a refrain and must repeat the first words of the first line as well as rhyme with the second line. The refrain usually comprises 1, 2, 3 or 4 words. Only two rhymes are used throughout the poem.

Swinburne wrote a volume of roundels, "A Century of Roundels".

Reviews

[Elaenor Aisling]

"Sodden marsh of life" rings quite true. It's short, but it holds a lot of meaning in a few stanzas. Good work! :)

[Tony]

Being an uneducated man, I understand little of the Author's Note, but I do like poems about dogs.

[Sweet_pale_cacophony]

The sodden marsh of life..indeed life is so...:)..i liked reading it.It is an interesting read.