November Gales (Double Rondeau)

by Kiko

"November Gales"
(Double Rondeau)

November gales are drawing nigh,
As autumn heaves a gusty sigh.
A whirlwind sprays the fallow ground
With rotting leaves, all creased and browned,
Whilst angry clouds go scudding by.

Take wing, yon bluebird, time to fly
Away to sun-drenched fields of rye.
For soon, the storms shall make their round--
November Gales.

Before the snow blots out the sky,
Chrysanthemums shall wilt and die.
A field mouse scurries 'neath the mound
Of nuts and seeds, ol' gray squirrel found.
The crow maintains a watchful eye--
November Gales.

November gales are drawing nigh,
Through pelting rain, the sailors cry.
To distant shores, this freighter's bound,
But scrapes a shoal and runs aground.
The crashing surf leaves no one dry.

Should she go down, all hands will die,
To heaven, some, whilst others fry.
"It don't look good," the captain frowned--
November Gales

In sandy tombs, the shipwrecks lie,
Now left to rot, as time creeps by.
The doomed craft makes a wailing sound,
Awaking all those dead and drowned,
And sails into the tempest's eye--
November Gales

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The Rondeau is a French form of 15 lines in 3 stanzas: quintet, quatrain and sestet. 13 of the lines are of 8 syllables, and 2 of the lines are a refrain of 4 syllables. The rhyme scheme is aabba aabR aabbaR. For added difficulty, use the first half of the first line for the repeating refrain.

Written for a challenge: "Write me a rondeau, s'il vous plait."