Spenserian Stanza Notes

The Spenserian Stanza is a stanza form invented by the English poet Edmund Spenser for his epic poem The Fairie Queene. Each stanza consist if eight lines of iambic pentameter or decasyllabic lines followed by one line in iambic hexameter or twelve syllables.The rhyme scheme is as follows ababbcbcc dedeefeff ghghhihii and so on Example …

Sicilian Octave Notes

Another Italian form popular with sonneteers is the Sicilian Octave. Originally it would have had no set meter, although iambic pentameter is currently popular. The octave has the following rhyme scheme: abababab Example Nightingale by Ryter Roethicle I am a nightingale and a singer of the truthThis flower is my symbol and my love.Each night …

Roseate Due

Old-fashioned beauty kissed by morning dew, In summer-rain her dreams reflect the sun, And poets ponder magic she can do...

It’s Grim Out There

Ill-mannered weather insulting the skin Echoes of rudeness the forecaster’s smile A beautiful day for taking it in...

White Sails

Form: Italian Octave 2 The masts chatter casually on the breezeFrom where there have been to where they will goThe trials and tribulations that flowAnd how the ever-changing tides at easeAs the weather-worn hands tack to the windTo follow the stars to a distant landThe white sails on the course he had plannedAns time shines …

Ottava Rima Notes

The Ottava Rima is a popular octave for long poetry. There is no set meter to the eight lines. The rhyme schema is abababccExample Into the Horizon by Jez Farmer Beneath the burning skies I watched the sun,Into the horizon it gently fell,While clouds of dreams, their magic begun,Enchantments woven in a dusky spell,As sunset's …

Octave Notes

An Octave is any eight-line poetry form of which there are a wide variety. Most of these forms are discussed in various poetic form notes but octaves with couplets, blank verse, free verse, and the more unusual rhyming patterns such as interior rhyme, beginning of line rhyme are largely ignored. So this is for those …

Italian Octave Notes

Consisting of two Italian quatrains the Italian octave was used by Petrarch in his poetry. Originally there was no set form or line length and Petrarch used it as a basis for his poems including his sonnets. Spenser later formalised it to iambic pentameter with a rhyme schematic of abbaabba However, English is not a …

Huitain Notes

A very old French verse form the Huitain consists of one eight-line stanza composed of ten-syllable lines. The verse is written over three rhymes and the two popular rhyme schemes are as follows:ababbcbcandabbaacac Example Be thou like a rose by Ryter Roethicle Be thou like a Rose my belovedLet not thy thorns keep me away.When …

Canzonetta Notes

Meter: Meter of first line sets the tempoStructure: Minimum two octavesRhyme Scheme: ababcdcdD or abababaB The canzonetta is a variation of the canzone. It consists of at least two octaves, each using a series of alternating couplets. The last line or phrase is repeated in each subsequent stanza. Example: Hot Summer Nights by Terry Clitheroe …

Octave

Octaves are widely known in their strict forms of variant metered rhyme schemas. However, they can also be eight-line stanzas that use one or more alternative poetic devices such as: syllable count, internal rhyme, a couplet in each stanza, meter and so on. For my example I have worked in Iambic Diameter, any rhymes are …