The Ottava Rima

                        The Ottava Rima

The Ottava Rima is an Italian stanza form. It was introduced into England by Sir Thomas Wyatt in the 16th century. It is a stanza of eight lines iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ab abb cc. It is a narrative measure similar to Chaucerian Stanza. Byron used it for satire in The Vision of Judgement and for mock-heroic effects in Don Juan. Shelley and Keats used it for pure narrative in The Pot of Basil and The Witch of Atlas. 

The isolated couplet of the Ottava Rima (ab abb cc ) provides a convenient opportunity for transitions of mood.

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