Explore the Craft of Writing Poetry Italian Verse
The Ottavo Rima (rhyme of eight) or Sonnetto Rispetto (little song of respect) is believed to have originated in religious verse in the 13th century. It has been called the 3rd Italian Sonnet, although it is not a sonnet at all. It is traditionally a narrative epic often written in a series of octaves not the lyrical meditation contained within the quatorzain of the sonnet.
This form is best suited for "blending serious, comic and satirical attitudes and mingling narrative and discursive models.... It is the accumulation of rhyme, rea