Ottava rima

Ottava rima is a stanza of eight lines with the rhyme-scheme a-b-a-b-a-b-c-c.
Ottava rima is of Italian origin. It was used by many poets in Italy, Spain and Portugal in 15th and 16th centuries. Some of the poets to use this form were Ludovico Ariosto, Torquato Tasso, Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga and Luís Vaz de Camões. In England it was not so popular at that time. Later Lord Byron wrote "Don Juan" in ottava rima. An example can be found in Emma Lazarus's poetry: