On Poetic Forms, Nr.05 (Ottava Rimas: Theory & Practice)

                    
OTTAVA RIMAS - THE THEORY                    
                     
1.(a)   The rhyming scheme is very clear           
2.(b)   three times a-b, a-b, a-b           
3.(a)   the final pair of lines change gear                 
4.(b)   a rhyming couplet, -c- and -c-              
5.(a)   Ottava Rima was quite dear               
6.(b)   to lots of Byron’s poems; he           
7.(c)   for Don Juan would choose it well         
8.(c)   and Yeats too - as far as I can tell             
                     
(NB: Ottava Rima is a stanza form for longer poems)                    
                     
                     
                     
OTTAVA RIMAS - THE PRACTICE                    
                     
Car Chase                    
                     
The get-away car races through the night                    
chased by cops, tyres squealing down the streets;                    
late-night shoppers stare gobsmacked at the sight                    
they see as the chased car easily beats                    
the lights which go red as cop-cars crash right                    
into a big truck - well, Hollywood treats                    
film-goers to adrenalin-packed scenes                    
munching pop-corn and upping dopamine.