Lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske, As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds, Am now enforst a far unfitter taske, For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds, And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds; Whose prayses having slept in silence long, Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds To blazon broad emongst her learned throng: Fierce warres and faithfull loues shall moralize my song.
Spenser's invention may have been influenced by the Italian form ottava rima, which consists of eight lines of iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme ABABABCC.
However, it was revived in the nineteenth century by several notable poets, including: In Eastern Europe, English stanzaic forms were not at first very popular, these countries being too far from England's literary influence.
English rhyme schemes remained unknown until the early 19th century, when Lord Byron's poems gained enormous popularity.
Where are the pillars of the continents, The lava flows, alps nearing lunar height, The sparks that make the comet's tresses bright?
In the long poem The Forest Sanctuary,[7] Felicia Hemans employs a similar nine-line stanza, rhyming ABABCCBDD, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the ninth an alexandrine.