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Poetic Form: Huitain

This is a very old French verse form and as the
name suggests consists of one eight (huit)-line
stanza with 8 syllables in each line.

This is the pure form (Huit et huit) but later 10 syllable poetry
emerged and this appears to have been far more
popular with the English speaking Iambic pentameter
poets until the outbreak of the Napoleonic wars.
The form was written based on three rhymes, one
of which appeared four times and the two typical rhyme schemes are:

a. b. a. b. b. c. b. c.

and

a. b. b. a. a. c. a. c.