Poetry Exercise No. 11: Ottava Rima

Ottava Rima: Iambic pentameter, 8 lines worth. Rhyme scheme: ABABABCC.

My Orlando poem:

One day an orphan came to our front door

Bedraggled; hungry; a sad, sorry cat.

Big eyes and ears; a small warm orange paw;

Just looking for a home, a meal, a pat.

So- now Orlando is alone no more,

His fur is thick; his tummy round and fat.

This mischief maker in our hearts has grown

We're happy in our house he has his home.

Maybe a little overly alliterated in the last two lines but it just came out like that.

The last assignment was the Spencerian Stanza, eight lines worth of iambic pentameter with a nineth line of iambic heptameter (or an alexandrine)! I have to say that I don't think iambic pentameter is quite my thing. I find the lines a little long to construct. Give me the tetrameter anytime. Anyway, I have decided to cheat a little by varying the above verse. The rhyme scheme is ABABBCBCC. So here goes:

One day an orphan came to our front door
Bedraggled; hungry; a sad, sorry cat.
Big eyes and ears; a small warm orange paw;
Just looking for a home, a meal, a pat.
But now Orlando's getting round and fat
With lots of company; he's not alone,

(In fact sometimes he's quite the little brat)
Oh mischief maker, in our hearts you've grown,
We are so glad that its with us that you have made your home.

Thank heavens! Now I can move on to the next exercise.