HUITAIN

French verse form consisting of an eight-line stanza with 8 or 10 syllables in each line.
The form was written on three rhymes, one of which appeared four times. Typical rhyme
schemes were ababbcbc and abbaacac. The huitain was popular in France in the 15th
and early 16th centuries with such poets as François Villon (born 1431, Paris
died after 1463) and Clément Marot (born 1496?, Cahors, Fr. died September 1544,
Turin, Savoy [now in Italy]).

So...what are Huitains? The Huitain is an old Spanish form, and as the name suggests, it
involves the number eight. It has eight lines, and each line has eight syllables. In the
original Spanish form, there is no requirement for the syllables to be iambic, just that
there be eight of them. There is a simple rhyme scheme, which is a/b/a/b/b/c/b/c. That's
about it!

A Spanish form of poetry, the huitain revolves around the number eight -
there are eight lines in the poem, and each line contains eight
syllables. The rhyme scheme is ababbcbc. That's all there is to it!