Created by: John Milton
Structure: Quatorzain
Meter: decasyllabic or pentameter
Rhyme scheme: abbabbacdecde
Example
On His Blindness by John Milton
When I consider how my light is spent,
ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with the useless, though my soul more bent
to serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?
I fondly ask, but Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: God doth not need
Either man’s works or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yolk, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait