The Barzelletta is a quatrain composed of eight-syllable line couplets with a four-line refrain.. Originally written to be set to music and a suggested rhyme scheme:
aabb cddc eeff cddc gghh cddc and so on
Example
First Day Back by Jez Farmer
In crocodile line we filed in
Summer’s gone and lessons begin
As chattering voices catch-up
With new pencils and shiny cup
Teacher calling out all our names
Before we head out to our class
First maths then French, across the grass
A cup of milk then P.E games
In mid-day heat it’s time for lunch
Tables of eight sitting to munch
Before heading to the bike shed
And a quick smoke for the street cred
Afternoon passes all too slow
Geography dragging the bell
Rushing home to the bed room cell
Pulling on jeans letting it go
A Garret Poet 