Sounds good!
I personally don’t use the italics tag <i> on each line… I define the class for the overall <div> in the css. That way I can keep the visual presentation (italics) in the CSS and select only specific phrases with an emphasis <em>. The clips don’t break anything that way.
Code:
div.verse p {font-style:italic}
div.verse em {font-style:normal; color:purple}
<div class="verse">
<p>Roses are red Violets are <em>purple</em></p>
<p>I can't rhyme anything with <em>purple</em></p>
<p class="space">This poem stinks so bad -<p>
<p>It makes my tummy <em>burble</em></p>
</div>