Alexandrine

by danlowlite

Tue Oct 24 2000 at 19:28:45

Webster is right, but not terribly thorough.

Alexandrine is verse/poetry in iambic hexameter (six feet, stress on the first beat). More common in French than English, it's usually introduced into mostly iambic pentameter verse for variety sake. A Spenserian Stanza has 8 lines of pentameter followed by a line of hexameter, for example. For an example, see the Pope verse from Webster 1913 below.

by Webster 1913

Tue Dec 21 1999 at 21:43:05

Al`ex*an"drine

Belonging to Alexandria; Alexandrian.

Bancroft.

Al`ex*an"drine (#), n. [F. alexandrin.]

A kind of verse consisting in English of twelve syllables.

The needless Alexandrine ends the song, That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along. Pope.

Forms of poetry	Alexander Pope	Le Flacon	French Poetry
Historical Evidence Regarding the Libraries of Muslim Spain	iambic pentameter	Hexameter	Argus
the bullet that killed the poet	Maritime zones	the miracle of consciousness	Hemistich
Alexandrian	The French	poetry