Alexandrine

Alexandrine, a wisely poem form Twelve diphthongs in each of twelve lines Major stresses are given on the sixth diphthong And on the last one And one secondary accent in each of half line, Some alternatives are found In case of no stresses on the last diphthong Then thirteen diphthongs need in that line Line is often called an alexandrine; Originally, in French prosody, there is a twelve diphthong meter And in English, here is iambic hexameter; The rhyme scheme is a a b b (heroic alexandrine) Or, a b a b (elegiac alexandrine) With obligatory alternation of masculine and feminine rhymes; In Russian poetry, iambic hexameter with a caesura After the third foot And with rhyme scheme of a a b b And alternation of masculine and feminine rhymes; In French, rhyming couplets of two alexandrines Are of equal length, usually containing four accents, Having been the classic poetic form Since the time of Ronsard; The form named, ‘Alexandrine' Might drive from the fact that Some poems of 12th and 13th century about Alexander the Great Were written in this meter. Copyright © Muzahidul Reza │19 January,2018