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alexandrine

alexandrine

1 9.9
A line of poetry with twelve syllables often used for dramatic effect
  • noun
  • /ˌælɪɡˈzændraɪn/
  • Literature
translation icon : alexandrino
  • The Spenserian solves the Monk's Tale stanza's problem of closure by adding to it a final line, an Alexandrine rhyming couplet-wise with its neighbor.

Examples

  • They are only one line away from the scheme of the Spenserian stanza itself (they lack the final alexandrine).

    Academic text (2005)
  • The second calculates the location of the fissure in Alexandrine coordinates.

  • He made a series of important scientific discoveries that laid the basis for the great achievements of the Alexandrine period of Greek science.

    Blog text (33)
  • This began with Writing Degree Zero, in which is imagined "the absence of every sign"; subsequently, a thousand affirmations incidental to this dream (apropos of the avant-garde text, of Japan, of music, of the alexandrine, etc.).

    Academic text (2005)
  • But if we concatenate lines one and two, we get something very near the rhyming, pentameter-alexandrine sequence a reader might recognize as the ending of the Spenserian stanza, and for which there are conventions for notation.

    Academic text (2016)
  • Whether the Spenserian stanza was borrowed from Chaucer by adding an Alexandrine to a Monk's Tale stanza, or whether it was a direct adaptation of ottava rima, is immaterial.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The poem concluded with a grand alexandrine, adding a lyrical rhythm to the final lines.

  • Many French poets often use the alexandrine to create a musical quality in their verses.

  • In her analysis, she explained how the alexandrine allows for a unique expression in poetry.

Synonyms

iambic senarius
vsalexandrine
  • Literature
9.9

A line of six short and long beats used in ancient Latin plays

is the same six-iamb line but tied to French and English poetic tradition
verse line
vsalexandrine
  • Literature
5.4

A single line of a poem with its own rhythm

is a specific six-iamb line rather than any metrical line

How Long

alexandrine
  • Literature
1 9.9
hendecasyllable
  • Literature
9.9
octosyllable
  • Literature
9.9
disyllable
  • Specialized
7.9
monosyllable
2 6.3

Surface Forms

alexandrine singular
alexandrines plural

Morphology

alexandrine = Alexander (opaque) = alexandr + ine

Although formed from the proper name 'Alexander' plus the suffix '-ine', the technical metrical meaning is specialized and not inferable by learners from the name.

Etymology

Alexandrine comes from old French poems about Alexander the Great, where a long line of verse with 'twelve syllables' was often used. So people called that kind of line an alexandrin, and today an alexandrine means a long line of verse, usually made of twelve syllables.