a metrical line of six feet or twelve syllables (in English), originally from French heroic verse Randle Cotgrave in his 1611 French-English dictionary explains: "Alexandrin A verse of 12, or 13 sillables " In his "Essay on Criticism," Alexander Pope says, "A needless Alexandrine ends the song / That like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along" (359) Examples include Michael Drayton's "Polyolbion," Robert Bridges' "Testament of Beauty," and the last line of each stanza in Thomas Hardy's "The Convergence of the Twain "
A line of poetry that has 12 syllables The name probably comes from a medieval romance about Alexander the Great that was written in 12-syllable lines
An iambic line of twelve syllables, or six feet, usually with a caesura after the sixth syllable It is the standard line in French poetry, comparable to the iambic pentameter line in English poetry It probably received its name from an old French romance, Alexandre le Grand, written about 1180, in which the measure was first used Sidelight: The last line of the Spenserian stanza is an Alexandrine (See Hexameter, Poulter's Measure)