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