Alexandrine – Learning New Forms

Tamara Woods 14 Comments

You know that saying – less is more? Well, the Alexandrine form is one of those opportunities that really forces you to embrace that concept.

In English, a 12-syllable iambic line adapted from French heroic verse. The last line of each stanza in Thomas Hardy’s “The Convergence of the Twain” and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “To a Skylark” is an alexandrine.

– The Poetry Foundation

Basically:

– You get 1 line – 12 syllables. That’s it.

We’re so not worried about the iambic part of it right now. Let’s see what you can do with just twelve syllables!

Let’s have an example:

A wall of white appeared and I was not afraid.

Now that’s a complete lie. I saw the pictures from Buffalo, and if I had been there with that giant wall of snow bearing down on me…I’d have been very, very afraid. Don’t lie. You would’ve, too.

Remember, this isn’t a prompt, but a chance to try something new. You can leave them in the comments below or post them on your blog and link back to us. The point is to have fun!

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