heroic couplet

American  

noun

Prosody.

1. a stanza consisting of two rhyming lines in iambic pentameter, especially one forming a rhetorical unit and written in an elevated style, as, Know then thyself, presume not God to scan / The proper study of Mankind is Man.

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heroic couplet British  

noun

1. prosody a verse form consisting of two rhyming lines in iambic pentameter

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Etymology

Origin of heroic couplet

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

At the approach of the 18th century, John Dryden offered Virgil as a master of the heroic couplet: "Arms, and the man I sing, who, forced by Fate,/ And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate."

From Time Magazine Archive

A study of the heroic couplet from Dryden to Shelley based on two hundred lines from each poet has yielded the results indicated in the table on the following page.

From Leigh Hunt's Relations with Byron, Shelley and Keats by Miller, Barnette

He chose the heroic couplet, and in handling it reversed the settled practice of more than a century.

From Life of John Keats His Life and Poetry, his Friends, Critics and After-fame by Colvin, Sidney

"The heroic couplet," says Mr. Gosse, "was never employed, even by Pope himself, with more melody than by Goldsmith in this poem."

From English Verse Specimens Illustrating its Principles and History by Alden, Raymond MacDonald

The use of the Alexandrine in the heroic couplet, he avers, gives variety and energy.

From Leigh Hunt's Relations with Byron, Shelley and Keats by Miller, Barnette