A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines. The term English literature refers to Literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by Writers not necessarily from An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation Narrative poetry is Poetry that tells a story The poems may be short or long and the story it relates to may be simple or complex Iambic pentameter is a type of meter that is used in Poetry and Drama. The rhyme is always masculine. A masculine rhyme, in English Prosody, is a Rhyme on a single stressed Syllable at the end of a line of Poetry. Use of the heroic couplet was first pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Legend of Good Women and the Canterbury Tales. The Legend of Good Women is a Poem in the form of a Dream vision by Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in Prose, the rest in verse) Chaucer is also widely credited with first extensive use of iambic pentameter.
A frequently-cited example illustrating the use of heroic couplets is this passage from Cooper's Hill by John Denham, part of his description of the Thames:
- O could I flow like thee, and make thy stream
- My great example, as it is my theme!
- Though deep, yet clear, though gentle, yet not dull,
- Strong without rage, without o'erflowing full. Sir John Denham ( 1615 - 10 March 1669) Poet, son of the Chief Baron of Exchequer in Ireland, was born in Dublin, and educated The Thames ( is a major River flowing through southern England.
The term "heroic couplet" is sometimes reserved for couplets that are largely closed and self-contained, as opposed to the enjambed couplets of poets like John Donne. Enjambment (also spelled enjambement) is the breaking of a syntactic unit (a Phrase, Clause, or sentence) by the end of a line or between two John Donne (pronounced like done, dʌn 1572 – 31 March 1631 was a Jacobean poet preacher and a major representative of the Metaphysical poets The greatest masters of the heroic couplet in English, thus defined, are generally considered to be John Dryden and Alexander Pope. John Dryden (– was an influential English poet Literary critic, Translator and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744 is generally regarded as the greatest English Poet of the eighteenth century best known for his Satirical Major poems in the closed couplet, apart from the works of Dryden and Pope, are Samuel Johnson's The Vanity of Human Wishes, Oliver Goldsmith's The Deserted Village, and John Keats's Lamia. Samuel Johnson (often referred to as Dr Johnson) (18 September Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1730 or 1728 &ndash 4 April 1774 was an Anglo-Irish writer poet and Physician known for his Novel The Vicar Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1730 or 1728 &ndash 4 April 1774 was an Anglo-Irish writer poet and Physician known for his Novel The Vicar " Lamia " is a Narrative poem written by English poet John Keats. The form was immensely popular in the 18th century. The looser type of couplet, with occasional enjambment, was one of the standard verse forms in medieval narrative poetry, largely because of the influence of the Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in Prose, the rest in verse)
English heroic couplets, especially in Dryden and his followers, are sometimes varied by the use of the occasional alexandrine, or hexameter line, and triplet. An alexandrine is a line of poetic meter comprising 12 Syllables Alexandrines are common in the German literature of the Baroque period and Often these two variations are used together to heighten a climax. The breaking of the regular pattern of rhyming pentameter pairs brings about a sense of poetic closure. Poetic closure is the sense of conclusion given at the end of a Poem. Here are three examples from Book IV of Dryden's translation of the Aeneid. For the group of nine Ancient Egyptian deities see Ennead. The Aeneid (əˈniːɪd in
Triplet
- Nor let him then enjoy supreme command;
- But fall, untimely, by some hostile hand,
- And lie unburied on the barren sand!
- (ll. 890-892)
Alexandrine
- Her lofty courser, in the court below,
- Who his majestic rider seems to know,
- Proud of his purple trappings, paws the ground,
- And champs the golden bit, and spreads the foam around. A courser is a swift and strong horse frequently used during the Middle Ages as a warhorse.
- (ll. 190-193)
Alexandrine and Triplet
- My Tyrians, at their injur’d queen’s command,
- Had toss’d their fires amid the Trojan band;
- At once extinguish’d all the faithless name;
- And I myself, in vengeance of my shame,
- Had fall’n upon the pile, to mend the fun’ral flame.
- (ll. 867-871)
References
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