E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Alexan’drines (4 syl.).
Iambic verses of 12 or 13 syllables, divided into two parts between the sixth and seventh syllable; so called because they were first employed in a metrical romance of Alexander the Great, commenced by Lambert-li-Cors, and continued by Alexandre de Bernay, also called Alexandre de Paris. The final line of the Spenserian stanza is an Alexandrine.
1
“A needless Alexandrine ends the song,
Which, like a wounded snake, I drags its slow length along.”
