or Alexandrine, in Poetry, a kind of verse consisting of 12, or of 12 and 13 syllables alternately; so called from a poem on the life of Alexander, written in this kind of verse by a French poet of the 12th century. Alexandrines are sometimes used by most nations of Europe, but chiefly by the French, whose tragedies are generally composed of Alexandrines. A well known example of an Alexandrian verse is given in Pope's Essay on Criticism:

A needless Alexandrine ends the song, That like a wounded snake drags its slow length along.