And here's what I learned this morning: The alexandrine is a form of poetry with 12 syllables per line. Technically, it should have a pause (a caesura) after the sixth, with the stress being on the sixth and the twelfth. Alternatively, a line can be divided into three four-syllable sections (see title of post, in case you hadn't noticed!). The form was named after Alexander the Great, about whom a poem was written in this style. It was most popular in French and German and, apparently, not so easy to do in English. One contemporary poet, however, has written a book in alexandrine (and you'll note that the title has six syllables). While there are 12 syllables in each line, she didn't bother with the stressed ones. Can't blame her for that.
from In This World of 12 Months
by Marcella Durand
Your voice carries easily through liquid; bridge is
halved by fog, as your tongue is divided in mist.
The fog of machinery augmented by steam.
Powered and then not powered, below a line, dark.
Cold, the weather has turned and out there, turbines still.
Water has divided, soft things and diverse: what
seemed one broke. Two cities and more. Lines reappear.
Across there is a wall also a door or steam
turns into fog. The bridge is two; light is taken.
People enjoy themselves, looking at glittering
potential floods. It is so nice to have a view.
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