Literary Terms: Alexandrine
An alexandrine is a line of verse containing 12 syllables in iambic hexameter — in other words, a line with six feet, each of which has the stress on the second beat. Most importantly for GRE purposes, you must be able to identify the last line of a Spensarian Stanza as an alexandrine. This is not, however, the only time they occur.
Poetry written in couplets is sometimes varied by the introduction of a triplet, in which the third line is an alexandrine. This occurs in the following example from Dryden, which introduces a triplet after two couplets:
A But satire needs not those, and wit will shine
A Through the harsh cadence of a rugged line:
B A noble error, and but seldom made,
B When poets are by too much force betrayed.
C Thy generous fruits, though gathered ere their prime,
C Still showed a quickness; and maturing time
C But mellows what we write to the dull sweets of rhyme.