heroic couplet

noun

, Prosody.

1. a stanza consisting of two rhyming lines in iambic pentameter, especially one forming a rhetorical unit and written in an elevated style, as, Know then thyself, presume not God to scan / The proper study of Mankind is Man.

heroic couplet

noun

1. prosody a verse form consisting of two rhyming lines in iambic pentameter

Word History and Origins

Origin of heroic couplet¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

It owes its place to its sustained vigour, and the fact that the heroic couplet is in the hands of a master.

From Project Gutenberg

The "Fragments of College Exercises" show a futile attempt to wield the heroic couplet with sonorous rhetoric.

From Project Gutenberg

It is doubtful whether the heroic couplet has ever been more finely handled.

From Project Gutenberg

In versification Hunts aim was to bring back into use the earlier form of the rhymed English decasyllabic or heroic couplet.

From Project Gutenberg

The line of the heroic couplet is not long enough to reproduce the hexameter, and Virgil is especially succinct.

From Project Gutenberg