Heroic Couplets Definition   Login  | Join PoetrySoup
Submit a Poem
Get Your Premium Membership
spacer
Pinterest button

Heroic Couplets Definition | What is Heroic Couplets? - PoetrySoup

Definition

A traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines.

Example

A frequently-cited example illustrating the use of heroic couplets is this passage from Cooper's Hill by John Denham, part of his description of the Thames:

O could I flow like thee, and make thy stream
My great example, as it is my theme!
Though deep, yet clear, though gentle, yet not dull,
Strong without rage, without o'erflowing full.

Comments