Editing Alexandrine (section)

==French==
{{main article|French alexandrine}}
{{multiple image
   | footer      = Baïf is often credited with the reintroduction of the alexandrine in the mid-16th century. Hugo declared the classical alexandrine to have been "dislocated" by his use of the ''alexandrin ternaire''.
   | total_width = 400
   | image1      = Jean Antoine de Baïf.jpg
   | width1      = 350
   | height1     = 369
   | caption1    = [[Jean-Antoine de Baïf]]
   | image2      = Victor Hugo by Charles Hugo, c1850-55.jpg
   | width2      = 942
   | height2     = 1134
   | caption2    = [[Victor Hugo]]
  }}
Although alexandrines occurred in French verse as early as the 12th century,{{sfn|Flescher|1972|p=181}} they were slightly looser rhythmically, and vied with the ''décasyllabe'' and ''octosyllabe'' for cultural prominence and use in various genres. "The alexandrine came into its own in the middle of the sixteenth century with the poets of the [[Pléiade]] and was firmly established in the seventeenth century."{{sfn|Flescher|1972|p=177}} It became the [[Heroic verse|preferred line]] for the prestigious genres of [[Epic poetry|epic]] and [[tragedy]].{{sfn|Peureux|2012|p=36}} The structure of the classical French alexandrine is

 o o o o o S | o o o o o S (e){{sfn|Gasparov|1996|p=131}}
 
 S=stressed syllable; (e)=optional ''mute e''

Classical alexandrines are always rhymed, often in [[couplet]]s alternating [[masculine rhyme]]s and [[feminine rhyme]]s,{{sfn|Flescher|1972|p=179}} though other configurations (such as [[quatrain]]s and [[sonnet]]s) are also common.

[[Victor Hugo]] began the process of loosening the strict two-hemistich structure.{{sfn|Flescher|1972|p=183}} While retaining the medial caesura, he often reduced it to a mere word-break, creating a three-part line (''alexandrin ternaire'') with this structure:{{sfn|Flescher|1972|p=183-84}}

 o o o S | o o ¦ o S | o o o S (e)
 
 |=strong caesura; ¦=word break

The [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolists]] further weakened the classical structure, sometimes eliminating any or all of these caesurae.{{sfn|Gasparov|1996|p=133}} However, at no point did the newer line ''replace'' the older; rather, they were used concurrently, often in the same poem.{{sfn|Flescher|1972|p=184-86}}{{sfn|Gasparov|1996|p=133}} This loosening process eventually led to ''vers libéré'' and finally to ''[[vers libre]]''.{{sfn|Flescher|1972|p=186-87}}