noun
or heroic meter
1. : dactylic hexameter — usually used with special reference to epic verse of classical times
2. or heroic line : the verse form in which the heroic poetry of a particular language is or according to critical opinion should be composed (as the alexandrine in French and the hendecasyllabic line in Italian)
3. : the iambic pentameter in rising rhythm used in epic and other serious English poetry during the 17th and 18th centuries