The meter of Dryden's heroic couplets is which of the following?

• A. Iambic Pentameter
• B. Trochaic Tetrameter
• C. Anapestic Trimeter
• D. Dactylic Hexameter

Answer: (A)

Heroic couplets are built on a steady iambic beat, with each line delivering five iambic feet. An iamb is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one, so a line of iambic pentameter has ten syllables with a rising, da-DUM da-DUM rhythm. Dryden pairs two such lines that rhyme, creating the balanced, elevated flow characteristic of his verse. That combination—two rhymed lines, each in iambic pentameter—defines this meter.

The other options don’t fit because they describe different rhythmic patterns: trochaic tetrameter starts with a stressed syllable and has four feet per line, giving a heavier, different feel; anapestic trimeter uses three feet of unstressed-unstressed-stressed, producing a quicker, lighter gallop not typical of Dryden’s measured couplets; and dactylic hexameter belongs to classical epic, with six feet per line and a strong, long-short-short rhythm that isn’t used in English heroic couplets.