Augustan style reflects Enlightenment values, favouring symmetry, polished diction, and rational argument. Often associated with heroic couplets and satire, it seeks control over emotion through reason. Poets adopt this style to demonstrate intellectual authority, social critique, and allegiance to classical ideals of proportion and decorum.

Augustan style is the poetry of balance and judgement: clarity, symmetry, wit, and classical restraint, often in satirical or moral modes. It commonly uses closed forms (heroic couplets, balanced clauses, antithesis) to demonstrate control and intellectual poise. Students should listen for the “snap” of epigram and the orderly progression of argument. When writing Augustan-style verse, draft in propositions: state a claim, qualify it, twist it with irony, and land on a polished concluding line. Related concepts include neoclassicism, decorum, and satire.