What Is the Definition of Couplet in Poetry?
A couplet is a pair of consecutive lines of poetry that create a complete
thought or idea. The lines often have a similar syllabic patterns, called a meter.
While most couplets rhyme, not all do. A couplet can live within a bigger poem
or be a poem all its own.
Couplet, a pair of end-rhymed lines of verse that are self-contained in
grammatical structure and meaning. A couplet may be formal (or closed), in
which case each of the two lines is end-stopped, or it may be run-on (or open),
with the meaning of the first line continuing to the second (this is called
enjambment).
Example:
Then share thy pain, allow that sad relief;
Ah, more than share it, give me all thy grief.
(Alexander Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard”)
What is the History of the Couplet?
The original meaning of “couplet” in French is two pieces of iron connected by
a rivet or a hinge. The Latin origin is “copula,” which means a bond or a link. In
poetry, the lines of a couplet are linked by the thought that joins them
together. They first emerged in the English language during the thirteenth
century, when English poets began to use them as literary devices to establish
patterns in verse.
Some additional key details about couplets:
• Couplets do not have to be stand-alone stanzas. Instead, a couplet may
be differentiated from neighboring lines by its rhyme, or because it
forms a complete sentence, or simply because someone talking about
the poem wants to specify which two lines they're referring to.
• Couplets do not have to rhyme, though they often do.
• A couplet may be open or closed, meaning that each line may make up a
complete sentence, or the sentence may carry from one line into the
next.
What Are Some of the Different Types of Couplets in Poetry?
Couplets group one idea into a short stanza. The characteristics that define a
couplet —meter, rhyme scheme, or origin — divide them into specific types of
couplets such as:
• Heroic couplet. This is the most common couplet used in English poetry.
Heroic couplets follow an iambic pentameter — a rhythm that has a five
two-syllable beat with emphasis placed on the second syllable. Chaucer
pioneered the use of heroic couplets in The Canterbury Tales in the
fourteenth century. Alexander Pope and John Dryden were famous for
their use of heroic couplets in the eighteenth century.
Then share thy pain, allow that sad relief;
Ah, more than share it, give me all thy grief.
• Split couplet. Split couplets have asymmetrical rhythms. The first line is
iambic pentameter—five beats. The next line is iambic dimeter—two
beats.
A rabbit hopes across my trail
A bouncy tail
Stand-alone Couplets
Couplets are easiest to identify when they stand alone. Sometimes a couplet
stands alone because it forms an entire two-line poem. For example, Alexander
Pope's famous two-line epigram that he engraved on the collar of a puppy
given to the Prince of Wales:
I am his highness's dog at Kew;
Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?
Other couplets stand alone because a poem's double line breaks create two-
line stanzas. For example, Robert Creeley's poem "The Whip" is written entirely
in couplets without rhyme. Here are the first two stanzas:
I spent a night turning in bed,
my love was a feather, a flat
sleeping thing. She was
very white
However, a poem does not have to be entirely broken into couplets to include
stand-alone couplets; couplets also occur in poems with stanzas of varying
lengths. For example, the first two stanzas of Robert Creeley's poem "The
Innocence" are a couplet followed by a tercet:
Looking to the sea, it is a line
of unbroken mountains.
It is the sky.
It is the ground. There
we live, on it
• Open couplet. A couplet that flows from the first line to the second line
as one continuous sentence is an open couplet. They are also referred to
as run-on couplets.
E.g. Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
• Closed couplet. A couplet that has two separate sentences is a closed
couplet. They are also called formal couplets.
E.g. So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
• Chinese couplet. Couplets have been used in Chinese poetry for two
thousand years. In Chinese poetry, couplets are written as individual
poems. The couplet poems are hung around doorways on special
occasions like New Year’s Day, birthdays, and weddings, with wishes for
a prosperous life.
• Qasida. A qasida is an Arabic poem that is a series of couplets. There can
be dozens of couplets in a qasida.
• E.G.
Jerra Jehraaah Ali Da Hubdar Nai
ONey Jannat Da Hona Hakdar Nai
Laao Nara Ali Da
Ku Baku, Laao Nara Ali Da
Jerra Jehraaah Ali Da Hubdar Nai
ONey Jannat Da Hona Hakdar Nai
By Nadeen sarver
