Couplet Guide: Couplet Examples and Explanations

Have you ever found yourself drawn into a poem by its opening two lines and compelled to read on? Or have you ever found yourself thinking about a poem’s final two lines long after reading it? You have probably read Dr. Seuss or Shakespeare before and are familiar with the couplet. 

Poetry is undoubtedly the most beautiful way to sing the tunes of your heart and creativity. They use lyrical language and rhythm to really bring a poem to life. Couplets’ rapid tempo and concise wording are tricks used by poets to create memorable poetry.

What is a Couplet?

In the most basic sense, a couplet is made up of two rhymed lines of verse that often have the same length and rhythm and express a whole idea. To put it simply, it’s just two lines that mesh beautifully together. 

There are rhymed and unrhymed couplets. Couplets must constitute a single thought or statement within those two lines, although they can also be written in free verse or a variety of metrical schemes. In a poem, couplets can function as the two-line stanza structure or be used in longer stanzas with more lines. Couplets are used in many literary traditions, including Arabic and Chinese poetry. Still, they are most commonly seen in English poetry, such as the poetry of Alexander Pope, William Shakespeare, and Geoffrey Chaucer.

History Of Couplets

The Latin word “copula,” which means “bond” or “link,” is where the word couplet originates. A “couplet” is two pieces of iron joined together by a rivet or hinge in French. 

Couplets gained popularity as a literary device during the Elizabethan period (1558–1603). They were first used by English poets to create rhyme schemes.

The phrase “couplet” was originally used to describe poetry by Sir Philip Sidney. In his work Arcadia (1590), Sidney defined a couplet as a pair of lines related by the same idea or thinking, with the first line posing a query and the second line providing a response.

What Use Does a Couplet Serve in Poetry?

Although couplets are frequently employed to close a stanza, they can also serve as the poem’s entire body. The decision is based on the impact the poet wishes to achieve.

Leave a Mark

The poet makes more of an effect with the form by condensing the poem’s key ideas into these short, two-line chunks. Each word choice matters because emotion, characterization, and tone must all be distilled into these small sections. Couplets enable the poet to highlight significance through word choice by emphasizing the rhyming syllables at the end of each line.

Accelerate the Tempo

As the poem begins to take on a somewhat lyrical character, the faster tempo created by rhyming couplets is used to create a lighthearted or playful tone. This is apparent in A.E. Housman’s poetry “Terence, This is Stupid Stuff”: “Terence, this is stupid stuff: / You eat your victuals fast enough; / There cannot be much amiss, ’tis clear, / To see the rate you drink your beer.” 

Establish Rhythm

When read aloud, rhymed couplets provide a form of beat that can be utilized to accentuate a point or generate a different impact, like suspense. Rhyming couplets, for instance, are used by Edgar Allan Poe in “The Raven” to heighten the suspense and convey the narrator’s growing sense of terror: “Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!  Quoth the Raven’ Nevermore.” 

Couplet Examples

Let us look at some well-known examples of poetry and music and other common expressions that you may not even be aware of, which contain couplets.

Classic Couplet Examples

Couplets have been around in poetry for ages and are popular.

An Essay on Criticism, Alexander Pope

Is hard to say if a greater want of skill

Appear in writing or in judging ill;

Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? William Shakespeare

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Cooper’s Hill, John Denham

“O, could I flow like thee and make thy stream

My great example, as it is my theme!”

Couplet Examples In Songs

The magic of couplets transcends into songs as well. 

Hotel California, The Beatles

Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)

Such a lovely face

Plenty of room at the Hotel California

Any time of year (Any time of year)

You can find it here.

Coney Island, Taylor Swift

do you miss the rogue that coaxed you into paradise and left you there, 

will you forgive my soul when you’re too wise to trust me and too old to care?

Love Drought, Beyoncé 

Ten times out of nine, I know you are lying

However, nine times out of ten, I know you are trying.

Day-to-day Couplet Examples

Couplets are also used almost every day to stir up boring conversations and also in nursery rhymes.

• My cat likes to chase a mouse, 

Especially one that’s in the house.

• Double, double, toil and trouble

Fire burn and cauldron bubble

Conclusion

Poetic devices like the couplet have been used by poets for ages. Thus, they are an integral part of English Literature. No matter how well you are at English right now, Turito can help you hone your skills further. You can select your grade and perfect your grammar and vocabulary. Turito enables students to study from the experts and take advantage of the finest individualized learning strategy.

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