couplet

American  

[kuhp-lit] / ˈkʌp lɪt /

noun

1. a pair of successive lines of verse, especially a pair that rhyme and are of the same length.

2. a pair; couple.

3. Music. any of the contrasting sections of a rondo occurring between statements of the refrain.

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couplet British  

/ ˈkʌplɪt /

noun

1. two successive lines of verse, usually rhymed and of the same metre

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couplet Cultural  

1. A pair of lines of verse that rhyme. Some poems, such as “The Night Before Christmas,” are written entirely in couplets:

   `Twas the night before Christmas , when all through the house

   Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

   The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

   In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

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Etymology

Origin of couplet

From Middle French, dating back to 1570–80; see origin at couple, -et

Explanation

A couplet is two lines of poetry that usually rhyme. Here's a famous couplet: "Good night! Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow / That I shall say good night till it be morrow." The couplet above comes from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which is a play, not a poem. But Shakespeare often used rhyming couplets at the end of scenes to signal the ending. Couplets are very common in poetry. Often whole poems are written in couplet form — two lines of rhyming poetry, followed by two more lines with a different rhyme, and so on. Robert Frost, one of America's great poets, wrote many poems using couplets.

Example Sentences

Whether we are talking about 24 hours or a millennium, it is as chilling a rhymed couplet of stated political intent as one could envision.

From Salon • Jul. 30, 2024

But “Lip Service” by Costello and the Attractions has the all-time classic couplet: “When did you become so choosy? Don’t act like you’re above me, just look at your shoes.”

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 14, 2023

The ending, like a perfect rhyming couplet, is both unexpected and inevitable: It is, of course, the chosen card.

From New York Times • Jan. 2, 2023

By 2012's All Too Well, she was capable of writing this devastating couplet: "You call me up again just to break me like a promise / So casually cruel in the name of being honest."

From BBC • Oct. 19, 2022

Billy found the couplet so comical that he not only laughed—he shrieked.

From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

Related Words

• verse