couplet
/ˈkʌplət/ (bre, ipa) · /ˈkʌplət/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈkə-plət/ (ame, mw)
couplet — noun
- coupletsingular
- coupletsplural
1. a pair of lines in a poem that are written one right after the other, often with
a pair of lines in a poem that are written one right after the other, often with matching rhythm and with end words that sound the same.
Mei-Lin wrote a couplet about cherry blossoms for her Chinese poetry class.
couplet about [topic]
The final couplet of the sonnet rhymed 'heart' with 'art' perfectly.
final couplet of [poem]
Amara struggled to finish the second couplet before the workshop deadline.
Every couplet in Fatima's poem used a different pair of rhyming sounds.
Wei and his classmates had to memorise a couplet by Tang poet Du Fu.
- rhyming couplet
a subtype that specifically emphasises the rhyme; all rhyming couplets are couplets, but not all couplets necessarily rhyme
- distich
a rare, technical term from classical prosody; learners will almost never encounter it outside specialised literary study
- pair of verses
a looser, non-technical expression that can refer to any two lines, not necessarily adjacent or metrically matched
用法筆記
Often used with the prepositions 'of' and 'in' to specify which poem or which part of a poem the couplet belongs to. Also common with adjectives like 'rhyming', 'final', 'closing' to describe the position or type.