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Closing couplet

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A final two-line rhyming unit that provides closure to a poem or section

Detailed Definition
A Closing couplet is a final two-line stanza that concludes a poem—especially a sonnet—with a summarizing thought, ironic twist, or resonant resolution; typically rhymed and metrically distinct, it provides formal closure and often delivers the poem’s thematic punchline or emotional payoff.
Example
Example in poetry:
Closing couplet resolves sonnets or poems: Shakespeare’s “If this be error and upon me proved, / I never writ, nor no man ever loved”; Pope’s epigrams end with moral Closing couplet; contemporary poets subvert it with ironic twists; the form provides structural and thematic closure; Closing couplet differs from refrain by finality
Additional Notes
Closing couplet|A final two-line stanza (a couplet) that is used to summarize, conclude, or provide an emphatic, often rhyming, statement at the very end of a poem or major section; common in the Shakespearean Sonnet.
Also Known As
final couplet terminal pair concluding couplet closing distich Cadential couplet Epode couplet resolution couplet Terminal couplet
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