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concluding couplet

Structure
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 pair of rhymed lines that appear at the end of a poem or stanza, often delivering resolution or a turn

Detailed Definition
A concluding couplet is a final two-line unit in a poem—often rhymed—that delivers summation, resolution, irony, or epigrammatic insight; frequently used in sonnets (e.g., Shakespearean) or satirical verse, it provides closure or a twist, crystallizing the poem’s argument or emotion with heightened rhetorical force and structural finality.
Example
Example in poetry:
Shakespearean sonnets often end with a concluding couplet that resolves the theme, as in Sonnet 18: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee”; Alexander Pope’s “An Essay on Man” uses heroic couplets where each pair concludes a thought; In “To His Coy Mistress,” Marvell’s final couplet urges action: “Thus, though we cannot make our sun / Stand still, yet we will make him run”; John Donne’s “Holy Sonnet X” ends with: “And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die”
Additional Notes
A concluding couplet is a final two-line unit that summarizes, resolves, or twists the poem’s theme—frequently rhymed and metrically distinct; master this in sonnets or epigrams for impactful closure.
Also Known As
Closing Couplet Final Rhyme Pair Terminal Stanza Epigrammatic Close closing lines
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