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flowing 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 couplet with enjambment, where syntax continues beyond the line break

Detailed Definition
A flowing couplet employs enjambment to allow syntax to run smoothly from the first line through the second and potentially beyond, creating fluid forward motion rather than end-stopped closure. This technique subordinates the metrical boundary between lines to the demands of syntactic continuity, generating momentum and preventing the stately pause associated with closed couplets. Flowing couplets can create conversational ease, mirror the movement of thought, or prevent the monotony that might result from consistently end-stopped pairs, demonstrating how line-break treatment profoundly affects couplet aesthetics.
Example
Example in poetry:
Alexander Pope’s “An Essay on Criticism” uses flowing couplets to argue poetically: “True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, / As those move easiest who have learned to dance”; In John Dryden’s “Absalom and Achitophel,” political satire rides flowing couplets with rhythmic inevitability; Contemporary poet A.E. Stallings employs flowing couplets in “Sestina: Like” to explore simile’s mechanics; Phillis Wheatley’s “On Being Brought from Africa to America” uses flowing couplets to assert spiritual equality; Wendy Cope’s “Strugnell’s Haiku” parodies form but retains flowing couplet grace; In Kay Ryan’s “Tightrope,” flowing couplets mimic balance and tension.
Additional Notes
A flowing couplet uses enjambment and smooth syntax to create continuity between lines—contrasts with end-stopped couplets by emphasizing motion over closure.
Also Known As
Run-on couplet Enjambed pair Flowing distich Unbroken rhyming lines Continuous pair Couplet, open Continuous two-liner
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