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Image couplet

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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 two-line unit crafted to deliver a single, vivid visual impression, often functioning as a self-contained image.

Detailed Definition
Image couplet is a two-line stanza built around a single, unified visual image, where both lines work in concert to sharpen focus, deepen perception, or reveal an unexpected dimension of the depicted scene through precise, concrete language.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The red wheelbarrow / glazed with rain water” – William Carlos Williams; “So much depends / upon” – William Carlos Williams; “In a Station of the Metro / The apparition of these faces in the crowd” – Ezra Pound; “Whitecaps on the bay: / A gull riding the wind” – Amy Lowell
Additional Notes
Image couplet is a two-line unit built around a single, vivid image; foundational to Imagist poetry—avoid abstraction and focus on concrete, sensory details that imply emotion rather than state it.
Also Known As
Visual couplet imagist pair concrete duo pictorial distich Imagist couplet
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