Home › Glossary › Letter P

pure-meter couplet

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

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 rhymed or unrhymed couplet that maintains strict metrical consistency across both lines, emphasizing formal regularity and balance.

Detailed Definition
A pure-meter couplet maintains consistent metrical pattern across both lines without variation or substitution, creating rhythmic regularity that emphasizes formal control. This strict adherence to pattern generates musicality through predictable pulsation and highlights any deviations as especially significant.
Example
Example in poetry:
Alexander Pope’s heroic couplets (“To err is human; to forgive, divine”) exemplify pure-meter couplet in iambic pentameter; In “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” Gray uses pure-meter couplets for meditative closure; Contemporary poet A.E. Stallings crafts pure-meter couplets with classical precision; In “The Rape of the Lock,” Pope’s couplets maintain metrical purity despite satirical content; Student exercise: “The moon ascends / above the bends” in strict iambic dimeter couplet.
Additional Notes
A two-line unit maintaining consistent metrical pattern throughout both lines without variation in rhythm.
Also Known As
Regular couplet Strict-meter pairs Uniform two-line Consistent couplet Diatonic Couplet
Skip to main content