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resolution 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 concluding couplet that resolves the central tension, question, or narrative of a poem, often providing closure or insight.

Detailed Definition
A concluding couplet that resolves tensions, questions, or themes developed in preceding verses, providing closure through completion of argument or emotional arc. Often containing the poem's most memorable or quotable lines due to prominent terminal position, resolution couplets demonstrate how brevity and structural placement create emphasis. The pairing of two rhymed lines gives finality while the content provides thematic or intellectual resolution.
Example
Example in poetry:
Resolution couplet closes Shakespeare’s sonnets: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee”; Alexander Pope’s heroic couplets provide epigrammatic closure; modern example: Terrance Hayes ends “American Sonnet” with “assassin / compassion”; resolution couplet synthesizes preceding argument; it’s common in sonnet and epigram; this form offers aphoristic finality.
Additional Notes
Provides closure through resolution of preceding tensions or questions. Often contains the poem's most memorable or quotable lines. The couplet form creates emphasis through structural completion.
Also Known As
Closing couplet Final pair Terminal rhyme Resolving doublet Epodic couplet
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