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reversed 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 two-line stanza in which the second line inverts or contradicts the first in meaning or structure

Detailed Definition
Reversed couplet inverts expected syntactic or logical order—such as placing effect before cause or conclusion before premise—to disrupt linearity and provoke reflection; this technique challenges causal assumptions and reveals hidden connections, making the reader active in reconstructing meaning.
Example
Example in poetry:
Couplet where second line logically or syntactically precedes first: “Because you lied. / I stopped believing.”; Emotional reversal: “Now I’m strong. / You made me weak.”; Cause placed after effect: “The glass shattered. / You dropped it.”; Inverted narrative: “She’s gone. / I watched her leave.”
Additional Notes
Reversed couplet inverts expected rhyme scheme (e.g., BA instead of AB) or semantic order; disrupts predictability and invites rereading.
Also Known As
flipped couplet backward distich reversed pair inverted stanza Backward-reading couplet inverted couplet
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