How to Write a Couplet

Lisa Schlageck

TEC539 Digital Media

August 29, 2010

What is a Couplet?

A small portion of a poem consisting of two consecutive lines that rhyme (eHow, 2010).

Any two lines working as a unit, whether they compromise a single stanza or are part of a larger stanza. Most rhyme, but they do not have to (Gotera, 1999).

First,

Understand the format and then choose a topic.

Make it simple yet descriptive.

A topic such as your life would be difficult to compress, but a topic about a flower can be simple.

(eHow, Inc., 2010 and wikiHow, 2010)

Second,

Write the idea you wish to convey in a variety of ways, each time ending the line with a different word.

Express your complete thought into two, mid-sized poetic lines.

Keep the flow going throughout the poem.

(eHow, Inc., 2010 and wikiHow, 2010)

Third,

Recite each couplet aloud, listening carefully to the rhythm and flow of the words.

Read aloud to a friend for an opinion.(eHow, Inc., 2010)

Finally,

Combine many couplets to form an extensive poem. I won’t be a couplet any longer but it will sound great if put together (eHow, Inc., 2010).

If you enjoyed writing a couplet, you may enjoy writing a sonnet. It involves putting together many couplets in a different way (wikiHow, 2010).

Example of a Couplet

From Maxine Kumin’s “Morning Swim”Into my empty head there comea cotton beach, a dock wherefrom

From Richard Steere’s “On a Sea-Storm Nigh the Coast”The weighty seas are rowled from the deepsIn mighty heaps,And from the rocks' foundations do arise To kiss the skies.

(Gotera, 1999)

References

eHow, Inc., (2010). How to write a couplet. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how_2057569_write-couplet.html

wikiHow, (2010). How to write a couplet. Retrieved from http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Couplet

Gotera, V. (1999). Couplet. Retrieved from http://www.uni.edu/~gotera/CraftOfPoetry/couplet.html