Couplets

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

A couplet [CUP-let] is the simplest form of poetry. Do you see the word "couple" in couplet? A couple is two of something.

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

A couplet is a poem made of two lines of rhyming poetry that usually have the same meter. There are no rules about length or rhythm. Two words that rhyme can be called a couplet.

Do you know what the pioneers ate when they got desperate ??????????

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

Snake

Steak

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

Most poems will consist of more than two words.

The rule to remember is that each line in a couplet has an end rhyme.

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

We can mark end rhymes alphabetically to keep track of the rhyming pattern.

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

Twinkle twinkle little star

How I wonder what you are

For instance, look at this couplet:

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

The words star and are are end rhymes. We'll use the letter "A" to mark the rhyme pattern. We can string couplets together to make a longer poem, so now I'll join that couplet with another:

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

Up above the world so high, Like a diamond in the sky.

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

That couplet gets the next letter in the alphabet, "B". Here is the complete poem with the end rhyme pattern marked:

When the blazing sun is gone, When he nothing shines upon, Then you show your little light, Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are!

A

A

B

B

C

C

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

How many couplets are strung together to create this poem? ______

Then the traveler in the dark, Thanks you for your tiny spark, He could not see which way to

go, If you did not twinkle so. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are!

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

 Let's work together to create a couplet. One has been started for you; all you need to do is fill in the blanks.

        A _____________ (1-syllable word) flew through the air.

        It fell upon a ____________ (1-syllable word that rhymes with "air.")

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)

That wasn't much of a challenge, was it? Let's try something with a little more difficulty. For this exercise you are to use your name as the first line of your couplet. You may use any combination of your first, middle, and last names. Here are a few examples to get your creative juices flowing:

Brenda Sue   Aurora LaShay   Zachary Hill Wade

Ate some stew Went outside to play Stood very still Stayed

As your lesson on the couplet comes to an end, choose any topic you like and write a couplet. Maybe you will discover that:       

You were a poetBut didn't know it!

Presented by Brent Daigle, Ph.D. (ABD)