What is a Couplet?
A couplet is a pair of consecutive lines in poetry that:
Rhyme (e.g., light/night).
Share the same meter (e.g., iambic pentameter).
Often form a complete thought or unit of meaning.
Couplets can stand alone or be part of a larger poem (like Shakespearean sonnets, which end with a couplet).
Examples:
1. Nature’s Whisper (Two Couplets)
The wind hums soft through autumn trees,
And shakes the leaves with playful ease.
The moon then paints the sky with gold,
While stars their ancient stories told.
Features:
Rhyme scheme: AA BB.
Meter: Iambic tetrameter (4 beats per line).
2. Lost and Found (Single Couplet)
I dropped my dreams beside the shore,
But found them in the ocean’s roar.
Features:
Rhyme scheme: AA.
Complete idea in two lines.
What is a Quatrain?
A quatrain is a 4-line stanza in poetry with a specific:
Rhyme scheme (e.g., ABAB, AABB, ABBA).
Meter (e.g., iambic pentameter).
Complete thought or image.
Quatrains are versatile and appear in everything from nursery rhymes to epic poems.
1. “The River’s Song” (ABAB Rhyme)
The river hums a lullaby, [A]
Beneath the moon’s soft silver glow. [B]
It whispers secrets to the sky, [A]
Then dances where the wild winds blow. [B]
Features:
Rhyme: ABAB (by/glow/sky/blow).
Meter: Iambic tetrameter (4 beats per line).
Theme: Nature’s music and motion.
2. “Grandma’s Kitchen”
The cookies bake, the air smells sweet, [A]
A sugary, cinnamon treat. [A]
Her laughter rings, [B]
the timer sings. [B]
Features:
Meter: Mixed (mostly iambic).
Theme: Nostalgia and sensory joy.
Quatrains and Couplets – “The Garden’s Secret”
Stanza 1 (Quatrain)
The roses blush at dawn’s first light, [A]
Their petals soft as whispered song. [B]
The daisies dance in breezes bright, [A]
While ivy climbs the wall so long. [B]
Stanza 2 (Quatrain)
The tulips bow their golden heads, [C]
To bees that hum a drowsy tune. [D]
The sun spills gold on flower beds, [C]
And fades away too soon. [D]
Couplet
But deep below where roots entwine,
The earth holds secrets sweet as thyme.
Structure Breakdown:
Stanza 1 (Lines 1–4): Introduces the garden’s beauty at dawn (ABAB rhyme).
Stanza 2 (Lines 5–8): Extends the imagery to dusk (CDCD rhyme).
Couplet (Lines 9–10): Reveals the garden’s hidden mystery (EE rhyme).
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EE
Key Features:
Imagery: Flowers, bees, and light create a vivid scene.
Turn: The couplet shifts focus underground, hinting at deeper meaning.
Meter: Iambic tetrameter (4 beats per line, e.g., “The RO-ses BLUSH at DAWN’s first LIGHT”).
Sestet
A sestet is a 6-line stanza in poetry, often used to:
Resolve a theme (common in sonnets, like Petrarchan sestets).
Explore contrasts or shifts (volta/turn).
Follow varied rhyme schemes (e.g., CDECDE, EFEFGG, or free verse).
2 Simple Poems Using Sestets
1. “The Storm’s Gift”
The winds have stilled, the skies now clear, [E]
Yet puddles shine like broken glass. [F]
The air smells fresh—so sharp, so near— [E]
As if the storm left joy to pass. [F]
The trees, though bent, stand tall and grand, [G]
Their roots now drink the rain’s command. [G]
Features:
Rhyme: EFGEFG (clear/glass/near/pass/grand/command).
Volta (turn): Shift from storm’s chaos to renewal (Line 3).
Theme: Nature’s resilience.
2. “Questions for the Moon” (Free-Verse Sestet)
Moon, why do you hide half your face?
Do you tire of our endless nights?
Or is your glow a fleeting grace—
A wink to stars, then off like lights?
Perhaps you guard a silver sea,
Where tides obey your mystery.
Line Text Rhyme
1 Moon, why do you hide half your face? A
2 Do you tire of our endless nights? B
3 Or is your glow a fleeting grace— A
4 A wink to stars, then off like lights? B
5 Perhaps you guard a silver sea, C
6 Where tides obey your mystery. C