what is a couplet in poetry

A couplet is a literary device in poetry that consists of two successive lines of verse that follow one another and are connected by rhythm and rhyme. The two lines of verse that make up a couplet are usually of the same length and meter, and they can be either closed or open. A closed couplet is when the two lines form a bounded grammatical unit like a sentence, while an open couplet is when the meaning of the first line continues to the second. The most common type of couplet is the heroic couplet, which is written in rhymed iambic pentameter and features prominently in the work of 17th- and 18th-century didactic and satirical poets such as Alexander Pope. However, not all couplets rhyme, and not all couplets have similar syllabic patterns. Poets use couplets as a technique to make their poems memorable by providing a quick pacing and brief language.