coupletten

Coupletten is the Dutch term for two-line verses or stanzas, used in both poetry and lyric songs. The plural coupletten refers to multiple such units. In Dutch-language literature and popular music, the term commonly designates the verse sections of a song, which typically precede or follow the chorus (refrein). The form is defined by its pairing of lines that together form a unit of meaning and sound.

In poetry, a couplet consists of two consecutive lines that usually complete a thought. They often rhyme, producing a self-contained unit, though open couplets may let the sentence flow beyond the boundary of the two lines. In the English tradition, the term heroic couplet describes two rhyming lines in iambic pentameter that form a complete sentence or thought.

In music, the couplet (or coupletten) functions as the narrative verse of a song. Each couplet advances the story or image, often in rhyme, and is followed by the chorus. The melodic and metrical strictness found in poetry is typically relaxed in song, allowing varied line length and rhythm while preserving the verse’s role in storytelling and development.

Origin and usage: the term is borrowed from French coupelet, meaning “a little pair,” and has been part of Dutch literary and musical vocabulary for centuries. While the core idea—a paired, self-contained line unit—has universal counterparts in many languages, the Dutch use of coupletten emphasizes its role as the building block of a song or poem’s verse sections.