 In poetry or even in classic plays, you've probably heard of a couplet, which is just another fancy way of saying two lines in a poem or a play, for instance, a play written by William Shakespeare, where at the end of both of those lines, there are two words you will find which rhyme. In other words, it sounds similar, and we'll call that a couplet, okay? So two lines of poetry where the words at the end rhyme. However, have you come across a heroic couplet? Perhaps not. So in this video, what I will do is go over the exact meaning of a heroic couplet and why you should consider spotting it, particularly if you want to aim for the higher marks when it comes to your English literature analysis. Now, when it comes to the heroic couplet, remember it's very, very easy poetic technique or even a technique within plays, such as William Shakespeare's plays, to spot. However, you need to be clear on exactly what it means. Now, a heroic couplet is, just like a couplet, two lines of poetry or some form of poetry within a play, and it's written in what we call iambic pentameter. Now, remember, iambic pentameter is just basically a line of writing which has 10 syllables. The first syllable is unstressed, the second syllable is stressed, which is what we call an iambic foot, and this happens five times, okay? So the first syllable is stressed, the first syllable is unstressed, the second syllable is stressed, third is unstressed, fourth is stressed, fifth is unstressed, sixth is stressed, seventh is unstressed, eighth is stressed, ninth is unstressed, and tenth is stressed, okay? And if you're not entirely clear on what iambic pentameter is, do make sure you check out our video where I go over exactly how to easily spot iambic pentameter. However, let's get back to heroic couplet, okay? So number one, a heroic couplet is two lines of poetry, number two is written in iambic pentameter, and third and finally, both lines must rhyme, okay? So it combines both the couplet element of poetry where you've got two lines at the end, the words rhyme. However, it is written in a really particular rhythmic pattern. In other words, both lines also have to be written in iambic pentameter. I will give you a really easy example so that you can see exactly how it looks like in practice. And this is taken from Acts two, scene two of William Shakespeare's play, Remio and Juliet. Now in this part, and in this quotation, basically what Remio is saying is he's just seen Juliet, he's really in love with her, he thinks she's the most beautiful person he's seen. And essentially what he's saying in these two lines of poetry is that Juliet's eyes are so beautiful and so bright that even the darkest of nights, they literally shine through everything. You know, it's almost like a lighthouse which gleams and shines, and even for example, birds in the darkness can see it, okay? So that's basically what he's saying. However, he's obviously says this in a very Shakespearean sense. He states, would through the airy region, stream so bright that birds would sing and think it were not night, okay? So I'm gonna repeat this. Would through the airy region, stream so bright that birds would sing and think it were so not night, okay? Now here, both lines are written by Shakespeare in what we call iambic pentameter. And the end of both lines, this is a couplet because the words at the end rhyme, okay? Now, just to be clear, iambic pentameter as you can see here is ten syllables unstressed and stressed, okay? And one syllable which is unstressed and stressed is what we call an iambic foot. And this happens five times in iambic pentameter. I'm gonna show you how. So as you can see here, would is unstressed in green, through is stressed in red, the unstressed, air stressed, re-unstressed, restressed, gen unstressed, stream stressed, so unstressed, bright is stressed, okay? So just to be clear, this is ten syllables iambic pentameter and again, the second line, that is an unstressed syllable, birds is a stressed syllable, wood is unstressed, sing is stressed, and is unstressed, think stressed, it unstressed, were stressed, not unstressed, and night stressed, okay? In other words, if you read it and clapped, you would find that you clapped ten times for each line because they are written in ten syllables. However, one of them is unstressed, meaning it takes a bit shorter to pronounce it, the other is stressed, it takes just a little bit longer to pronounce it. This happens for both lines, as you can see, okay? So both lines are written in iambic pentameter, however, most importantly, both lines at the end of the lines, they rhyme, okay? So just remember, heroic couplets, let's quickly recap what heroic couplet is. Heroic couplet is two lines of poetry written in iambic pentameters and both lines must rhyme. So that's really it when it comes to understanding heroic couplets. I would definitely encourage, especially when you are analyzing and looking at different types of poems, try and see if you can spot this in poetry. Also when you're looking at classic plays such as William Shakespeare's writing, definitely highlight this if it comes up because this is very impressive from a teacher's perspective. You're going the extra mile. You're also illustrating a knowledge of slightly more advanced English literature techniques. Thank you so much for listening.