Heptameter is a type of meter where each line of verse contains seven
metrical feet.
[Harmon, William, and Hugh Holman. ''A Handbook to Literature.'' Eleventh ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2009. 264.] It was used frequently in Classical prosody, and in English, the line was used frequently in narrative poetry since the Romantics.
The meter is also called septenary, and this is the most common form for medieval Latin and vernacular verse, including the ''
Ormulum''. Its first use in English is possibly the ''
Poema Morale'' of the twelfth/thirteenth century.
An example from
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...
's ''Youth and Age'':
:'Tis but as ivy-leaves around the ruin'd turret wreathe,
:All green and wildly fresh without, but worn and gray beneath.
:O could I feel as I have felt, or be what I have been,
:Or weep as I could once have wept o'er many a vanish'd scene,-
:As springs in deserts found seem sweet, all brackish though they be,
:So midst the wither'd waste of life, those tears would flow to me!
An example from
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...
's ''
Annabel Lee'':
:It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea,
:That a maiden there lived whom you may know by the name of Annabel Lee;
:And this maiden she lived with no other thought than to love and be loved by me.
An example from
Robert W. Service
Robert William Service (16 January 1874 – 11 September 1958) was an English-born Canadian poet and writer, often called “The Poet of the Yukon" and "The Canadian Kipling". Born in Lancashire of Scottish descent, he was a bank clerk by trade ...
's ''
The Cremation of Sam McGee'':
:Now Sam , McGee , was from Tenn, essee, , where the co, tton blooms , and blows.(A)
:Why he left his home in the South to roam 'round the Pole, God only knows. (A)
: He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell; (B)
: Though he'd often say in his homely way that "he'd sooner live in hell." (B)
See also
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Fourteener (poetry)
In poetry, a fourteener is a line consisting of 14 syllables, which are usually made of seven iambic feet, for which the style is also called iambic heptameter. It is most commonly found in English poetry produced in the 16th and 17th centuries ...
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Archilochian
References
Types of verses
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