Heptameter is a type of meter where each line of verse contains seven

metrical feet The foot is the basic repeating metre (poetry), rhythmic unit that forms part of a line of poetry, verse in most Indo-European languages, Indo-European traditions of poetry, including English accentual-syllabic verse and the quantitative meter of ...

.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 The ''Ormulum'' or ''Orrmulum'' is a twelfth-century work of biblical exegesis, written by an Augustinian canon named Orm (or Ormin) and consisting of just under 19,000 lines of early Middle English verse. Because of the unique phonemic orthog ...

''. Its first use in English is possibly the ''

Poema Morale The ''Poema Morale'' ("Conduct of life" or "Moral Ode") is an early Middle English moral poem outlining proper Christian conduct. The poem was popular enough to have survived in seven manuscripts, including the homiletic collections known as the La ...

'' of the twelfth/thirteenth century. An example from

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

'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 (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

's ''

Annabel Lee "Annabel Lee" is the last complete poem composed by American author Edgar Allan Poe. Like many of Poe's poems, it explores the theme of the death of a beautiful woman.Meyers, Jeffrey. ''Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy''. New York: Cooper Sq ...

'': :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 (January 16, 1874 – September 11, 1958) was a British-Canadian poet and writer, often called "the Bard of the Yukon". The middle name 'William' was in honour of a rich uncle. When that uncle neglected to provide for hi ...

's ''

The Cremation of Sam McGee "The Cremation of Sam McGee" is among the most famous of Robert W. Service's (1874–1958) poems. It was published in 1907 in ''Songs of a Sourdough''. (A "sourdough", in this sense, is a resident of the Yukon.) It concerns the cremation of a ...

'': :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)

References

Types of verses {{Poetry-stub

See also

References