Iambic Heptameter

Iambic heptameter is similar to iambic pentameter except that each line has seven iambs instead of five.

Sometimes when writing in iambic heptameter, poets will break the lines into alternating lines of 4 iambs and 3 iambs:

Today's Prayer
Fill up my heart with faith,
A sturdy rampart standing strong
Against the tempter's darts
That seek to crush salvation's song.
Fill up my heart with hope,
A bright and buoyant parasail
That lifts and carries me
Above life's endless, lashing gale.
Fill up my heart with love,
The virtue over all the rest,
Without which faith and hope
Lie cold and dead upon my breast.
(Copyright 2010 by Douglas Twitchell)

The typical rhyme scheme for iambic heptameter is to rhyme the lines in pairs (AABBCC, etc). Or, if you are breaking it into 3s and 4s, every other line (ABCB).

See Also
Iambs
Iambic Pentameter
Anapestic Tetrameter

More articles

Blogs on This Site