Laurel · Poems by form and metre

Iambic heptameter

Seven iambs, fourteen syllables, the fourteener of Chapman's Homer; broken at the fourth foot it is common measure written as one line. Below, what the metre is and how to recognise it, then every poem on Laurel measured as iambic heptameter, with how closely each keeps it.

What iambic heptameter is

Seven beats to the line, light then heavy: fourteen syllables. The fourteener of the Elizabethan translators; read aloud it wants to break after the fourth beat into a ballad’s four-and-three.

da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM

a-CHIL-les’ BANE-ful WRATH re-SOUND, o GOD-dess, THAT im-POSED
Chapman, The Iliad; the beats in capitals

How to tell

Fourteen syllables. If the line breaks naturally into eight and six, it is common measure printed as one line.

Paste a poem of your own and Laurel will say whether it is in iambic heptameter, stanza by stanza. How to scan a line.

283 poems on Laurel in iambic heptameter

  1. Stanzas.—April, 1814 Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Complete Poetical Works, Volume II · 90%
  2. Thel II William Blake, Poems of William Blake · 96%
  3. Thel I William Blake, Poems of William Blake · 92%
  4. Thel III William Blake, Poems of William Blake · 92%
  5. Holy Thursday William Blake, Poems of William Blake · 86%
  6. Holy Thursday William Blake, Songs of Innocence and of Experience · 86%
  7. Lenore Edgar Allan Poe, The Complete Poetical Works · 98%
  8. A Font of Type Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass · 90%
  9. Ethiopia Saluting the Colors Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass · 82%
  10. Year That Trembled and Reel’d Beneath Me Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass · 82%
  11. The Prairie States Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass · 76%
  12. Fast Anchor’d Eternal o Love! Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass · 74%
  13. The Indian upon God W. B. Yeats, Poems · 95%
  14. Conclusion Alfred Tennyson, The Early Poems · 93%
  15. New Year’s Eve Alfred Tennyson, The Early Poems · 90%
  16. Carmen LXIII: The Adventures of Atys Catullus, The Carmina · 93%
  17. Carmen CIX: To Lesbia on Her Vow of Constancy Catullus, The Carmina · 77%
  18. Book I: Ode IV: Solvitur Acris Hiems Horace, The Odes and Carmen Saeculare · 98%
  19. Book III: Ode XII: Miserarum Est Horace, The Odes and Carmen Saeculare · 97%
  20. Book I: Ode VIII: Lydia, Dic Per Omnes Horace, The Odes and Carmen Saeculare · 92%
  21. A Royal Princess Christina Rossetti, Goblin Market and Other Poems · 95%
  22. Poem 62 Gerard Manley Hopkins, Poems · 100%
  23. The Farm Child's Lullaby Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Complete Poems · 98%
  24. Lonesome Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Complete Poems · 95%
  25. The Spellin'-Bee Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Complete Poems · 95%
  26. Possum Trot Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Complete Poems · 95%
  27. Oonts Rudyard Kipling, Verses 1889–1896 · 98%
  28. Oonts Rudyard Kipling, Barrack-Room Ballads · 97%
  29. The Choosers of the Slain Rudyard Kipling, Verses 1889–1896 · 97%
  30. Belts Rudyard Kipling, Verses 1889–1896 · 96%
  31. With Scindia to Delhi Rudyard Kipling, Verses 1889–1896 · 96%
  32. Cholera Camp Rudyard Kipling, Verses 1889–1896 · 96%
  33. Route Marchin' Rudyard Kipling, Verses 1889–1896 · 96%
  34. That Day Rudyard Kipling, Barrack-Room Ballads · 96%
  35. Cholera Camp Rudyard Kipling, Barrack-Room Ballads · 96%
  36. Tommy Rudyard Kipling, Verses 1889–1896 · 96%
  37. Tommy Rudyard Kipling, Barrack-Room Ballads · 96%
  38. The Ballad of the King's Mercy Rudyard Kipling, Verses 1889–1896 · 96%
  39. Belts Rudyard Kipling, Barrack-Room Ballads · 95%
  40. Route Marchin' Rudyard Kipling, Barrack-Room Ballads · 94%
  41. M'Andrew's Hymn Rudyard Kipling, Verses 1889–1896 · 94%
  42. That Day Rudyard Kipling, Verses 1889–1896 · 94%
  43. The Coastwise Lights Rudyard Kipling, Verses 1889–1896 · 93%
  44. The Legend of Evil II Rudyard Kipling, Verses 1889–1896 · 93%
  45. The Lacking Sense Thomas Hardy, Poems of the Past and the Present · 96%
  46. The Hemlock Tree Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Complete Poetical Works · 93%
  47. By Gonzalo De Berceo Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Complete Poetical Works · 89%
  48. San Miguel, the Convent Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Complete Poetical Works · 87%
  49. Strange Service Ivor Gurney, Severn and Somme · 89%
  50. Tess Isaac Rosenberg, Poems · 92%
  51. My Shadow Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses · 100%
  52. My Ship and I Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses · 100%
  53. The Lamplighter Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child's Garden of Verses · 94%
  54. Hell’s Pavement John Masefield, Salt-Water Ballads · 100%
  55. Harbour-Bar John Masefield, Salt-Water Ballads · 98%
  56. A Pier-Head Chorus John Masefield, Salt-Water Ballads · 98%
  57. A Ballad of John Silver John Masefield, Salt-Water Ballads · 96%
  58. Personal John Masefield, Salt-Water Ballads · 96%
  59. The Turn of the Tide John Masefield, Salt-Water Ballads · 96%
  60. Fever Ship John Masefield, Salt-Water Ballads · 94%
  61. Spunyarn John Masefield, Salt-Water Ballads · 93%
  62. To-Morrow John Masefield, Salt-Water Ballads · 92%
  63. A Night at Dago Tom’s John Masefield, Salt-Water Ballads · 90%
  64. A Wanderer’s Song John Masefield, Salt-Water Ballads · 90%
  65. Tewkesbury Road John Masefield, Salt-Water Ballads · 89%
  66. The New Mistress A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad · 93%
  67. By Ellen Louisa Tucker Ralph Waldo Emerson, Poems · 89%
  68. Song 7 Philip Sidney, Astrophel and Stella · 90%
  69. Gentle Alice Brown W. S. Gilbert, The Bab Ballads · 93%
  70. Whose Lives Were Lost in the S. African War Robert Bridges, Poetical Works · 80%
  71. Impenitentia Ultima Ernest Dowson, The Poems of Ernest Dowson · 90%
  72. The Sea-Change Ernest Dowson, The Poems of Ernest Dowson · 89%
  73. A World for Love John Clare, Poems · 91%
  74. The Garden Sara Teasdale, Flame and Shadow · 87%
  75. Winged Man Stephen Vincent Benét, Young Adventure · 84%
  76. The Poet to His Childhood Alice Meynell, Poems · 93%
  77. When the Frost Is on the Punkin James Whitcomb Riley, Riley Farm-Rhymes · 99%
  78. Thoughts Fer the Discuraged Farmer James Whitcomb Riley, Riley Farm-Rhymes · 96%
  79. The Death of the Flowers William Cullen Bryant, Poems · 92%
  80. The Damsel of Peru William Cullen Bryant, Poems · 88%
  81. From the Spanish William Cullen Bryant, Poems · 86%
  82. A Second Letter from B. Sawin, Esq James Russell Lowell, Poems · 94%
  83. A Third Letter from B. Sawin, Esq James Russell Lowell, Poems · 93%
  84. Song James Russell Lowell, Poems · 93%
  85. The Reckoning Robert W. Service, Songs of a Sourdough · 99%
  86. Grin Robert W. Service, Songs of a Sourdough · 98%
  87. The Younger Son Robert W. Service, Songs of a Sourdough · 98%
  88. The Harpy Robert W. Service, Songs of a Sourdough · 95%
  89. The Lure of Little Voices Robert W. Service, Songs of a Sourdough · 92%
  90. The Tramps Robert W. Service, Songs of a Sourdough · 90%
  91. The Banishment of the Cid LV Anonymous, The Lay of the Cid · 100%
  92. The Banishment of the Cid XXVIII Anonymous, The Lay of the Cid · 100%
  93. The Marriage of the Cid's Daughters LXXXI Anonymous, The Lay of the Cid · 100%
  94. The Shell Isabella Valancy Crawford, Old Spookses' Pass, Malcolm's Katie and Other Poems · 99%
  95. The Nuts of Knowledge George William Russell, The Divine Vision and Other Poems · 98%
  96. The Banishment of the Cid XXXVII Anonymous, The Lay of the Cid · 98%
  97. Our Lady of the Mine Eugene Field, Hoosier Lyrics · 97%
  98. The Banishment of the Cid LIX Anonymous, The Lay of the Cid · 97%
  99. The Dark Maid of the Valley Eleanor Hull, The Poem-Book of the Gael · 97%
  100. The Trotting Horse Robert Bell, Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England · 97%
  101. By Honest Jo. One of His Grace's Farmers in Fingal Jonathan Swift, Poems, Volume II · 97%
  102. A Valentine Eugene Field, Hoosier Lyrics · 96%
  103. Ed Eugene Field, Hoosier Lyrics · 96%
  104. Horace I, 11 Eugene Field, Hoosier Lyrics · 96%
  105. The Fisherman's Keen Eleanor Hull, The Poem-Book of the Gael · 96%
  106. The Little Rain Various, A Lute of Jade · 96%
  107. Ballad VI: The Patient Countess Thomas Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, Volume I · 96%
  108. The Affront of Corpes CXX Anonymous, The Lay of the Cid · 95%
  109. The Banishment of the Cid XLV Anonymous, The Lay of the Cid · 95%
  110. The Affront of Corpes CXXI Anonymous, The Lay of the Cid · 94%
  111. The Banishment of the Cid XLVIII Anonymous, The Lay of the Cid · 94%
  112. The ‘Golden Vanity’ Arthur Quiller-Couch, The Oxford Book of Ballads · 94%
  113. Penn-Yan Bill Eugene Field, Hoosier Lyrics · 94%
  114. The Marriage of the Cid's Daughters LXVII Anonymous, The Lay of the Cid · 94%
  115. From an Irish Keen Eleanor Hull, The Poem-Book of the Gael · 94%
  116. Horace's Spring Poem Eugene Field, Hoosier Lyrics · 94%
  117. Written in Exile Garcilaso de la Vega, The Works of Garcilasso de la Vega · 93%
  118. San Stefano (A Ballad of the Bold Menelaus) Henry John Newbolt, Poems: New and Old · 93%
  119. The Biggest Fish Eugene Field, Hoosier Lyrics · 93%
  120. The Heart of New England Edmund Clarence Stedman, The Poetical Works of Edmund Clarence Stedman · 93%
  121. Roisín Dubh Eleanor Hull, The Poem-Book of the Gael · 93%
  122. Macgregor Petrarch, The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems · 93%
  123. The Marriage of the Cid's Daughters LXXX Anonymous, The Lay of the Cid · 93%
  124. Uncle Ephraim Eugene Field, Hoosier Lyrics · 93%
  125. Ben Apfelgarten Eugene Field, Hoosier Lyrics · 93%
  126. The Affront of Corpes CXVIII Anonymous, The Lay of the Cid · 93%
  127. How Salty Win Out Eugene Field, Hoosier Lyrics · 92%
  128. The God of Song and Mirth Edwin Markham, Lincoln and Other Poems · 92%
  129. The Lowlands o’ Holland Arthur Quiller-Couch, The Oxford Book of Ballads · 92%
  130. The County of Mayo Eleanor Hull, The Poem-Book of the Gael · 91%
  131. Or, the Caged Hawk William Makepeace Thackeray, Ballads · 91%
  132. Gettysburg Edmund Clarence Stedman, The Poetical Works of Edmund Clarence Stedman · 91%
  133. The Song of the Nenuphars Various, A Lute of Jade · 90%
  134. An Historical Poem John Dryden, The Poetical Works, Volume I · 90%
  135. Cashel of Munster Eleanor Hull, The Poem-Book of the Gael · 90%
  136. By the Lord Southdown William Makepeace Thackeray, Ballads · 89%
  137. An Epic Poem, in Twenty Books XII William Makepeace Thackeray, Ballads · 89%
  138. Picnic-Time Eugene Field, Hoosier Lyrics · 88%
  139. The Jolly Waggoner Robert Bell, Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England · 87%
  140. Of the Protestant Conspiracy to Take the Pope's Life (By a Gentleman Who Has Been on the Spot.) William Makepeace Thackeray, Ballads · 86%
  141. Macgregor Petrarch, The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems · 83%
  142. Adventure VIII: How Siegfried went to the Niblung Land for his Knights Anonymous, The Lay of the Nibelung Men · 82%
  143. The Summer’s Morning Robert Bell, Ancient Poems, Ballads and Songs of the Peasantry of England · 82%
  144. The Rose upon My Balcony William Makepeace Thackeray, Ballads · 81%
  145. Adventure XXXIX: How Gunther, Hagen, and Kriemhild were slain Anonymous, The Lay of the Nibelung Men · 80%
  146. The Pedlar of Spells Various, A Hundred and Seventy Chinese Poems · 80%

The first 146 of 283 poems, best-known poets first. The rest are reachable through their poets.

Each poem's metre was measured from its own words by the method described here; the figure beside a poem is the share of its stressed syllables that fall on the beat. Forms are named from the rhyme scheme and line count together.