CHAPTER II

THE ALLITERATIVE VERSE IN OLD ENGLISH

§ =14. General remarks.= It is highly probable that alliteration was the earliest kind of poetic form employed by the English people. There is no trace in the extant monuments of the language of any more primitive or simpler system. A predilection for alliteration existed even in prose, as in the names of heroes and families like Scyld and Sceaf, Hengist and Horsa, Finn and Folcwald, pairs that alliterate in the same way as the family names of other Teutonic nations: the names of the three sons of Mannus, Ingo, Isto, Irmino, conform to this type.[15] The earliest monuments of Old English poetry, as the fragmentary hymn of Cædmon in the More MS. (Cambridge) and the inscription on the Ruthwell Cross, are composed in the long alliterative line. The great body of Old English verse is in this metre, the only exceptions being the 'Rhyming Poem' (in the _Exeter Book_),[16] and a few other late pieces, in which alliteration and rhyme are combined. This Old English poetry, therefore, together with the Old Norse and Old Saxon remains (the _Heliand_ with 5,985 lines, and the recently discovered fragment of the Old Saxon _Genesis_, edited by Zangemeister and Braune, 1894, with 335 lines), affords ample and trustworthy material for determining the laws of the alliterative verse as used by the Teutonic nations. In comparison with these the remains of Old High German alliterative verse are both scanty and lax in structure.

§ =15. Theories on the metrical form of the alliterative line.= Notwithstanding their comparative scantiness, the Old High German fragments (_Hildebrandslied_, _Wessobrunner Gebet_, _Muspilli_ and two magical formulae, with a total of some 110 lines) formed the basis of the earliest theories of the laws of the accentuation and general character of the original alliterative line. They were assumed to have preserved the features of the primitive metre, and conclusions were drawn from them as to the typical form of the verse. When examined closely, the Old High German remains (and this is true also of the longer monuments in Old Saxon) are found to differ widely from Old Norse and Old English verse in one respect. While the general and dominating features of the line remain the same, the Old High German and Old Saxon lines are much longer than the Old Norse or Old English lines. In Old Norse or Old English the half line frequently contains no more than four syllables, in marked contrast to Old High German and Old Saxon, where the half line or section is considerably longer.

The first attempt at a theory of the metrical structure of the alliterative line was made by Lachmann. He based his theory on the form of verse created by Otfrid, in imitation of Latin models, which consists of a long line of eight accents, separated by leonine rhyme into two sections each of four accents alternately strong and weak.[17] The laws of the rhyming and strophic verse of Otfrid were applied by Lachmann to the purely alliterative verses of the Old High German _Hildebrandslied_, and this system of scanning was further applied by his followers to the alliterative verse of Old English, the true nature of which was long misunderstood on the Continent. In England itself a sounder view of the native alliterative verse was propounded by Bishop Percy as early as 1765, in his _Essay on the Metre of Pierce Plowman_ published along with his well-known _Reliques of Ancient English Poetry_, not to speak of the earlier writings of G. Gascoigne (1575) and James VI (1585). But the number and authority of some of Lachmann's followers are such that some detailed account of their theories must be given.[18]

§ =16. The four-beat theory= of the alliterative verse, based on the assumption that each of the two sections must have had four accented syllables to bring out a regular rhythm, was applied by Lachmann himself only to the Old High German _Hildebrandslied_,[19] while on the other hand he recognized a freer variety with two chief accents only in each section, for the Old Norse, Old Saxon, and Old English. The four-beat theory was further applied to the Old High German _Muspilli_ by Bartsch,[20] and to the rest of the smaller relics of Old High German verse by Müllenhoff.[21] The next step was to bring the Old Saxon _Heliand_ and the Old English _Beowulf_ under this system of scansion; and this was taken by M. Heyne in 1866 and 1867. But the metre of _Beowulf_ does not differ from that of the other alliterative poems in Old English, and these in their turn were claimed for the four-beat theory by Schubert,[22] but with this important modification, made before by Bartsch, that side by side with the usual four-beat sections there were also to be found sections of three beats only. One obvious difficulty in applying the theory of four strongly marked beats to the Old English half-lines or hemistichs is this, that in Old English these hemistichs consist in very many cases of not more than four syllables altogether, each one of which would on this theory have an accent to itself. To meet these cases E. Jessen[23] started the theory that in certain cases pauses had to be substituted for 'beats not realized'. A further modification of the four-beat doctrine was introduced by Amelung,[24] who maintained that in the metre of the _Heliand_ each hemistich had two primary or chief accents and two secondary or subordinate accents. In order to bring the verse under this scansion he assumes that certain syllables admitted of being lengthened. He further regarded the _Heliand_ verse as a metre regulated by strict time, and not as a measure intended for free recitation and depending only on the number of accented syllables.

A few other more recent attempts at solving the problem must be mentioned before we pass on to explain and discuss Sievers's system in the next paragraph. The views of Prof. Möller of Copenhagen[25] have found an adherent in Lawrence, from whose book[26] we may quote the following summary of Möller's theory. According to Prof. Möller the hemistich consists theoretically of two measures (_Takte_), each of four _morae_ ×́ × ×̀ × (a _mora_, ×, being the time required for one short syllable), and therefore the whole verse of four measures, thus:

×́ × ×̀ × | ×́ × ×̀ × || ×́ × ×̀ × | ×́ × ×̀ × ||.

Where, in a verse, the _morae_ are not filled by actual syllables, their time must be occupied by rests (represented by r*) in reciting, by holding on the note in singing.[27] A long syllable, ——, is equivalent to two _morae_. Thus v. 208 of _Beowulf_

_súnd-wùdu. sṓhtè. sécg. wī́sàde_.

would be symbolically represented as follows:

–́ ×̀ × | –́ ×̀ r || –́ rr | –́ ×̀ ×.

According to this system the pause at _secg_ will be twice as long as that at _sōhte_, whilst at _wudu_ there will be no real pause and the point will merely indicate the end of the measure.

Others reverted to the view of Bartsch and Schubert that there could be hemistichs with only three accents alongside of the hemistichs with the normal number of four. Among these may be mentioned H. Hirt,[28] whose view is that three beats to a hemistich is the normal number, four being less usual, the long line having thus mostly six beats, against the eight of Lachmann's theory; K. Fuhr,[29] who holds that every hemistich, whether it stands first or second in the verse, has four beats if the last syllable is unaccented (_klingend_; in that case the final unaccented syllable receives a secondary rhythmical accent, for example, _fḗond máncýnnès_) and has three beats if it is accented (_stumpf_, for example, _fýrst fórð gewā́t_, or _múrnénde mṓd_, &c.); and B. ten Brink,[30] who calls the hemistichs with four beats full or 'complete' (e.g. _hȳ́ràn scóldè_, but admits hemistichs with three beats only, calling them 'incomplete' from the want of a secondary accent (e.g. _twélf wíntra tī́d, hā́m gesṓhte_, &c.). The four-beat theory was reverted to by M. Kaluza, who endeavours to reconcile it with the results of Sievers and others.[31] A somewhat similar view is taken by R. Kögel.[32] Trautmann[33] takes Amelung's view that certain words and syllables must be lengthened in order to get the four accented syllables necessary for each hemistich. Thus, according to Trautmann's scansion,

_sprécað fǽgeré befóran_

would run ×́ × | ×́ × | ×́ × | ⏑́ × and

_ónd þú him méte sýlest_

would also have the formula ×́ × | ×́ × | ×́ × | ⏑́ ×,

_ond_ being protracted to two units. Another instance of this lengthening would, on this theory, occur in the final syllable of the word _radores_ in the hemistich _únder rádorès rýne_, while in a section like _gūð-rinc monig_, or _of fold-grǽfe_, the words _rinc_ and _of_ would be extended to two, and _gūð_ and _fold_ would each be extended to four units, in order to fit in with the scansion ×́ × | ×́ × | ×́ × | ⏑́ ×. Most of the partisans of the four-beat theory for the hemistich agree in making two of these beats primary, and two secondary; Trautmann, however, does not seem to recognize any such difference in the force of the four accents. All the supporters of the four-beat theory have this in common, that the rhythm of the verse is assumed to be based on time (_taktierend_), but in other respects differ widely from each other; Hirt, for example, in his last discussion of the subject,[34] claiming that his own view is fundamentally different from that of Kaluza, which again he looks on as at variance with those of Möller and Heusler.

§ =17. The two-beat theory=, on the other hand, is that each of the two hemistichs of the alliterative line need have only two accented syllables. In England this view was taken by two sixteenth-century writers on verse, George Gascoigne[35] who quotes the line,

_No wight in this world, that wealth can attain_,

giving as the accentual scheme ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ ` ` ´; and by King James VI, whose example is--

_Fetching fude for to feid it fast furth of the Farie._[36]

In 1765, Percy, in his _Essay on Pierce Plowman's Visions_, pointed out 'that the author of this poem will not be found to have invented any new mode of versification, as some have supposed, but only to have retained that of the old Saxon and Gothick poets, which was probably never wholly laid aside, but occasionally used at different intervals'. After quoting[37] two Old Norse, he gives two Old English verses:--

_Sceop þa and scyrede scyppend ure_ (Gen. 65), _ham and heahsetl heofena rices_ (ib. 33);

he continues: 'Now if we examine the versification of Pierce Plowman's Visions' (from which he quotes the beginning--

_In a somer season | when softe was the sonne I schop me into a schroud | a scheep as I were, &c._)

'we shall find it constructed exactly by these rules', which are, in his own words, 'that every distich [i.e. complete long line] should contain at least three words beginning with the same letter or sound; two of these correspondent sounds might be placed either in the first or second line of the distich, and one in the other, but all three were not regularly to be crowded into one line.' He then goes on to quote further specimens of alliterative verse from _Pierce the Ploughman's Crede_, _The Sege of Jerusalem_, _The Chevalere Assigne_, _Death and Liffe_ and _Scottish Fielde_, which latter ends with a rhyming couplet:

_And his ancestors of old time | have yearded theire longe Before William conquerour | this cuntry did inhabitt. Jesus bring them to blisse | that brought us forth of bale, That hath hearkened me heare | or heard my tale._

Taken as a whole his dissertation on the history of alliterative verse is remarkably correct, and his final remarks are noteworthy:

Thus we have traced the alliterative measure so low as the sixteenth century. It is remarkable that all such poets as used this kind of metre, retained along with it many peculiar Saxon idioms, particularly such as were appropriated to poetry: _this deserves the attention of those who are desirous to recover the laws of the ancient Saxon poesy, usually given up as inexplicable:_ I am of opinion that they will find what they seek in the metre of Pierce Plowman. About the beginning of the sixteenth century this kind of versification began to change its form; the author of _Scottish Field_, we see, concludes his poem with a couplet of rhymes; this was an innovation[38] that did but prepare the way for the general admission of that more modish ornament. When rhyme began to be superadded, all the niceties of alliteration were at first retained with it: the song of Little John Nobody exhibits this union very closely.... To proceed; the old uncouth verse of the ancient writers would no longer go down without the more fashionable ornament of rhyme, and therefore rhyme was superadded. This correspondence of final sounds engrossing the whole attention of the poet and fully satisfying the reader, the internal imbellishment of alliteration was no longer studied, and thus was this kind of metre at length swallowed up and lost in our common burlesque alexandrine, now never used but in songs and pieces of low humour, as in the following ballad; and that well-known doggrel:

'A cobler there was and he lived in a stall'.

Now it is clear that this verse is of exactly the same structure as the verses quoted by Gascoigne:

_No wight in this world that wealth can attayne, Ùnléss hè bèléue, thàt áll ìs bùt vaýne_,

where the scheme of accents is Gascoigne's own, showing that he read them as verses of four accents in all, two in each hemistich. They show the same rhythmical structure as the 'tumbling' or alliterative line given by James VI[39] (1585):

_Fetching fude for to feid it fast furth of the Farie_,

and described by him as having 'twa [feit, i.e. syllables] short, and ane lang throuch all the lyne', in other words with four accented syllables in the verse.

Percy detected very acutely that the Middle English alliterative line stood in close connexion with the Old English alliterative line, and suggested as highly probable that the metre of _Pierce Plowman_ would give a key to the rhythm of that older form of verse, which would have to be read with two accented syllables in the hemistich, and therefore four in the whole line.

Had this essay of Percy's been known to Lachmann's followers, many of the forced attempts at reconciling the Old English verse with a scheme that involved a fixed number of syllables in the line would not have been made. Lachmann himself, it must be remembered, admitted the two-beat scansion for Old Norse, Old Saxon, and Old English. Meanwhile other investigators were at work on independent lines. In 1844 A. Schmeller, the editor of the _Heliand_, formulated the law that, in the Teutonic languages, it is the force with which the different syllables are uttered that regulates the rhythm of the verse, and not the number or length of the syllables (which are of minor importance), and established the fact that this alliterative verse was not meant to be sung but to be recited.[40] He does not enter into the details of the rhythm of the verse, except by pointing out the two-beat cadence of each section. Somewhat later, W. Wackernagel[41] declared himself in favour of the two-beat theory for all Teutonic alliterative verse. In every hemistich of the verse there are according to Wackernagel two syllables with a grammatical or logical emphasis, and consequently a strong accent, the number of less strongly accented syllables not being fixed. The two-beat theory was again ably supported by F. Vetter[42] and by K. Hildebrand, who approached the subject by a study of the Old Norse alliterative verse,[43] and by M. Rieger in his instructive essay on Old Saxon and Old English versification.[44] In this essay Rieger pointed out the rules prevailing in the poetry of those two closely related Teutonic nations, dealt with the distribution and quality of the alliteration, the relation of the alliteration to the noun, adjective, and verb, and to the order of words, with the caesura and the close of the verse, and, finally, with the question of the accented syllables and the limits of the use of unaccented syllables.[45] Other scholars, as Horn, Ries, and Sievers, contributed further elucidations of the details of this metre on the basis of Rieger's researches.[46]

Next to Rieger's short essay the most important contribution made to the accurate and scientific study of alliterative verse was that made by Sievers in his article on the rhythm of the Germanic alliterative verse.[47] In this he shows, to use his own words, 'that a statistical classification of groups of words with their natural accentuation in both sections of the alliterative line makes it clear that this metre, in spite of its variety, is not so irregular as to the unaccented syllables at the beginning or in the middle of the verse as has been commonly thought, but that it has a range of a limited number of definite forms which may be all reduced to five primary types.' These five types or chief variations in the relative position of the accented and unaccented syllables are, as Sievers points out, of such a nature and so arbitrarily combined in the verse, that they cannot possibly be regarded as symmetrical feet of a line evenly measured and counted by the number of syllables. 'The fundamental principle, therefore, of the structure of the alliterative line, as we find it in historical times, is that of a free change of rhythm which can only be understood if the verse was meant to be recited, not to be sung.'[48] Soon after the publication of Sievers's essay on the rhythm of the Germanic verse, the first part of which contained a complete classification of all the forms of the line occurring in _Beowulf_, other scholars applied his method and confirmed his results by examining in detail the other important Old English texts; Luick dealt with _Judith_,[49] Frucht with the poems of Cynewulf,[50] and Cremer with _Andreas_, &c.[51] Sievers himself, after contributing to the pages of Paul's _Grundriss der germanischen Philologie_ a concise account of his theories and results, expounded them in greater detail in his work on Old Germanic Metre[52] in which he emphasizes the fact that his five-type theory cannot properly be called a theory at all, but is simply an expression of the rules of the alliterative verse obtained by a statistical method of observation. In spite of the criticisms of his opponents, Möller, Heusler, Hirt, Fuhr, and others, he maintained his former views. In principle these views are in conformity with the manner of reading or scanning the alliterative verse explained by English writers on the subject from the sixteenth century downwards, though their terminology naturally is not the same as Sievers's. We may, therefore, accept them on the whole as sound.

It would be out of place here to enter into the question of prehistoric forms of Teutonic poetry. It will be enough to say that in Sievers's opinion a primitive form of this poetry was composed in strophes or stanzas, intended to be sung and not merely to be recited; that at a very early period this sung strophic poetry gave way to a recited stichic form suitable to epic narrations; and that his five-type forms are the result of this development. As all the attempts to show that certain Old English poems were originally composed in strophic form[53] have proved failures, we may confidently assent to Sievers's conclusion that the alliterative lines (as a rule) followed one upon another in unbroken succession, and that in historic times they were not composed in even and symmetrical measures (_taktierend_), and were not meant to be sung to fixed tunes.

The impossibility of assuming such symmetrical measures for the Old English poetry is evident from the mere fact that the end of the line does not as a rule coincide with the end of the sentence, as would certainly be the case had the lines been arranged in staves or stanzas meant for singing. The structure of the alliterative line obeys only the requirements of free recitation and is built up of two hemistichs which have a rhythmical likeness to one another resulting from the presence in each of two accented syllables, but which need not have, and as a matter of fact very rarely have, complete identity of rhythm, because the number and situation of the unaccented syllables may vary greatly in the two sections.

§ =18. Accentuation of Old English.= As the versification of Old English is based on the natural accentuation of the language, it will be necessary to state the laws of this accentuation before giving an account of the five types to which the structure of the hemistich has been reduced.

In simple polysyllables the chief or primary accent, in this work marked by an acute (´), is as a rule on the root-syllable, and the inflexional and other elements of the word have a less marked accent varying from a secondary accent, here marked by a grave (`), to the weakest grade of accent, which is generally left unmarked: thus _wúldor_, _héofon_, _wī́tig_, _wúnode_, _ǽðelingas_, &c.

In the alliterative line, as a general rule, only syllables with the chief accent carry either the alliterating sounds or the four rhythmical accents of the verse. All other syllables, even those with secondary accent, count ordinarily as the 'theses' (_Senkungen_) of the verse[54]:

_síndon þā =b=éarwas =b=lḗdum gehóngene =w=lítigum =w=ǽstmum: þǣr nō wániað ṓ =h=ā́lge under =h=éofonum =h=óltes frǽtwe_. Phoenix 71-73.

In compound words (certain combinations with unaccented prefixes excepted) the first element of the compound (which modifies or determines the meaning of the second element) has the primary accent, the second element having only a secondary accent, e.g. _wúldor-cỳning_, _hḗah-sètl_, _sṓð-fæ̀st_.[55] If therefore the compound has, as is mostly the case, only one alliterative sound, that alliteration must necessarily fall on the first part of the compound:

_=w=ī́tig =w=úldorcyning =w=órlde and héofona._ Dan. 427.

Sometimes it happens that in hemistichs of no great length the second part of the compound carries one of the two rhythmical accents of the hemistich, e.g.

_on =h=ḗah-sétle =h=éofones wáldend._ Cri. 555.

and in a particular form of alliteration[56] it may even contain one of the alliterating sounds, as in the verse:

_hwæt! we =G=ā́r=d=éna in =g=ēar=d=águm._ Beow. 1.

The less strongly accented derivational and inflexional suffixes, though they are not allowed to alliterate, may occasionally have the rhythmical accent, on condition that they immediately follow upon a long accented syllable, e.g.

_mid =W=ýlfíngum, þā hine =W=ára cýn._ Beow. 461.

_ne méahte ic æt =h=ílde mid =H=rúntínge._ ib. 1659.

The rhythmical value of syllables with a secondary accent will be considered more fully later on.

These general rules for the accent of compound words formed of noun + noun or adjective + noun require modification for the cases where a prefix (adverb or preposition) stands in close juxtaposition with a verb or noun. The preposition standing before and depending on a noun coalesces so closely with it that the two words express a single notion, the noun having the chief accent, e.g. _onwég_, _āwég_ (away), _ætsómne_ (together), _ofdū́ne_ (down), _toníhte_ (to-night), _onmíddum_ (amid); examples in verse are:

_gebād =w=íntra =w=órn ǣr he on=w=ég hwúrfe._ Beow. 264.

_=s=ī́d æt=s=ómne þā ge=s=úndrod wǽs._ Gen. 162.

But while the prepositional prefix thus does not carry the alliteration owing to its want of accent, some of the adverbs used in composition are accented, others are unaccented, and others again may be treated either way. When the adverbial prefix originally stood by itself side by side with the verb, and may in certain cases still be disjoined from it, it has then the primary accent, because it is felt as a modifying element of the compound. When, however, the prefix and the verb have become so intimately united as to express one single notion, the verb takes the accent and the prefix is treated as proclitic, and there is a third class of these compounds which are used indifferently with accent on the prefix or on the verb.

Some of the commonest prefixes used in alliteration are[57]: _and_, _æfter_, _eft_, _ed_, _fore_, _forð_, _from_, _hider_, _in_, _hin_, _mid_, _mis_, _niðer_, _ongēan_, _or_, _up_, _ūt_, _efne_, as in compounds like _ándswarian_, _íngong_, _ǽfterweard_, &c.:

_on =á=ndswáre and on =é=lne stróng._ Gū. 264.

_=ǽ=ðelīc =í=ngong =é=al wæs gebúnden._ Cri. 308.

_and =ḗ=ac þāra =ý=fela =ó=rsorh wúnað._ Met. vii. 43.

_=ú=plang gestṓd wið =Í=srahḗlum._ Ex. 303.

Prefixes which do not take the alliteration are: _ā_, _ge_, _for_, _geond_, _oð_, e.g.

_ā=h=ōn and ā=h=ébban on =h=ḗahne bḗam._ Jul. 228.

_hǽfde þā ge=f=óhten =f=óremǣrne blǣ́d._ Jud. 122.

_=b=rónde for=b=ǽrnan ne on =b=ǣ́l hládan._ Beow. 2126.

The following fluctuate: _æt_, _an_, _bī_ (_big_), _bi_ (_be_), _of_, _ofer_, _on_, _tō_, _under_, _þurh_, _wið_, _wiðer_, _ymb_. These are generally accented and alliterate, if compounded with substantives or adjectives, but are not accented and do not alliterate if compounded with verbs or other particles,[58] e.g. _óferhēah_, _óferhȳd_, but _ofercúman_, _oferbī́dan_. The following lines will illustrate this:

(_a_) prefixes which alliterate:

_þāra þe þurh =ó=ferhȳ́d =ú=p āstī́geð._ Dan. 495.

_=á=tol is þīn =ó=nsēon hábbað we =é=alle swā́._ Satan 61.

_=ý=mbe-síttendra =ǣ́=nig þā́ra._ Beow. 2734.

(_b_) prefixes which do not alliterate:

_oððæt he þā =b=ýsgu ofer=b=íden hæfde._ Gū. 518.

_ne wíllað ēow on=d=rǣ́dan =d=ḗade fḗðan._ Exod. 266.

_=s=ýmbel ymb=s=ǣ́ton =s=ǣ́grunde nḗah._ Beow. 564.[59]

When prepositions precede other prepositions or adverbs in composition, the accent rests on that part of the whole compound which is felt to be the most important. Such compounds fall into three classes: (i) if a preposition or adverb is preceded by the prepositions _be_, _on_, _tō_, _þurh_, _wið_, these latter are not accented, since they only slightly modify the sense of the following adverb. Compounds of this kind are: _beǣ́ftan_, _befóran_, _begéondan_, _behíndan_, _beínnan_, _benéoðan_, _búfan_, _bútan_, _onúfan_, _onúppan_, _tōfóran_, _wiðínnan_, wiðū́tan, _undernéoðan_.[60] Only the second part of the compound is allowed to alliterate in these words:

_he =f=ḗāra súm be=f=óran géngde._ Beow. 1412.

_ne þe be=h=índan lǣ́t þonne þu =h=éonan cýrre._ Cri. 155.

Most of these words do not seem to occur in the poetry.

(ii) In compounds of _þǣr_ + preposition the preposition is accented and takes the alliteration:

_swā́ he þǣr=í=nne =á=ndlangne dǽg._ Beow. 2115.

_þe þǣr=ó=n síndon =ḗ=ce drýhten._ Hy. iv. 3.

(iii) _weard_, as in _æfterweard_, _foreweard_, _hindanweard_, _niðerweard_, _ufeweard_, &c., is not accented:

_=h=wít =h=índanweard and se =h=áls grḗne._ Ph. 298.

_=n=íodoweard and úfeweard and þæt =n=ebb líxeð._ ib. 299.

_=f=ḗðe-géstum =f=lét ínnanweard._ Beow. 1977.

§ =19. The secondary accent.= The secondary or subordinate accent is of as great importance as the chief or primary accent in determining the rhythmical character of the alliterative line. It is found in the following classes of words:

(i) In all compounds of noun + noun, or adjective + noun, or adjective + adjective, the second element of the compound has the subordinate accent, e.g. _hēah-sètl, gū́ð-rinc, hríng-nèt, sṓð-fæ̀st_. Syllables with this secondary accent are necessary in certain cases as links between the arsis and thesis, as in forms like _þégn Hrṓðgà̄res_ (–́ | –́ ×̀ ×) or _fýrst fórð gewà̄t_ (–́ | –́ × ̀).

(ii) In proper names like _Hrṓðg[`=a]r_, _Bḗowùlf_, _Hýgel[`=a]c_, this secondary accent may sometimes count as one of the four chief metrical accents of the line, as in

_=b=éornas on =b=láncum þǣr wæs =B=éowúlfes._ Beow. 857.

contrasted with

_=é=orl Béowùlfes =é=alde lā́fe._ Beow. 797.

(iii) When the second element has ceased to be felt as a distinct part of the compound, and is little more than a suffix, it loses the secondary accent altogether; as _hlā́ford_, _ǣ́ghwylc_, _ínwit_, and the large class of words compounded with -_līc_ and _sum_.

_þæt he =H=éardrḗde =h=lā́ford wǣ́́re._ Beow. 2375. wǣ́re. _=l=úfsum and =l=ī́ðe =l=ḗofum monnum._ Cri. 914.

(iv) In words of three syllables, the second syllable when long and following a long root-syllable with the chief accent, has, especially in the early stage of Old English, a well-marked secondary accent: thus, _ǣ́rèsta_, _ṓðèrra_, _sémnìnga_, _éhtènde_; the third syllable in words of the form _ǽðelìnga_ gets the same secondary accent. This secondary accent can count as one of the four rhythmic accents of the line, e.g.

_þā =ǣ́=réstan =ǣ́=lda cýnnes._ Gū. 948.

_=s=ígefolca =s=wḗg oð þæt =s=émnínga._ Beow. 644.

Words of this class, not compounded, are comparatively rare, but compounds with secondary accent are frequent.

These second syllables with a marked secondary accent in the best examples of Old English verse mostly form by themselves a member of the verse, i.e. are not treated as simple theses as in certain compositions of later date, e.g.

_dȳ́gelra gescéafta._ Creat. 18.

_ā́genne brðor._ Metr. ix. 28.

(v) After a long root-syllable of a trisyllabic word a short second syllable (whether its vowel was originally short or long) may bear one of the chief accents of the line, e.g. _bōcère_, _bíscòpe_:

_þǣr bíscéopas and bṓcéras._ An. 607.

or may stand in the thesis and be unaccented, as

_gódes bísceope þā spræc gū́ðcýning._ Gen. 2123.

This shows that in common speech these syllables had only a slight secondary accent.

(vi) Final syllables (whether long or short) are as a rule not accented even though a long root-syllable precede them.

§ =20. Division and metrical value of syllables.= Some other points must be noticed with reference to the division and metrical value of the syllables of some classes of words.

The formative element _i_ in the present stem of the second class of weak verbs always counts as a syllable when it follows a long root-syllable, thus _fund-i-an_, _fund-i-ende_ not _fund-yan_, &c. In verbs with a short root-syllable it is metrically indifferent whether this _i_ is treated as forming a syllable by itself or coalescing as a consonant with the following vowel, so that we may divide either _ner-i-an_, or _ner-yan_; in verbs of the first and third class the consonantal pronunciation was according to Sievers probably the usual one, hence _neryan_ (_nerian_), _lifyan_ (_lifᵹan_)_, but for verbs of the second class the syllable remained vocalic, thus _þolian_.[61]

In foreign names like _Assyria_, _Eusebius_, the _i_ is generally treated as a vowel, but in longer words possibly as a consonant, as _Macedonya_ (_Macedonia_). As to the epenthetic vowels developed from a _w_, the question whether we are to pronounce _gearowe_ or _gearwe_, _bealowes_ or _bealwes_ cannot be decided by metre. Syllabic _l, m, n_ _([l̥, m̥, n̥)_ following a short root-vowel lose their syllabic character, thus _sĕtl_, _hræ̆gl_, _swĕfn_ are monosyllables, but _er_ coming from original _r_ as in _wæter_, _leger_ may be either consonantal or vocalic. After a long root-syllable vocalic pronunciation is the rule, but occasionally words of this kind, as _túngl_, _bṓsm_, _tā́cn_, are used as monosyllables, and the _l_, _m_, and _n_ are consonants. Hiatus is allowed; but in many cases elision of an unaccented syllable takes place, though no fixed rule can be laid down owing to the fluctuating number of unaccented syllables permissible in the hemistich or whole line. In some cases the metre requires us to expunge vowels which have crept into the texts by the carelessness of copyists, e.g. we must write _ḗðles_ instead of _ḗðeles_, _éngles_ instead of _éngeles_, _dḗofles_ instead of _dḗofeles_, and in other cases we must restore the older and fuller forms such as _ṓðerra_ for _ṓðrā_, _eṓwere_ for _ḗowre_.[62] The resolution of long syllables with the chief accent in the arsis, and of long syllables with the secondary accent in the thesis, affects very greatly the number of syllables in the line. Instead of the one long syllable which as a rule bears one of the four chief accents of the verse, we not unfrequently meet with a short accented syllable plus an unaccented syllable either long or short ( ⏑́ ×́). This is what is termed the resolution of an accented syllable. A word accordingly like _fároðe_ with one short accented syllable and two unaccented syllables has the same rhythmical value as _fṓron_ with one long accented and one unaccented syllable, or a combination like _se þe wæs_ is rhythmically equivalent to _sécg wæs_.

§ =21.= We now come to =the structure of the whole alliterative line=. The regular alliterative line or verse is made up of two hemistichs or sections. These two sections are separated from each other by a pause or break, but united by means of alliteration so that they form a rhythmical unity. Each hemistich must have two syllables which predominate over the rest in virtue of their logical and syntactical importance and have on this account a stronger stress. These stressed syllables, four in number for the whole line, count as the rhythmical accents of the verse. The force given to these accented syllables is more marked when they carry at the same time the alliteration, which happens at least once in each hemistich, frequently twice in the first and once in the second hemistich, and in a number of instances twice in both hemistichs. The effect of the emphasis given to these four words or syllables by the syntax, etymology, rhythm, and sometimes alliteration, is that the other words and syllables may for metrical purposes be looked upon as in comparison unaccented, even though they may have a main or secondary word-accent.

In certain cases, in consequence of the particular structure of the hemistich, there is found a rhythmical secondary accent, generally coinciding with an etymological secondary accent, or with a monosyllable, or with the root-syllable of a disyllabic word. Sievers looks on these syllables as having in the rhythm of the verse the nature of a minor arsis (_Nebenhebung_); they rather belong to the class of syllables standing in thesis but with a slight degree of accent (_tieftonige Senkung_).

The two sections of the alliterative line rarely exhibit a strict symmetry as to the number of the unaccented syllables and their position with regard to the accented syllables. In the great majority of cases their similarity consists merely in their having each two accented syllables, their divergence in other respects being very considerable. It is to be noted that certain combinations of accented and unaccented syllables occur with more frequency in one hemistich than in the other, or are even limited to one of the two hemistichs only.

Besides the ordinary or normal alliterative line with four accents, there exists in Old English and in other West-Germanic poetry a variety of the alliterative line called the _lengthened line_ (_Schwellvers_ or _Streckvers_). In this line each hemistich has three accented syllables, the unaccented syllables standing in the same relation to the accented ones as they do in the normal two-beat hemistich.

§ =22. The structure of the hemistich in the normal alliterative line.= The normal hemistich consists of four, seldom of five members[63] (_Glieder_), two of which are strongly accented (arses), the others unaccented or less strongly accented (theses). Each arsis is formed, as a rule, of a long accented syllable (-), but the second part of a compound, and (less frequently) the second syllable with a secondary accent of a trisyllabic or disyllabic word, is allowed to stand as an arsis. By resolution a long accented syllable may be replaced by two short syllables, the first of which is accented. This is denoted by the symbol ⏑́ ×. The less strongly accented members of the hemistich fall into two classes according as they are unaccented or have the secondary accent. This division depends ultimately on the logical or etymological importance of the syllables. Unaccented syllables (marked in Sievers's notation by ×) whether long or short by etymology, are mostly inflexional endings, formative elements, or proclitic and enclitic words.

Secondarily accented verse-members, mostly monosyllabic and long (denoted by ×̀, and occasionally, when short, by ⏑̀), are root-syllables in the second part of compounds, long second syllables of trisyllabic words whose root-syllable is long, and other syllables where in ordinary speech the presence of a secondary accent is unmistakable. The rhythmical value of these syllables with secondary accent is not always the same. When they stand in a foot or measure of two members and are preceded by an accented syllable they count as simply unaccented, and the foot is practically identical with the normal type represented by the notation –́ × (as in the hemistich _wī́sra wórda_), but these half-accented syllables may be called _heavy_ theses, and the feet which contain them may be denoted by the formula –́ ×̀, as in _wī́sfæ̀st wórdum_ (–́ ×̀ | –́ ×). A hemistich like the last is called by Sievers strengthened (_gesteigert_), or if it has two heavy unaccented syllables in both feet, doubly strengthened, as in the section _gū́ðrìnc góldwlànc_ (–́ ×̀ | –́ ×̀). In these examples the occurrence of a heavy unaccented syllable is permissible but not necessary; but in feet or measures of three members they are obligatory, being required as an intermediate degree between the arsis and thesis, or strongly accented and unaccented member, as in _þégn Hrṓðgā́res_ (–́| –́ × ×̀), or _fýrst fórð gewà̄t_ (–́ | –́ × ×̀), or _hḗalǣ̀rna mǣ́st_ (–́× ×̀ | –́). In these cases Sievers gives the verse-member with this secondary accent the character of a subordinate arsis, or beat (_Nebenhebung_). But it is better, in view of the strongly marked two-beat swing of the hemistich, to look on such members with a secondary accent as having only the rhythmical value of unaccented syllables, and to call them _theses_ with a slight accent. The two-beat rhythm of the hemistich is its main characteristic, for though the two beats are not always of exactly equal force[64] they are always prominently distinguished from the unaccented members of the hemistich, the rhythm of which would be marred by the introduction of an additional beat however slightly marked.

Cases in which the two chief beats of the hemistich are not of exactly the same force occur when two accented syllables, either both with chief accent or one with chief and the other with secondary accent, stand in immediate juxtaposition, not separated by an unaccented syllable. The second of these two accented syllables may be a short syllable with chief accent, instead of a long syllable as is the rule. But in either case, whether long or short, this second beat following at once on the first beat is usually uttered with somewhat less force than the first, as can be seen from examples like _gebū́n hǽfdon_, Beow. 117; _tō hā́m fáran_, 121; _mid ǣ́rdǽge_, 126. The second beat rarely predominates over the first. The cause of this variation in the force of the two beats is to be sought in the laws of the syntactical accent.

In other respects verse-members with a secondary accent obey the same laws as those with a primary accent. They usually consist of one long syllable, but if a member which has the arsis immediately precedes, a short syllable with a secondary accent may be substituted. Resolution of such verse members is rare, which shows that they are more closely related to the thesis than to the arsis of the hemistich. One unaccented syllable is sufficient to form the thesis (×), but the thesis may also have two or more unaccented syllables (× ×, × × × ..), their number increasing in proportion to their shortness and the ease with which they can be pronounced, provided always that no secondary accent intervenes. All of these unaccented syllables are reckoned together as one thesis, as against the accented syllable or arsis. The single components of such a longer thesis may exhibit a certain gradation of force when compared with one another, but this degree of force must never equal the force with which the arsis is pronounced, though we sometimes find that, owing to the varying character of the syntactical or sentence accent, a monosyllable which in one case stands in the thesis, may in another connexion bear the secondary or even the primary accent.

§ =23.= The number of the unaccented syllables of the thesis was formerly believed to depend entirely on the choice of the individual poet.[65] Sievers first put this matter in its right light by the statistics of the metre.[66] He showed that the hemistich of the Old English alliterative line is similar to the Old Norse four-syllable verse, and is as a rule of a trochaic rhythm (–́ × –́ ×). The proof of this is that in _Beowulf_, for instance, there are 592 hemistichs of the type –́ × | –́ × (as _hȳ́ran scólde_, 10), and that in the same text there are 238 of the type –́ × × | –́ × (as _gṓde gewýrcean_, 20; _hḗold þenden lī́fde_, 57), making 830 hemistichs with trochaic or dactylic rhythm, as against eleven hemistichs of similar structure but with an unaccented syllable at the beginning, × | –́ × (×) | –́ ×, and even four or five of these eleven are of doubtful correctness. From these figures it seems almost beyond doubt that in the type –́ × (×) | –́ × the licence of letting the hemistich begin with an unaccented syllable before the first accented syllable was, generally speaking, avoided. On the other hand, when the first accented syllable is short with only one unaccented syllable as thesis (⏑́ ×), we find this initial unaccented syllable to be the rule, as _genúmen hǽfdon_ Beow. 3167 (× | ⏑́ × | –́ ×), of which form there are 130 examples, while, as Rieger noticed, ⏑́ × | –́ × is rare, as in _cýning mǣ́nan_ Beow. 3173. It is perhaps still more remarkable that while the form –́ × × | –́ × occurs some 238 times, a verse of the form × | ⏑́ × × | –́ × is never found at all. The numerical proportion of the form –́ × | –́ × (592 cases) to –́ × × | –́ × (238 cases) is roughly 5 to 2, and that of × | ⏑́ × | –́ × (130 cases) to × | ⏑́ × × | –́ × (no cases) is 130 to nothing. The quantity of the second arsis is, as bearing on the prefixing of unaccented syllables to the hemistich, much less important than the quantity of the first arsis. Hemistichs of the type –́ × | ⏑́ × occur 34 times, and in 29 cases the last unaccented syllable is a full word, either a monosyllable or a part of a compound. The same type, with an initial unaccented syllable × | –́ × | ⏑́ × also occurs 34 times, but then the last syllable is quite unaccented. The proportion of the form –́ × | –́ × to the form × | –́ × | –́ × is 592 to 11, and that of the form –́ × | ⏑́ × to × –́ × | ⏑́ × is 34 to 34, a noticeable difference.

Further, it was formerly supposed that the number of unaccented syllables following the accented syllable was indifferent. This is not the case. The form –́ × × |–́ × is found 238 times, and the form –́ × | –́ × × only 22 times. Many of the examples of the latter form are doubtful, but even counting all these the proportion of the two forms is 11 to 1.

If the two accented syllables are not separated by an unaccented syllable, that is to say, if the two beats are in immediate juxtaposition, then either two unaccented syllables must stand after the second arsis, thus –́ | –́ × × (a form that occurs 120 times in _Beowulf_), or an unaccented syllable must precede the first arsis and one unaccented syllable must follow the second arsis, thus × –́ | –́ × (127 times in _Beowulf_), or with the second arsis short × –́ | ⏑́ × (257 times); the form –́ | –́ × does not occur.

From these statistics it results that hemistichs of the form –́ × |–́ × are met with about 17 times to one occurrence of the form –́ × | ⏑́ ×, and that on the other hand, the form × –́ | ⏑́ × is about twice as frequent as × –́ | –́ ×.

§ =24. The order of the verse-members in the hemistich.= Every hemistich consists of two feet or measures, each containing an accented syllable. Usually these two feet or measures together contain four verse members, seldom five. In the hemistich of four members, which first falls to be considered, the measures may consist of two members each (2+2), or one may contain one member and the other three (1+3 or 3+1). A measure of one member has a single accented syllable only (–́); a measure of two members has an accented and an unaccented syllable, which may stand either in the order –́ × or × –́; a measure of three members has one accented and two unaccented syllables, one of which has a secondary accent, and the order may be either –́ × ×̀ or –́ × ×̀. Measures of two members may be grouped in three different ways so as to form a hemistich: i. –́ × | –́ × (descending rhythm); ii. × –́ | × –́ (ascending); iii. × –́ | –́ × (ascending-descending)[67]; i. and ii. are symmetrical, iii. is unsymmetrical, but as the number of members in the feet of these three types (2+2 members) is the same, we may call them, as Sievers does, types with equal feet (_gleichfüssige Typen_), while the others (1+3 members or 3+1 members) may be called types with unequal feet, or measures.

The normal hemistich, then, which consists of four verse-members, will fall, according to the relative position of these measures or feet, into the following five chief types:

=a.= Types with equal feet (2+2 members)

1. A. –́ × | –́ × double descending.

2. B. × –́ | × –́ double ascending.

3. C. × –́ | –́ × ascending-descending.

=b=. Types with unequal feet

4. D. {–́ | –́ ×̀ ×} {–́ | –́ × ×̀} (1+3 members).

5. E. {–́ ×̀ × | –́} {–́ × ×̀ | –́} (3+1 members).

Theoretically type E might be looked on as a type with equal feet, if divided thus, –́ × | × –́, but by far the greatest number of instances of this type show at the beginning of the hemistich one trisyllabic word which forbids such a division of feet, as _wéorðm[`y]ndum þā́h_, Beow. 8.[68] Types like × × –́ - and ×̀ × –́ –́, which we might expect to find, do not occur in Old English poetry. In addition to these ordinary four-membered hemistichs there are others lengthened by the addition of one syllable, which may be unaccented, or have the secondary accent. These extended forms (_erweiterte Formen_)[69] may be composed either of 2+3 members or of 3+2 members. These extended hemistichs must be carefully distinguished from the hemistichs which have one or more unaccented syllables _before_ the first accented syllable, in types A, D, and E; such a prefix of one or more syllables is called an _anacrusis_ (Auftakt).[70]

The simple five types of the hemistich admit of variation: i. by extension (as above); ii. by resolution (⏑́ × for –́) and shortening of the long accented syllable (⏑́); iii. by strengthening of thesis by means of a secondary accent (_Steigerung_); iv. by increase in the number of unaccented syllables forming the thesis; also (less frequently) v. by variation in the position of the alliteration, and vi. by the admission of anacruses; the varieties produced by the last-mentioned means are not sub-types but parallel forms to those without anacruses.

In describing and analysing the different combinations which arise out of these means of variation, and especially the peculiar forms of the sub-types, the arrangement and nomenclature of Sievers will be followed.[71]

Analysis of the verse types.

I. _Hemistichs of four members_.

§ =25. Type A= has three sub-types, A1, A2, A3.

=The sub-type A1= (–́ × | –́ ×) is the normal form with alliteration of the first arsis in each hemistich, or with alliteration of both arses in the first hemistich and one in the second, and with syllables in the thesis which are unaccented according to the usual practice of the language; examples are, _þḗodnes þêgnas_ An. 3, _hȳ́ran scólde_ Beow. 106, _gómban gýldan_ Beow. 11. This is the commonest of all the types; it occurs in Beowulf, according to Sievers, 471 times in the first and 575 times in the second hemistich, and with the like frequency in the other poems.

The simplest modification of this type arises from the resolution of one or two long accented syllables. Examples of resolution of the first arsis are very numerous, _cýninga wúldor_ El. 5, _scéaðena þrḗatum_ Beow. 4, _séofon niht swúncon_ Beow. 517,[72] _níðer gewī́teð_ Beow. 1361. Examples of the resolution of the second arsis are less numerous, as _wúldor cýninge_ El. 291, _éllen frémedon_ Beow. 3, _Scýldes éaferan_ Beow. 19, _óft gefrémede_ Beow. 165; resolution of both in the same hemistich is rare, but is found, as _gúmena géogoðe_ An. 1617, _mǽgenes Déniga_ Beow. 155, _gúmum ætgǽdere_ Beow. 1321.

The chief type is further modified by making the thesis after the first arsis disyllabic (rarely trisyllabic); the formula is then –́ × × | - ×. This modification is frequent, as _ríhta gehwýlces_ El. 910, _gṓde gewýrcean_ Beow. 20, _swéordum āswébban_ An. 72, _súnnan ond mṓnan_ Beow. 94, _fṓlce tō frṓfre_ Beow. 14, _wḗox under wólcnum_ Beow. 8.

Resolution of the arsis may be combined with this disyllabic thesis, as (in the first arsis) _wérum on þām wónge_ An. 22, _éotenas ond ýlfe_ Beow. 112, or (in the second arsis) _hā́lig of héofenum_ An. 89, _hélpe gefrémede_ Beow. 551, or (in both) _dúguðe ond géoguðe_ Beow. 160, _hǽleð under héofenum_ Beow. 52.

The first thesis rarely exceeds two syllables; a thesis of three syllables is occasionally found, as _sǽgde se þe cū́ðe_ Beow. 90, _hwī́lum hie gehḗton_ Beow. 175, and this can be combined with resolution of the first arsis, as _swéotulra ond gesȳ́nra_ An. 565, _bítere ond gebólgne_ Beow. 1431; or with resolution of the second arsis, as _ū́tan ymbe ǽðelne_ An. 873, _wī́ge under wǽtere_ Beow. 1657; or with resolution of both, as _réceda under róderum_ Beow. 310. Examples of thesis of four syllables are (in the first thesis) _séalde þām þe hē wólde_ Beow. 3056, _sécge ic þē tō sṓðe_ Beow. 591. A thesis with five syllables is still less common, as _lǣ́ddon hine þā of lýfte_ Gū. 398, _stṓpon þā tō þǣre stṓwe_ El. 716.

The cases in which the second thesis has two syllables are rare and to some extent doubtful, as _wúndor scḗawian_ Beow. 841 and 3033.[73]

The anacrusis before the type –́ × (×) | –́ × is also of rare occurrence: examples are _swā sǣ́ bebū́geð_ Beow. 1224, or, with resolution of the first arsis, _swā wǽter bebū́geð_ Beow. 93. Most of the instances occur in the first hemistich; in this position the anacrusis may be polysyllabic (extending sometimes to four syllables), sometimes with resolution of the arsis, or with polysyllabic thesis. Examples: _forcṓm æt cámpe_ An. 1327, _gewāt æt wī́ge_ Beow. 2630; with resolution, _ābóden in búrgum_ An. 78; _genéred wið nī́ðe_ Beow. 828; disyllabic anacrusis _ic wæs éndesǣ́ta_ Beow. 241; with resolution, _þǣr wæs hǽleða hléahtor_ Beow. 612; trisyllabic anacrusis, _oððe him Óngenþḗowes_ Beow. 2475; four-syllable anacrusis, _þæt we him þā gū́ðgeatwa_ Beow. 2637; monosyllabic anacrusis with disyllabic thesis, as _in mǣ́gðe gehwǣ́re_ Beow. 25, _āblénded in búrgum_ An. 78; disyllabic anacrusis with disyllabic thesis, _ge æt hā́m ge on hérge_ Beow. 1249; trisyllabic anacrusis with disyllabic thesis, _þū scealt þā fṓre gefḗran_ An. 216; monosyllabic anacrusis with trisyllabic thesis, _gemúnde þā sē gṓda_ Beow. 759; monosyllabic anacrusis with resolution of first arsis and trisyllabic thesis, _ne mágon hie ond ne mṓton_ An. 1217; with resolution of second arsis, _gewā́t him þā tō wároðe_ Beow. 234; disyllabic anacrusis, _ne geféah he þǣre fǣ́hðe_ Beow. 109; combined with thesis of four syllables, _ofslṓh þā æt þǣre sǽcce_ Beow. 1666.

=The sub-type A2= is type A with strengthened thesis (i.e. a thesis with secondary accent) and with alliteration on the first arsis only. This sub-type has several varieties:

(i) A2a, with the _first_ thesis strengthened (–́ ×̀ | –́ ×); frequent in the second hemistich. The second arsis may be either long or short (–́ ×̀ | –́ ×, or –́ ×̀ | ⏑́ ×). We denote –́ ×̀ | –́ × by A2_a l_ and –́ ×̀ | ⏑́ × by A2_a sh_, or, for brevity, A2 _l_, A2 _sh_. Examples of A2_l_ are, _gódspèl ǣ́rest_ An. 12, _wī́sfæ̀st wórdum_ Beow. 626, _hríngnèt bǣ́ron_ Beow. 1890; with resolution of the first arsis, _médusèld bū́an_ Beow. 3066; with resolution of the second arsis, _gā́rsècg hlýnede_ An. 238, _hórdbùrh hǽleða_ Beow. 467; with resolution of both, _fréoðobùrh fǽgere_ Beow. 522; with resolution of the strengthened thesis, _súndwùdu sṓhte_ Beow. 208; resolution of the first arsis and thesis, _mǽgenwùdu múndum_ Beow. 236; resolution of the first thesis and the second arsis, _gū́ðsèaro gúmena_ Beow. 328.

Examples of A2 _sh_ are numerous, as _wǣ́rfæ̀st cýning_ An. 416, _gū́ðrìnc mónig_ Beow. 839, _þrḗanȳ̀d þólað_ Beow. 284; it is exceptional to find the second arsis short when the thesis which precedes has no secondary accent, as _Hrḗðel cýning_ Beow. 2436, _Hrúnting náma_ Beow. 1458, _ǽðeling bóren_ Beow. 2431; with resolution of the first arsis, _séaronèt séowað_ An. 64, _snótor cèorl mónig_ Beow. 909, _sígerṑf cyning_ Beow. 619, _mágodrìht micel_ Beow. 67, &c. Most of the hemistichs which fall under this head have double alliteration.

(ii) A2 _b_, with the _second_ thesis strengthened (–́ × | –́ ×̀). Most of the cases of this type occur in the first hemistich; when they occur in the second hemistich the measure –́ ×̀ is usually a proper name, not a real compound. Examples: _Gréndles gū́ðcræ̀ft_ Beow. 127, _lḗofa Bḗowùlf_ Beow. 855; with resolution of the first arsis, _gámol ond gūðrḕow_ Beow. 58; with resolution of the second arsis, _béorna béaducræ̀ft_ An. 219; with resolution of both, _séfa swā séarogrìm_ Beow. 595; with resolution of the strengthened thesis, _lónd ond lḗodb[`y]rig_ Beow. 2472; with resolution of both the second arsis and thesis _mǣ́g ond mágoþègn_ Beow. 408.[74]

This type may still further be varied by a first thesis of two or more syllables, _ū́t on þæt ī́glànd_ An. 15, _fólc oððe frḗobùrh_ Beow. 694, _réste hine þā rū́mhèort_ Beow. 1800; by resolution of the first arsis, _glídon ofer gārsècg_ Beow. 515, of the second, _lā́d ofer lágustrḕam_ An. 423, _sýmbel on sélefùl_ Beow. 620; by resolution of the thesis with secondary accent, _éahtodon éorlscìpe_ Beow. 3173; the anacrusis is rarely found, as _gesā́won séledrḕam_ Beow. 2253, and double alliteration (in the first hemistich) is the rule in this form of type A.

(iii) A2 _ab_, with both theses strengthened –́ ×̀ | –́ ×̀, _bā́nhū̀s blṓdf[`=a]g_ An. 1407, _gū́ðrìnc góldwlànc_ Beow. 1882, _ǣ́nlī̀c ánsȳ̀n_ Beow. 251; with resolution of first arsis, _wlítesḕon wrǽtlī̀c_ Beow. 1651, and of the second arsis, _glḗawmṑd góde lḕof_ An. 1581, _gū̀ðswèord géatolī̀c_ Beow. 2155, and of both first and second arsis, _héorowèarh hételī̀c_ Beow. 1268; with resolution of the first (strengthened) thesis, _nȳ́dwràcu nī́ðgrìm_ Beow. 193; with resolution of both the first arsis and the first thesis, _býrelàde brȳ́d gèong_ Gū. 842; with resolution of the second strengthened thesis, _égeslī̀c éorðdràca_ Beow. 2826; with resolution of the first and second thesis, _fýrdsèaru fūslìcu_ Beow. 232. This form of the type has also as a rule double alliteration.

=The sub-type A3= is type A with alliteration on the second arsis only and is limited almost entirely to the first hemistich. A strengthened thesis occurs only after the second arsis; this sub-type might therefore be designated A3 _b_.

Verses falling under this head, with their alliteration always on the last syllable but one, or (in the case of resolution) on the last syllable but two, are distinguished by the frequent occurrence of polysyllabic theses extending to five syllables, in marked contrast to types A1 and A2 where theses of one or two syllables are the rule, longer theses the exception. In A3, however, shorter theses are met with along with the usual resolutions: a monosyllabic thesis in _hwǣ́r se =þ=ḗoden_ El. 563, _ḗow hēt sécgan_ Beow. 391; with resolution of first arsis, _wúton nū éfstan_ Beow. 3102; with resolution of the second arsis, _þús me =f=ǽder mīn_ El. 528, _íc þæt =h=ógode_ Beow. 633; with disyllabic thesis, _hḗht þā on =ú=htan_ El. 105, _hǽfde se =g=ṓda_ Beow. 205; with resolution of the first arsis, _þánon he ge=s=ṓhte_ Beow. 463; with resolution of the second arsis, _wéarð him on =H=éorote_ Beow. 1331; with strengthened second thesis, _éart þū sē =B=ḗowùlf_ Beow. 506; with trisyllabic thesis, _gíf þē þæt ge=l=ímpe_ El. 441, _fúndon þā on =s=ánde_ Beow. 3034; with resolution of the first arsis, _hwǽðere mē ge=s=ǣ́lde_ Beow. 574, of the second arsis, _sýððan ic for =d=úgeðum_ Beow. 2502; with strengthened second thesis, _nṓ hē þone =g=ífstò̄l_ Beow. 168; with thesis of four syllables, _swýlce hī mē ge=b=léndon_ Cri. 1438, _hábbað wē tō þǣm =m=ǣ́ran_ Beow. 270; with resolution of the first arsis, _útan ūs tō þǣre =h=ȳ́ðe_ Cri. 865; with resolution of the first and second arsis, _þóne þe him on =s=wéofote_ Beow. 2296; with strengthened second thesis, _nṓ þȳ ǣr þone =h=éaðorìnc_ Beow. 2466; with thesis of five syllables, _sýððan hē hine to =g=ū̀ðe_ Beow. 1473; with thesis of six syllables, _hȳ́rde ic þæt hē þone =h=éalsbḕah_ Beow. 2173. These forms are also varied by monosyllabic anacrusis combined with monosyllabic thesis, _þe ḗow of =w=érgðe_ El. 295, _þæt híne on =ý=lde_ Beow. 22; with strengthened second thesis, _þæt híne sēo =b=rímw[`y]lf_ Beow. 1600; with disyllabic thesis, _ne þéarft þū swā =s=wī́ðe_ El. 940, _gesprǽc þā sē =g=ṓda_ Beow. 676; the same with resolution of the first arsis, _gewítan him þā =g=óngan_ Cri. 533; disyllabic anacrusis and disyllabic thesis, _ne gefrǽgn ic þā =m=ǣ́gðe_ Beow. 1012; with resolution of the second arsis, _geséah hē in =r=écede_ Beow. 728; with strengthened second thesis, _ge swýlce sēo =h=érepà̄d_ Beow. 2259; monosyllabic anacrusis with trisyllabic thesis, _on hwýlcum þāra =b=ḗama_ El. 851; with four-syllable thesis, _gewī́teð þonne on =s=ealman_ Beow. 2461; with resolution of the first arsis, _ne mā́gon hī þonne ge=h=ȳ́nan_ Cri. 1525; with resolution of the second arsis, _gesā́won þā æfter =w=ǽtere_ Beow. 1426. The last measure may be shortened exceptionally to ⏑́ ×, as _wǽs mīn =f=ǽder_ Beow. 262.

On the whole type A seems to occur more frequently in the first than in the second hemistich; in Beowulf out of the 6366 hemistichs of which the poem consists, 2819 fall under this type, and of these 1701 are first and 1118 second hemistichs.[75]

§ =26. The chief type B=, × –́ | × –́, has apart from resolutions only one form. But as the second thesis may consist of either one or two syllables, we may distinguish between two sub-types, B1 (with monosyllabic second thesis) and B2 (with disyllabic second thesis). The commonest variation of the type occurs in the first thesis, which may be polysyllabic.

(i) The simplest form, sub-type B1, × –́ | × –́, is not very common; according to Sievers there are only 59 instances in the whole of Beowulf, as _ond Hā́lga tíl_ Beow. 61, _þām hā́lig gód_ An. 14; with resolution of the first arsis _in séle þām hḗan_ Beow. 714, and of the second arsis, _þurh rū̀mne séfan_ Beow. 278, and of both, _ǣr súmeres cýme_ El. 1228. Hemistichs of this type, on the other hand, with a disyllabic first thesis are not uncommon, _syððan fúrðum wḗox_ Beow. 914, _him pā Scýld gewā́t_ Beow. 26; with resolution of the first arsis, _under Héorotes hrṓf_ Beow. 403; with resolution of the second, _þæt sēo céaster híder_ An. 207, and of both, _æfter hǽleða hrýre_ Beow. 2053; a trisyllabic first thesis is also common, _þēah þe hē ā́tres drýnc_ An. 53, _oð þæt him éft onwṓc_ Beow. 56, _sē þe on hánda bǽr_ Beow. 495; with resolution of the first arsis, _forðan hīe mǽgenes crǽft_ Beow. 418; of the second arsis, _ond hū þȳ þríddan dǽge_ El. 185; of both, _þæt hē þā géoguðe wíle_ Beow. 1182; with first thesis of four syllables, _ne hȳrde ic sī́ð ne ǣ́r_ El. 240, _swylce hīe æt Fínnes hā́m_ Beow. 1157; with first thesis of five syllables (rare) _siððan hē hire fólmum hrā́n_ Beow. 723, and with resolution of second arsis _þonne hȳ him þurh mī́nne nóman_ Cri. 1351.

(ii) The sub-type B2, or B with disyllabic second thesis, is rarely found when the first thesis has only one syllable, _þe drýhtnes bibṓd_ Cri. 1159, _þū wā́st gif hit is_ Beow. 272, _þām wī́fe þā wórd_ Beow. 640; with resolution of the first arsis, _þurh dároða gedrép_ An. 1446, and of the second, _þurh níhta genípu_ Gū. 321; it is commoner with a disyllabic first thesis, _þā of wéalle geséah_ Beow. 229, _hē þæs frṓfre gebā́d_ Beow. 76; with resolution of the first arsis, _mid his hǽleða gedríht_ Beow. 663, _ofer wároða gewéorp_ An. 306; with trisyllabic first thesis, _þonne hē ǣ́r oððe sī́ð_ El. 74, _wes þū ūs lā́rena gṓd_ Beow. 269; with resolution of the first arsis, _þēah hē þǣr mónige geséah_ Beow. 1614, and of the second arsis, _þæt nǣfre Gréndel swā féla_ Beow. 592; with first thesis of four and five syllables, _hwæðre hē in brḗostum þā gít_ An. 51, _þæs be hire sē wílla gelámp_ Beow. 627.

Verses with trisyllabic second thesis are extremely rare and doubtful.[76] It should be noticed that, in this second type too, the thesis seldom consists of a second part of a compound, as _hine fýrwìt brǽc_ Beow. 232, the exceptions are proper names, as _nū ic Bḗowùlf þéc_ Beow. 947, _ne wearð Héremò̄d swā́_ Beow. 1710.

Type B, according to Sievers, occurs 1014 times in Beowulf, of which 293 are in the first hemistich and 721 in the second.

§ =27. The Type C= has three sub-types: (i) C 1, the normal type × –́ | –́ ×, without resolution, as _oft Scýld Scḗfing_ Beow. 4, _gebū̀n hǽfdon_ 117. Here too the first thesis may consist of two, three, four, or five syllables, _þæt hīe ǣ́ghwýlcne_ An. 26, _þone gód sénde_ Beow. 13, _ofer hrónrā́de_ Beow. 10, _ǣr hē onwég hwúrfe_ Beow. 264, _mid þǣre wǽlfýlle_ Beow. 125, _þe ic him tṓ sḗce_ El. 319 _þāra þe mid Bḗowúlfe_ Beow. 1052, _oð þæt hine sémnínga_ An. 821, _þāra þe hē him míd hǽfde_ Beow. 1625, _swylce hīe ofer sǣ́e cṓmon_, An. 247. (ii) C 2 is the normal type C with resolution of the first arsis, and is of such frequent occurrence that it may be looked on as a special type, _on hérefélda_ An. 10, _forscrífen hǽfde_ Beow. 106, _in wórold wṓcun_ Beow. 60; a less common form is that with resolution of the first and second arsis, _tō brímes fároðe_ Beow. 28, _swā féla fýrena_ Beow. 164; sometimes with resolution of the second arsis only, _tō sǣ́es fároðe_ An. 236 and 1660, _for frḗan égesan_ An. 457, but not in Beowulf. The first thesis may have two, three, or four syllables, _þā wið góde wúnnon_ Beow. 113, _ofer lágustrǣ́te_; with two resolutions, _ic þæs wíne Déniga_ Beow. 350, _hū sē mága frémede_ An. 639, _þæt him his wínemā́gas_ Beow. 65, _ne hīe hūru wínedríhten_ Beow. 863. (iii) C 3 is type C with short second arsis, × –́ | ⏑́ ×, and is pretty common, _in gḗardágum_ Beow. 1, _of fḗorwégum_ Beow. 37; the first thesis may have from two to five syllables, _þæt wæs gṓd cýning_ Beow. 11, _þæt hīe in bḗorséle_ Beow. 482, _sē þe hine dḗað nímeð_ Beow. 441, _ne meaht þū þæs sī́ðfǽtes_ An. 211, _þonne hē on þæt sínc stárað_ Beow. 1486. Resolution seems to be avoided, though it occurs here and there, _of hlíðes nósan_ Beow. 1892, _on þǣm méðelstéde_ Beow. 1083. Thesis with secondary accent is not found. The number of hemistichs of type C in Beowulf is, according to Sievers, 564.

§ =28. The type D= always ends with a disyllabic thesis, of which the first is generally the second syllable of a compound and has the secondary accent. There are four sub-types. (i) D 1 is the normal form, –́ | –́ ×̀ ×, as _hélm ǽlwìhta_ An. 118, _fḗond mánc[`y]nnes_ Beow. 164, _wī́gwéorðùnga_ Beow. 176, _wéard Scýldìnga_ Beow. 95, _lándbúèndum_ Beow. 95, _hríng gýldènne_, Beow. 2810, _hóf mṓdìgra_ Beow. 312, _frḗan ū̀sèrne_ Beow. 3003. The chief variations arise from resolution of the first arsis, _cýning ǽlmìhtig_ El. 145, _fǽder álwàlda_ Beow. 316, _mérelī́ðènde_ Beow. 255, _flótan ḗowèrne_ Beow. 294, _cýning ǣ́nìgne_ Beow. 1851, or of the second arsis, _hḗan hýgegḕomor_ An. 1089, _mǣ́g Hígelà̄ces_ Beow. 738 and 759; resolution of first and second arsis, _hláden hérewǣ̀dum_ Beow. 1898, _néfan Hérerī̀ces_ Beow. 2207. Hemistichs like _wiht unhǣlo_ Beow. 120, which have compounds with _un_, may be read _wíht únhǽlo_ according to type D 2, or _wíht unhǣ́lo_ according to type A, –́ × | –́ × (Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x. 251, and Kluge in _Paul's Grundriss_, i², p. 1051). (ii) D 2 is the same form, but with the thesis short and with secondary accent, –́ | –́ ⏑̀ × _béorht blǽdgìfa_ An. 84, _lḗof lándfrùma_ Beow. 31, _strḗam ū́t þònan_ Beow. 2546, _rǣ́d éahtèdon_ Beow. 172; with resolution of the first arsis, _mǽgen sámnòde_ El. 55, _mága Héalfdènes_ Beow. 189; with resolution of the second arsis, _hórd ópenìan_ Beow. 3057, the only example. (iii) D 3 is the normal type, but with short second arsis (rare), –́ | ⏑́ ×̀ ×, _éorðcýnìnga_ El. 1174; with resolution of the first arsis, _rádorcýnìnges_ El. 624. (iv) D 4 has the form –́ | –́ × ×̀, and is closely allied to the type E (–́ ×̀ × | –́), as it has the secondary accent on the last syllable of the thesis (Sievers, _Paul-Braune's Beiträge_, x. 256), _brḗost ínnanwèard_ An. 649, _hólm ū̀p ætbæ̀r_ Beow. 519, _fýrst fórð gewā́t_ ib. 210; varied by resolution of the first arsis, _géaro gū̀ðe fràm_ An. 234, _flóta fā́mighèals_ Beow. 218, _súnu dḗað fornàm_ Beow. 2120; by resolution of the second arsis, _wlánc Wédera lò̄od_ 341, and of both first and second arsis, _wlítig wéoruda hḕap_ An. 872; and resolution of the last thesis with secondary accent, _wṓp úp āhàfen_ Beow. 128, _wúnað wíntra fèla_ Ph. 580. Certain hemistichs which may belong to this sub-type admit of an alternative accentuation, and may belong to the following type; for example, _scop hwlum sang_ Beow. 496 may be read –́ | –́ × ×̀, or as E –́ ×̀ × | –́, so _werod eall ārās_ Beow. 652.

§ =29. The type E= has two sub-types, distinguished by the position of the syllable bearing the secondary accent; this syllable is generally the second syllable of a compound or the heavy middle syllable of a trisyllabic word with a long root-syllable.

E1 has the form –́ ×̀ × | –́, the syllable with secondary accent standing first in the thesis, _mṓdsòrge wǽg_ El. 61, _wéorðm[`y]ndum þā́h_ Beow. 8, _Sū̀ðdèna fólc_ Beow. 463, _ḗhtènde wǽs_ Beow. 159, _hǣ́ðènra hýht_ Beow. 179, _ǣ́nìgne þónc_ Cri. 1498, _wórdhòrd onléac_ Beow. 259, _úplàng āstṓd_ Beow. 760, _scóp hwī̀lum sáng_ Beow. 496 (cf. above, § 29); varied by resolution of the first arsis, _héofonrī̀ces weárd_ El. 445, _Scédelàndum ín_ Beow. 19, _wlítebèorhtne wáng_ Beow. 93, _lífigènde cwṓm_ Beow. 1974, _ǽðelìnges wḗox_ El. 12, _médofùl ætbǽr_ Beow. 625, _dúguð èall ārā́s_ Beow. 1791; resolution of the second arsis is rare, _tī́rḕadge hǽleð_ An. 2 (the MS. reading _ēadige_ must be corrected to _ēadge_, see Sievers, _Beiträge_, x. 459 on these middle vowels after long root-syllable), _hélþègnes héte_ Beow. 142; resolution of both is rare, _sélewèard āséted_ Beow. 668, _wínedr[`y]hten frǽgen_ An. 921; resolution of the accented thesis, _glḗdègesa grím_ Beow. 2651.

E2 has the last syllable of the thesis with secondary accent, and is very rare, –́ × ×̀ | –́, _mórðorbèd strḗd_ Beow. 2437; with resolution of last arsis, _gḗomorgìdd wrécen_ An. 1550, _bǣ́ron ū̀t hrǽðe_ An. 1223.

II. _Hemistichs of five members._

§ =30.= Hemistichs of five members (extended) occur much more rarely than the normal types of four members. The extended types are denoted by the letters A*, B*, C*, &c.

=Type A*= has two sub-types distinguished by the position of the syllable with the secondary accent.

(i) A*1, –́ ×̀ × | –́ × occurs chiefly in the first hemistich, _gódbèarn on gálgan_ El. 719; with resolution of first arsis, _géolorànd tō gū́ðe_ Beow. 438; with thesis of two unaccented syllables following on the secondary accent, _glǽdmò̄d on gesíhðe_ Cri. 911, _fǽstrǽdne geþṓht_ Beow. 611; with final thesis strengthened by secondary accent, _gā́stlī̀cne góddrḕam_ Gū. 602, _gámolfèax ond gū́ðrò̄f_ Beow. 609.

(ii) A*2 –́ × ×̀ | –́ × may possibly occur in _mā́ððumfæ̀t mǣ́re_ Beow. 2405, _wúldorlḕan wéorca_ Cri. 1080; with resolution of the thesis with secondary accent, _mórðorbèalo mága_ Beow. 1079. Possibly, however, the syllables _um_ in _māððum_ and _or_ in _wuldor_ and _morðor_ are to be written _m_ and _r_, so that the scansion of the hemistich would be A2 –́ –̀ | –́ × and –́ ⏑̀ ͜× | –́ ×.[77]

=Type B*= ×̀ × –́ | × –́ does not seem to occur in O.E. poetry, though it does in Old Norse.

=Type C*= in the forms ×̀ × –́| –́ ×, ×̀ × ⏑́ × | –́ ×, × × –́ | ⏑́ × are also not found in O.E.

=Type D*= on the other hand does occur, but almost exclusively in the first hemistich. It has three sub-types: (i) D*1 –́ × | –́ × ×, _sī́de sǣ́næ̀ssas_ Beow. 223, _áldres órwḕna_ Beow. 1002; with resolution of the first arsis, _ǽðeling ā́nhȳ̀dig_ Beow. 2668; more commonly with resolution of the second arsis, _mǣ́ton mérestræ̀ta_ Beow. 514; with resolution of both, _lócene léoðos[`y]rcan_ Beow. 1506. (ii) D*2 –́ × | –́ ⏑̀ ×, _mǣ́re méarcstàpa_ Beow. 103, _éaldor Éastdèna_ Beow. 392; with resolution of the first arsis, _ǽðele órdfrùma_ Beow. 263; with resolution of the second arsis, _mṓdges mérefàran_ Beow. 502, _Bḗowulf máðelòde_ Beow. 505, &c. (iii) D*3 –́ × | ⏑́ ×̀ × is not found. (iv) D*4 –́ × | –́ × ×̀ is rare, _grḗtte Gḗata lḕod_ Beow. 625, _þrȳ́ðlīc þégna hḕap_ Beow. 400; with resolution of first arsis, _éaforan éllorsī̀ð_ Beow. 2452; with resolution of the second, _ȳ́ðde éotena c[`y]n_ Beow. 421; with resolution of the secondarily accented syllable, _wī́n of wúndorfàtum_ Beow. 1163; this type is varied by anacrusis, _ongínneð gḗomormò̄d_ Beow. 2045, and by anacrusis together with disyllabic thesis in the second foot, _oferswám þā síoleða bigòng_ Beow. 2368.

=Type E*= does not occur in O.E. poetry.[78]

§ =31.= To assign the different hemistichs of a poem to these various types we have to follow as a regulating principle the natural word accent and syntactical accent of each sentence. In some cases the similarity or relation with one another of the types renders it a matter of difficulty to determine exactly to what particular type a hemistich may belong. Systematic investigations as to the principles which govern the combinations of the five types in pairs to form the long line have not yet been made. From such observations as have been made it would appear that by preference hemistichs of different rhythmical structure (ascending and descending) were combined with a view to avoid a monotonous likeness between the two halves of the verse.[79]

§ =32.= The combination of two hemistichs so as to form a long line is effected by means of alliteration, one at least of the two fully accented syllables being the bearer of an alliterative sound. In no case is an unaccented syllable or even a syllable with a secondary accent allowed to take part in the alliteration. This fact, that secondarily accented syllables are debarred from alliterating, is another proof that it is better to look on them as belonging to the thesis rather than to the arsis of the verse.

=The Principles of Alliteration.=

§ =33. Quality of the Alliteration.= It is an all but invariable rule that the correspondence of sounds must be exact and not merely approximate. A _g_ must alliterate to a _g_, not to a _c_, a _d_ to a _d_, not to a _t_, and so on. There is, however, one remarkable exception, namely, that no distinction is made between the guttural _c_ (as in _cūðe_) and the palatal _c_ (as in _cēosan_), nor between the guttural _g_ (as in _god_) and the palatal _g_ (as in _gierede_), not even when the latter represents Germanic _j_ (as in _geong_, _gēar_). With exceptions hereafter to be noted, a consonant followed by a vowel may alliterate with itself followed by another consonant: thus _cūðe_ alliterates not only with words like _cyning_, but with words like _cræft_, _cwellan_; and _hūs_ alliterates not only with _heofon_ but with _hlēapan_, _hnǣgan_, &c. The fact that different vowels, as _ī_, _ū_, and _æ_ in _īsig ond ūtfūs æðelinges fær_ Beow. 33, alliterate together is only an apparent exception to the strictness of the rule, as it is really the glottal catch or _spiritus lenis_[80] before all vowels which alliterates here. Wherever a vowel seems to alliterate with an _h_ we are justified in assuming a corruption of the text, as in _óretmecgas æfter hǽleðum frægn_ Beow. 332, where Grein improves both sense and metre by substituting _æðelum_ for _hæleðum_; other examples are Beow. 499, 1542, 2095, 2930. In some cases where foreign names beginning with _h_ occur we occasionally find instances of this inexact alliteration, as _Hólofernus únlyfigendes_ Jud. 180 and 7, 21, 46, contrasted with _Hólofernus hógedon āninga_ 250; in later works as in Ælfric's _Metrical Homilies_ we find alliteration of _h_ with a vowel not only in foreign names but with native words, as

_and he =ǣ́=fre his fýrde þam =hǣ́=lende betǣ́hte._ Ælfr. Judges[81] 417.

and _h_ before consonants (viz. _r, l, w_) is disregarded as

_and hē hig āhrédde of þām =r=ḗðan þḗowte._ Ælfr. Judges 16.

_on h=w=ám his stréngð wæs and his =w=úndorlī̀ce míht_. ibid. 306.

It is important to observe that the combinations _st_, _sc_, _sp_ are not allowed to alliterate with each other or with words beginning with _s_ not followed by a consonant, but _st_ can alliterate only with _st_, _sc_ only with _sc_, _sp_ only with _sp_; thus _spere_ and _scyld_, _stillan_ and _springan_, _sǣ_ and _styrman_ do not count as alliterations. The invariable practice is seen in the following lines:--

_hēt =st=rḗamfare =st=íllan, =st=órmas réstan._ An. 1578.

_he =sc=ḗaf þā mid þam =sc=ýlde, þæt se =sc=éatt tōbǽrst and þæt =sp=ére =sp=réngde, þæt hit =sp=ráng ongḗan._ Byrhtnoth 136-7.

In later times this rule was not so strictly observed. The metrical Psalms alliterate _sc_ with _s_ and _sw_ with _s_, as

_hi hine him =s=ámnuncga =sc=éarpum strḗlum_. Ps. lxiii. 4.

_on þī́ne þā =s=wī́ðran, ond þe ne =sc=éaðeð ǣ́nig_. Ps. xc. 7.

but _sp_ and _st_ do not alliterate with each other or with _s_. In Ælfric all these combinations of consonants alliterate indifferently with each other or with _s_ + another consonant or with simple _s_, as in

_wið þā́m þe hēo be=s=wī́ce =S=ámson þone =s=trángan_. Ælfr. Judges 308.

Sometimes in Ælfric the alliterating letter does not stand at the beginning of the word,

_and hē hæfde héora ge=w=éald ealles t=w=éntig gḗara_. ibid. 85.

and the alliteration may even fall on an unaccented particle as in

_=f=rám his gelēafan and his ǣ =f=orsāwon._ ibid. 51.

For a full account of Ælfric's alliteration the reader may be referred to an interesting essay by Dr. Arthur Brandeis, _Die Alliteration in Aelfric's metrischen Homilien_, 1897 (Programm der Staatsrealschule im VII. Bezirk in Wien).

§ =34. Position of the alliterative words.= Out of the four accented syllables of the line two at least, and commonly three, must begin with an alliterative sound, and this alliteration still further increases the stress which these syllables have in virtue of their syntactical and rhythmical accent.

The position of these alliterative sounds in the line may vary in the same way as their number. The general laws which govern the position of the alliteration are the following:--(i) One alliterating sound _must_, and two _may_ occur in the first hemistich; (ii) In the second hemistich the alliterating sound (called the head-stave[82]) must fall on the first of the two accented syllables of that hemistich, and the second accented syllable in the second hemistich does not take part in the alliteration at all; (iii) When there are three alliterating sounds in the whole line two of them must be in the first hemistich and only one in the second. Examples of lines with three alliterating sounds:

_=s=éolfa he ge=s=étte =s=únnan ond mṓnan._ Sat. 4.

_=ú=fan ond =ū̀=tan him wæs =ǣ́=ghwǣr wā́._ Sat. 342.

Lines with only two alliterative sounds, the first of which may coincide with either of the accented syllables of the first hemistich (the second of course coinciding with the first accented syllable of the second hemistich) are very common:

_=h=ḗafod éalra =h=ḗahgescéafta._ Gen. 4.

_hī hýne þā æt=b=ǣ́ron to =b=rímes fároðe._ Beow. 28.

If the first hemistich contains only one alliterative sound this alliteration generally falls on the more emphatic of the two accented syllables of the hemistich which is usually the first, as

_on =f=lṓdes ǣ́ht =f=éor gewī́tan._ Beow. 42.

In the type A the single alliteration of the first hemistich not unfrequently falls on the second accented syllable, such cases being distinguished, as A3

_þā́ wæs on =b=úrgum =B=ḗowulf Scýldinga._ Beow. 53.

In types C and D the single alliteration of the first section must always fall on the first accented syllable which in these types is more emphatic than the second. In types B and E alliteration on the second arsis would bring the alliteration too near to the end of the hemistich, and is therefore rare.

Double alliteration in the first hemistich occurs in all of the five types, and chiefly when the two accented syllables have equally strong accents. It is, therefore, least common in C × –́ | –́ × where the first arsis predominates over the second, and is most frequent in the strengthened hemistichs, in D, E, A2, and in the five-membered D* types, where it is the rule.[83]

A third form of alliteration, though much less important and frequent than these two, occurs when the second accented syllable of the second hemistich shares in alliteration, in addition to the first accented syllable. There are then two different pairs of alliterative sounds distributed alternately between the two hemistichs. The commonest form of this double alliteration of the whole line is represented by the formula a b | a b, as

_hwæt! we =G=ā́r=d=éna in =g=ḗar=d=águm._ Beow. 1.

_=Sc=ýldes =é=aferan =Sc=édelandum =í=n._ Beow. 19.

_=h=ílde=w=ǣ́þnum ond =h=éaðo=w=ǣ́dum._ Beow. 39;

less commonly by the formula a b | b a:

_þā =w=ǣ́ron =m=ónige þe his =m=ǣ́g =w=ríðon._ Beow. 2982. _=h=wī́lum for =d=úguðe =d=óhtor =H=rṓðgà̄res._ Beow. 2020;

verses corresponding to the formula a a | b b are not found in early poetry. No doubt certain instances of this double alliteration may be accidental, but others seem intentional.

The foregoing rules as to alliteration are strictly observed in the early and classic poetry, but in later times certain licences crept in. Three of these may be noticed. (i) The second accented syllable of the second hemistich is allowed to carry the alliteration instead of the first accented syllable,

_=l=ā́stas =l=égde oððǽt hē ge=l=ǣ́dde._ Gen. 2536.

(ii) Both accented syllables of the second hemistich alliterate with one accented syllable of the first hemistich,[84]

_me =s=éndon tṓ þē =s=ǣ́men =s=nélle._ Byrhtnoth 29.

(iii) The four accented syllables of the line all alliterate together,

_=G=ódwine ond =G=ódwīg =g=ū̀de ne =g=ȳ́mdon._ Byrhtn. 192.

In the majority of cases the same alliterative letter is not employed in two successive lines, but we find cases like

_þā tō=b=rǣ́d Sámson_ =b=ḗgen his éarmas þæt þā rā́pas to=b=_úrston þe he mid ge=b=únden wæs._ Ælf. Judges 269;

and earlier in Andreas 70, 197, 372, 796, 815, 1087, &c., or in Beowulf 403, 489, 644, 799, 865, 898, &c.

And even three lines in succession, as

_swýlce he ā=f=ḗdde of =f=íxum twā́m ond of =f=ī́f hlā́fum =f=ī́ra cýnnes =f=ī́f þū̀sendo; =f=ḗðan sǣ́ton._ An. 589 ff.

This usage, which in Middle English became very popular, is noticeably frequent in the poem of Judith, probably with a view to emphasis. Many examples of such pairs of verses are to be found collected by Dr. A. Brandeis from Ælfric.

The unaccented words may begin with the same letter as the accented words which bear the alliteration proper,[85] as

_ne hīe huru =h=éofona =h=élm =h=érian ne cū̀ðon._ Beow. 182,

or one of the unaccented words may begin with the same letter as an accented word which does not alliterate, as

_þæt fram =h=ā́m gefrǣ́gn =H=ígelāces bégn._ Beow. 194;

this of course has nothing to do with alliteration, though in later times it was often mistaken for it.

Verses without any alliteration at all, as

_he hélpeð þéarfan swýlce ēac wǣ́dlan._ Ps. lxxi. 13,

occur only in late OE. poetry like Ælfric's Homilies, and when rhyme was beginning to creep in.

§ =35. Alliteration in relation to the parts of speech and to the order the order of words.= Both alliteration and the whole structure of the alliterative line depend in the first place on the natural or etymological accent of the single words, and next on the syntactical accent which these words bear in their relation to one another in the sentence. Just as only the accented syllable of a single word can take part in the alliteration, so only can those words take part in it which are marked out in the sentence as important and therefore strongly accented.

The relative degree of stress is influenced at times by the rhetorical accent, but generally speaking we find a certain gradation of accent among the accented words depending on their intrinsic and not on their rhetorical importance in building up the sentence.

Two general principles may be laid down: (1) If the syntactical value of the two accented syllables of the hemistich is not equal, then the word which has the stronger accent of the two is chosen to alliterate. In the second hemistich it is always the first accented word (the 'head stave'), in the first hemistich it is generally the first accented word, though the second accented word may alliterate as well. (2) If the two accented syllables of the section are equal in syntactical value, then the first alliterates, and when double alliteration is allowed the second may also alliterate.

The various grammatical classes of words are treated in regard to the alliteration in the following way:--

=Nouns=, including adjectives and the infinitives and participles of verbs, have the strongest accent of all words in the sentence. A noun therefore takes precedence over the other parts of speech among which it occurs and has the alliteration, as

_nḗ in þā =c=éastre be=c=úman méahte._ An. 931.

_híre þā =Á=dam =a=ndswárode._ Gen. 827.

If two nouns occur in the same hemistich it is always the first which alliterates,

_=h=ū̀sa sḗlest. Wæs sēo =h=wī́l micel._ Beow. 146.

_=l=ánge hwī́le. Him wæs =l=ī́ffrḗa._ Beow. 16.

_=g=éongum ond éaldum, swylc him =g=ód séalde._ Beow. 72.

The only exceptions are when a special rhetorical emphasis is given to the second word.

When a noun and two adjectives or two nouns and an adjective occur in the same hemistich, one of these is always subordinated to the other, and the two together are treated as a combination. In such cases, where there is double alliteration in the hemistich, the position of the alliterating words may be either _a a x_, or _a x a_, the subordinate element (_x_) standing either in the last or the second place in the hemistich,

_=b=éorht =b=ḗacen Gódes =b=rímu swáðredon._ Beow. 570.

_=t=wélf wintra tī́d =t=órn geþólode._ Beow. 147.

In the case of single alliteration, it is always the first of the nouns or adjectives which alliterates.

=The verb= (excluding the infinitive and participles) is usually less strongly accented than the noun. It may therefore precede or follow the noun or adjective without alliteration, either in the arsis or thesis, as

_lḗt se =h=éarda =H=ígelāces þégn._ Beow. 2977.

_him þā =Sc=ýld gewā́t tō ge=sc=ǽp-hwī́le._ Beow. 26.

_gewāt þā =t=wélfa súm =t=órne gebólhen._ Beow. 2401.

On the other hand, when a hemistich consists only of one noun and one verb, the verb may alliterate, as

_=g=ṓdne ge=g=ýrwan cwæð hē =g=ū̀ð-cýning._ Beow. 199. _=h=wḗtton =h=ígerōfne =h=ǣ́l scḗawedon._ Beow. 204.

When a substantive and an adjective are closely combined, a verb in the same hemistich may alliterate, as

_=b=ýreð =b=lṓdig wæl, =b=ýrgean þénceð._ Beow. 448.

_=s=éofon niht =s=wúncon; hē þē æt =s=únde oferflā́t._ Beow. 517.

In formulas consisting of noun+verb the noun predominates over the verb and takes the alliteration, as

_=w=érodes =w=ī́sa =w=órdhord onlḗac._ Beow. 259.

But if the verb is emphatic it may alliterate though there is a noun in the same hemistich; this occurs chiefly in the second hemistich, as

_ond be =h=éalse genám; =h=rúron him tḗaras._ Beow. 1872.

_=g=rýrelī̀cne =g=íst. =G=ýrede hine Beowulf._ ib. 1441,

but a few instances are found in the first hemistich, as

_ge=m=únde þā se =g=ṓda =m=ǣ́g Hígelā́ces._ Beow. 758.

When one of two verbs in the hemistich is subordinate to the other the verb in the subordinate clause alliterates, having a stronger accent than the verb in the main clause,

_mýnte þæt hē ge=d=ǣ́lde ǣr þon =d=ǽg cwṓme._ Beow. 731.

If the two verbs are co-ordinate the first alliterates,

_=w=órolde lī́fes: =w=ýrce sē þe mṓte._ Beow. 1387;

in the first hemistich both verbs commonly alliterate,

_=s=éomade ond =s=ýrede =s=ínnìhte hḗold._ Beow. 161.

=The adverb.= Adverbs of degree like _micle_, _swīðe_, _ful_, &c., are commonly found in the thesis, and even if they stand in the arsis they usually do not alliterate, as

_=ó=ftor mícle þonne on =ǣ́=nne sī́ð._ Beow. 1580.

When adverbs of this kind have a special rhetorical emphasis they may of course alliterate, as

_éfne swā =m=ícle swā bið =m=ǣ́gða cræft._ Beow. 1284.

_ac hē is =s=nél and =s=wíft and =s=wī́ðe lḗoht._ Phoen. 317.

Adverbs which modify the meaning of the word which they precede alliterate, as

_=ǣ́=scholt =ú=fan grǣ̀g: wæs sē =ī́=renþrḗat._ Beow. 330.

Adverbial prepositions preceding the verb also alliterate,

_hēt þā =ū́=p béran =ǣ́=ðelìnga gestrḗon._ Beow. 1920,

but not when they follow the verb,

_=G=ḗat wæs =g=lǽdmōd, =g=éong sò̄na tṓ._ Beow. 1785.

Adverbs derived from nouns are more strongly accented than the verb which they modify and therefore alliterate,

_ālégdon þā tō=m=íddes =m=ǣ́rne þḗoden._ Beow. 3141.

=Pronouns= (and pronominal adjectives like _monig, eall, fela_) are usually enclitic, and precede or follow the noun without alliterating, as

_manigu =ṓ=ðru gescéaft =é=fnswī̀ðe hím._ Metr. xi. 44.

_ealne =m=íddangéard ōð =m=érestrḗamas._ Dan. 503.

_fela ic =m=ónna gefrǽgn =m=ǣ́gðum wéaldan._ Wid. 10.

With a special rhetorical accent they may alliterate even if they precede the noun,

_on =þ=ǣ́m d[´æ]ge =þ=ýsses lī́fes._ Beow. 197.

The pronoun _self_ and the pronouns compounded with the prefix _ǣ_ (_ǣghwā_, _ǣghwylc_, &c.) are usually accented, and alliterate if they form the first arsis of the hemistich, as

_=s=ḗlran ge=s=ṓhte þǣm be him =s=elfa dḗah._ Beow. 1840.

_hǽfde =ǣ́=ghwæðer =é=nde gefḗred._ Beow. 2845.

=Prepositions, conjunctions, and particles= are not as a rule accented, but prepositions if followed by an enclitic pronoun take the accent and alliterate, as

_=é=aldum =é=arne and =ǣ́=fter þón._ Phoen. 238. _nis =ú=nder mḗ =ǣ́=nig =ṓ=ðer._ Riddle xli. 86.

Whether words of these classes, standing in the first arsis of the first hemistich along with another alliterating word, were intended also to alliterate is somewhat uncertain, but it is probable that they were so, as in

_mid þȳ =m=ǣ́stan =m=ǽgenþr[`y]mme cýmeð._ Crist 1009.

These laws of accentuation are strictly observed only in the older poetry; by the end of the tenth century, in Byrhtnoth, the Metres of Boethius and the Psalms, they are frequently neglected.

§ =36. Arrangement and relationship of verse and sentence.= The following rules hold good in general for the distribution of the sentence or parts of the sentence between the hemistichs of the verse. Two distinct pauses occur in every alliterative line, one (commonly called the caesura) between the first and second hemistichs, the other at the end of the line, and these pauses are determined by the syntactical construction; that is to say, they coincide with the end of a clause or lesser member of the sentence. The hemistich must contain such parts of the sentence as belong closely together; and such coherent parts, as, for example, a pronoun and noun to which it refers or adverb with adjective, must not be separated from one another by the caesura, unless the pronoun or adverb is placed in the second arsis of the hemistich, as

_=w=ýrd æfter þíssum =w=órdgeméarcum._ Gen. 2355.

_gif ge wíllað =m=ī́nre =m=íhte gelḗfan._ Sat. 251.

In Beowulf this separation of closely connected words is permitted only if the word standing in the arsis alliterates at the same time. Longer parts of a sentence may be separated both by the caesura and the pause at the end of the line. The syntactical connexion between the parts of a sentence thus broken up makes the unity of the parts clear, and when the division occurs in the caesura between the two halves of the verse, the alliteration common to both hemistichs serves further to emphasize this unity.

The single alliterative lines are connected with one another by the prevailing usage of ending the sentence not at the end of the completed line, but at the end of the first hemistich or in the middle of the line, and of beginning a new sentence with the second hemistich. The great variety of expression, and the predilection for paraphrase by means of synonyms which is so characteristic of OE. poetry, contribute to make such breaks in the line easy. Whatever may be the explanation, it is certainly the fact that in the OE. poetry the metrical and syntactical members do sometimes coincide, but at other times overlap in a way which does not admit of being reduced to rule.[86]

The Lengthened Verse.

§ =37.= Besides the normal four-beat line (with two beats to each hemistich) there is in OE. and Old Saxon another variety, the =lengthened line= (_Schwellvers_) with three beats in each hemistich.[87] These verses occur in almost all OE. poems, either isolated or more commonly in groups, and occasionally we find lines with one hemistich of two beats and the second hemistich of three, like.

_=g=ā́stes dúgeðum þǣ́ra þe mid =g=ā́res órde._ Gen. 1522,

and _Jud._ 96, _Crist_ 1461, &c., or with a lengthened hemistich of three beats and a normal hemistich of two beats, like

_=b=ǣ́ron =b=rándas on =b=rýne =b=lā́can fȳ́res._ Dan. 246,

and _Sat._ 605, _Gnom. Ex._ 200, &c.

In the _Psalms_ and in Cynewulf's _Juliana_ they are wanting entirely, in Cynewulf's _Elene_ out of 1321 verses there are only fourteen lengthened whole lines, and three lengthened hemistichs. Examples of groups of these lengthened verses will be found in _Gen._ 44-46, 1015-1019, 2167-2169, 2854-2858; _Exodus_ 569-573, _Dan._ 59-106, 203-205, 226-228, 238-246, 262-271, 435-438, 441, 448, 452-458; _Judith_ 2-12, 16-21, 30-34, 54-61, 63-68, 88-99, 272-274, 289-291, 338-349; _Satan_ 202, 232, 237, 605, _Crist_ 621, 889, 922, 1050, 1382-1386, &c., and in many of the smaller poems.[88]

Lengthened verses of a looser type occur in _Salomon and Saturn_, and _Genesis_ B; they have unusually long theses of four or five unaccented syllables after the first accented syllable, as

_ǣ́nne hæfde hē swā swī́ðne gewórhtne._ Gen. 252,

or have equally long anacruses before the first accented syllable, as

_þæt wē him on þām lánde lā́ð gefrémedon._ Gen. 392.[89]

It is not always possible to draw a sharp distinction between regular lines with somewhat long first theses and lengthened lines. The general tone and rhythm of the passage in question help to determine whether we have the normal or the lengthened line before us. The lengthened line occurs in places where the sense demands a solemn and slow rhythm, in other cases where the movement of the passage is quicker we may assume a normal four-beat line with a long anacrusis, or a polysyllabic thesis in the middle of the hemistich. What distinguishes clearly undoubted examples of the lengthened verse is that in each hemistich we find three beats and three feet of equal and independent value. But, as in the usual two-beat hemistich of the normal line, both beats need not be equally strong, so in the three-beat hemistich the three beats do not always stand on the same footing as regards stress, nor does the position of the stronger beat require to be always the same in the two hemistichs. The beats which are accompanied by alliteration are, generally speaking, stronger than those without alliteration. In the employment of alliteration and in the structure of the hemistich the lengthened line is closely allied to the normal line.

=Alliteration.= 1. The first hemistich has commonly two alliterative sounds, which fall as a rule on the first and second beats:

_ge=s=ēoð =s=órga mǣ́ste._ Crist 1209;

more rarely on the second and third beats, as in

_wǣ́ron hyra =r=ǣ́das =r=ī́ce._ Dan. 497;

sometimes on the first and third beats, as

_=l=ī́f hēr mén for=l=ḗosað._ Rhyming Poem 56.

Now and then we find hemistichs with three alliterations:

_=d=ól bið sē þe him =d=ríhten ne on=d=rǣ́deð._ Seafarer 106,

_=þ=ȳ́ sceal on =þ=ḗode ge=þ=ḗon._ Gnom. Ex. 50;

and others with one alliteration only, in which case the alliteration falls more rarely on the first beat, as

_=c=ýning sceal rī́ce héaldan =c=éastra bēoð féorran gesȳ́ne._ Gnom. Ex. 1,

than on the second, as

_þæt sē wǣ́re =m=íhta wáldend sē þe hī́e of þām =m=írce genérede._ Dan. 448.

2. In the second hemistich the chief alliterative sound, the head-stave, generally falls on the second accented syllable, as in the last example, and only exceptionally on the first accented syllable, as

_=St=ȳ́ran sceal mon =st=róngum mṓde. =St=órm oft hólm gebríngeð._ Gnom. Ex. 51.

§ =38. The origin and structure of the lengthened verse.= It is clear from the comparative infrequency and the special use to which it is put that the lengthened line must be looked upon as originating in some way from the normal four-beat line. Two explanations of its development have been given. The first, which is Sievers's original view,[90] is that a foot or measure with the form –́ . . . (i.e. one accented syllable plus several unaccented ones) was prefixed to one of the five normal types; hence –́ × prefixed to A would give the form –́ × | –́ × –́ ×, and – × prefixed to B would give –́ × | × –́ × –́. The other explanation, given by Luick,[91] is that the lengthened hemistich is due to a blending of several types of the normal kind in this way. The hemistich starts with the beginning of one of the normal types A, B, C, then with the second accented syllable another type is begun and continued, as if the poet found the original beginning inadequate to express his emotion.

The manner in which the blending of two normal types results in new lengthened types of three beats will be seen in the following illustrations:

A –́× –́ × +C × –́ –́ × -------------- gives AC –́ × –́ –́ ×;

A –́ × –́ × +D –́ –́ ×̀ × -------------- gives AD – × –́ –́ ×̀ ×;

B × –́ × –́ +C × –́ –́ × ------------- gives BC × –́× –́ –́ ×;

B × –́ × –́ +A –́ × –́ × -------------- gives BA × –́ × –́ × –́ ×;

C × –́ –́ × +A –́ × –́ × -------------- gives CA × –́ –́ × –́ ×;

A –́ × –́ × +A –́ × –́ × -------------- gives AA –́ × –́ × –́ ×.

As Prof. Sievers himself[92] has accepted this theory (or, at least, has recognized it as a convenient method of exhibiting the structural varieties of the lengthened line), we shall adopt it here.

Of the fifteen different possible combinations of the original types, some do not actually occur, but with the sub-types to be taken into consideration we get no less than eighteen different types of the regular lengthened whole line, and these again admit of variations by means of resolution of accented syllables, polysyllabic theses, &c.

Only the most commonly occurring forms of the lengthened hemistich will be given here; for the others the reader may be referred to Sievers.[93]

§ =39.= By far the most common type is =A A= (some 525 examples),

–́ × . . . –́ × . –́ ×,

as in

_=w=éaxan =w=ī́tebrṓgan._ (_Hǽfden hīe =w=rṓhtgetḗme_). Gen. 45;

or with resolution of the first accented syllable in the first hemistich,

_=s=únu mid =s=wéordes écge._ Gen. 2857,

and in the second hemistich,

_=f=éla bið =f=ýrwet-géornra._ Gnom. Ex. 102;

with resolution of the second accented syllable in the second hemistich,

_þǣ́r þū þólades =s=íððan._ Crist 1410;

or of each of the three accented syllables in the second hemistich,

_hýre þæs =f=ǣ́der on róderum._ Jud. 5.

The chief variation of this type arises from the prolongation of the first thesis, which may run from one to six syllables. At the same time the usual resolutions may be introduced, as in the following examples: Ordinary type, –́ × × || –́ × | –́ ×, very common,

_=g=rímme wið =g=ód gesómnod._ Gen. 46;

with resolution of the first accented syllable,

_=r=éced ofer =r=ḗadum gólde._ Gen. 2404;

with resolution of the last two accented syllables,

_=sn=ū̀de þā =sn=óteran ídese._ Jud. 55;

type with trisyllabic thesis, –́ × × × || –́ × |–́ ×,

_=m=ḗda syndon =m=ícla þī́na._ Gen. 2167;

with resolution of the first accented syllable,

_wíton hyra =h=ýht mid drýhten._ Gū. 61;

thesis of four to six syllables, (–́ × . . . . . || –́ × | –́ ×),

_=ǣ́=leð hȳ mid þȳ =éa=ldan lī́ge._ Crist 1547,

_=s=íððan hē hæfde his gā́st on=s=énded._ Cross 49,

_=b=étre him wǣre þæt hē =b=rṓðor ā́hte._ Gnom. Ex. 175.

Less frequently the second foot has two unaccented syllables, and in that case the first foot has either one or sometimes two unaccented syllables, thus

(i) –́ × || –́ × × | –́ ×, or (ii) –́ × × || –́ × × | –́ ×,

as (i) _saā́ þū =Á=bele wū̀rde._ Gen. 1019;

with resolution of the first arsis,

_=s=ígor and =s=ṓðne gelḗafan._ Jud. 89.

(ii) _=r=ínca tō =r=ū̀ne gegángan._ Jud. 54.

=Type A2A=, –́ ×̀ –́ × –́ ×, which is type AA with secondary accent on the first thesis, occurs, according to Sievers, some twenty times, and always in the first hemistich. Examples are,

_=w=ǣ́rfæ̀st =w=íllan mī́nes._ Gen. 2168;

with resolution of the last arsis,

_=þ=éarlmò̄d =þ=ḗoden gúmena._ Jud. 66;

with disyllabic second thesis,

_=f=rḗobèarn =f=ǽðmum beþéahte._ Gen. 2867.

=Type A*A=, –́ . ×̀ × | –́ × . | –́ ×, which is AA strengthened and with disyllabic first thesis, is nearly as common as A2A, and is always in the first hemistich, as for example,

_=ā́=rlḕas of =ḗ=arde þī́num._ Gen. 1019,

_=b=éalofùl his =b=éddes nḗosan._ Jud. 63;

with trisyllabic first thesis,

_=h=rḗohmò̄d wæs sē =h=ǣ́ðena þḗoden._ Dan. 242.

=Type AB=, –́ × . . . –́ × . –́, some thirty instances equally distributed between the first and second hemistichs. Examples are,

_=é=orðan =ȳ́=ðum þéaht._ Riddle xvii. 3,

_=w=ǽsceð his =w=ā́rig hrǽgl._ Gnom. Ex. 99.

=Type AC=, –́ × . . . –́ –́ ×, about twenty-nine instances, of which more than the half occur in the first hemistich, as

_=h=ríncg þæs =h=ḗan lándes._ Gen. 2854,

_=w=lítige tō =w=óruldnýtte._ Gen. 1016.

=Type AD=, –́ × . . –́ –́ × ×̀, is rarer, occurring about twelve times, apparently only in the first hemistich, as

_=b=éalde =b=ýrnwíggènde._ Jud. 17, _=J=ū̀das hire on=g=ḗn þíngòde._ El. 609.

=Type A E=, –́ × . . –́ ×̀ × . –́, somewhat more common than the last, and in both hemistichs, as

_=s=wéord and =s=wā́tigne hélm._ Jud. 338, _sǽgde him =ú=nlȳ̀tel spéll._ Gen. 2405.

=Type B A=, × . –́ × . . . –́ × . –́ ×, about 120 instances, has as its simplest form, × –́ × –́ × –́ ×, as

_ā=l=ǣ́ton =l=ī́ges gánga._ Dan. 263;

with disyllabic thesis after the first arsis, × –́ × × –́ × –́ ×, as

_ā=w=ýrged tō =w=ī́dan áldre._ Gen. 1015;

with trisyllabic thesis, × –́ × × × –́ × –́ ×, as

_hȳ =t=wḗgen sceolon =t=ǣ́fle ymbsíttan._ Gnom. Ex. 182;

the initial thesis or anacrusis is rarely disyllabic.

=Type B B=, × . –́ × . . . –́ ×. –́, about nine times and mostly in the first hemistichs, as

_ge=b=ī́dan þæs hē ge=b=ǣ́dan ne mǣ́g._ Gnom. Ex. 105;

with resolution of two of the accented syllables,

_ofer=c=úmen bið hē ǣ́r hē ā=c=wéle._ Gnom. Ex. 114.

=Type B C=, × . . –́ × . . . –́ –́ ×, nearly as common as the last and nearly always in the first hemistich, as

_and nā́hte =é=aldfḗondum._ Dan. 454,

_be=g=óten of þæs =g=úman sī́dan._ Cross 49.

=Type B D=, × . –́ × . . –́ –́ ×̀ ×, about sixteen times, and in either hemistich, as

_on =é=orðan =ú=nswǣ́slī̀cne._ Jud. 65,

_a=l=ḗdon hīe þǣr límwḗrìgne._ Cross 63.

=Type C A=, × –́ –́ ×. –́ ×, with some fifteen examples, of which eight are in the first hemistich, as

_ge=s=ḗoð =s=órga mǣ́ste._ Crist 1209,

_tō =c=wále =c=níhta fḗorum._ Dan. 226.

=Type C C=, × . . . . –́ –́ –̆́×, occurs only nine times, of which six are in the second hemistich, as

_þæt wæs =g=ód ǽlmíhtig._ Cross 396;

with resolution of the first accented syllable,

_ne sē =b=rýne =b=ḗtmǽcgum._ Dan. 265,

_þē þæt =w=éorc stáðoláde._ And. 800.

Other combinations are given by Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 95, but these occur so rarely or are so doubtful that they need not be mentioned here. A few lengthened hemistichs have four beats, as

_engel in þone ófn ínnan becwṓm._ Dan. 238,

and others in Sievers's _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 96.

Formation of Stanzas and Rhyme.

§ =40.= OE. poetry is mainly narrative, and does not run into any kind of recurring stanza or strophe, but is entirely stichic. Traces of an arrangement of lines so as to form a stanza are found in Dēor, the Runic Poem, the Psalms and Hymns, the so-called First Riddle, and in the Gnomic verses of the Exeter Book, which may be compared to the Old French 'tirades'.[94]

On the other hand, end-rhyme of the two hemistichs, combined with alliteration, is not very uncommon, though in most cases it seems only an incidental ornament, as

_=f=ýlle ge=f=ǣ́gon; =f=ǽgere geþǣ́gon._ Beow. 1014.

_=w=órd-gyd =w=récan ond ymb =w=ér sprécan._ Beow. 3172.

In the Rhyming Poem of the Exeter Book we have eighty-seven lines in which the first and second hemistichs rhyme throughout, and in some passages of other poems, noticeably in the _Elene_, vv. 114-115, and