CHAPTER III

THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE FREER FORM OF THE ALLITERATIVE LINE IN LATE OLD ENGLISH AND EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH

A. TRANSITIONAL FORMS.

§ 41. Increasing frequency of rhyme 64 42. Combination of alliteration and rhyme 65

B. THE 'PROVERBS OF ALFRED' AND LAYAMON'S 'BRUT'.

43. Development of the progressive form of the alliterative line 67 44. Nature and origin of the four-beat short-lined metre 69 45. Number of stresses 72 46. Analysis of verse-types 74 47. Extended types 75 48. Verse-forms rhythmically equivalent 78

C. THE PROGRESSIVE FORM OF THE ALLITERATIVE LINE, RHYMED THROUGHOUT. 'KING HORN.'

49. Further development of the Layamon-verse 79 50. The metre of _King Horn_ and its affinity to the alliterative line 82 51. Characteristics of _King Horn_ and Layamon compared 84