Chapter 3

súnd-wùdu. sṓhtè. sécg. wī́sàde.

would be symbolically represented as follows:

–́×̀×|–́×̀r||–́rr|–́×̀×.

According to this system the pause atsecgwill be twice as long as that atsōhte, whilst atwuduthere 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, ormúrnénde 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×́×|×́×|×́×|⏑́×,

ondbeing protracted to two units. Another instance of this lengthening would, on this theory, occur in the final syllable of the wordradoresin the hemistichúnder rádorès rýne, while in a section likegūð-rinc monig, orof fold-grǽfe, the wordsrincandofwould be extended to two, andgūðandfoldwould 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 exampleis—

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

In 1765, Percy, in hisEssay 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 Englishverses:—

Sceop þa and scyrede scyppend ure(Gen. 65),ham and heahsetl heofena rices(ib. 33);

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 thebeginning—

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

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 fromPierce the Ploughman’s Crede,The Sege of Jerusalem,The Chevalere Assigne,Death and LiffeandScottish Fielde, which latter ends with a rhyming couplet:

And his ancestors of old time | have yearded theire longeBefore 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.

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 ofScottish 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 thatmore 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’.

‘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,

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 ofPierce Plowmanwould 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 theHeliand, 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 thenumber 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’sresearches.[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 withtheir 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 inBeowulf, other scholars applied his method and confirmed his results by examining in detail the other important Old English texts; Luick dealt withJudith,[49]Frucht with the poems of Cynewulf,[50]and Cremer withAndreas, &c.[51]Sievers himself, after contributing to the pages of Paul’sGrundriss der germanischen Philologiea 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 questionof 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: thuswúldor,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 thosewith secondary accent, count ordinarily as the ‘theses’ (Senkungen) of the verse[54]:

síndon þābéarwasblḗdum gehóngenewlítigumwǽstmum: þǣr nō wániað ṓhā́lge underhéofonumhóltes frǽtwe.

síndon þābéarwasblḗdum gehóngene

wlítigumwǽstmum: þǣr nō wániað ṓ

hā́lge underhéofonumhóltes 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:

wī́tigwúldorcyningwórlde 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.

onhḗah-sétlehéofones 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! weGā́rdéna ingēardágum.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.

midWýlfíngum, þā hineWára cýn.Beow. 461.ne méahte ic æthílde midHrúntínge.ib. 1659.

midWýlfíngum, þā hineWára cýn.Beow. 461.

ne méahte ic æthílde midHrúntínge.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 closelywith 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:

gebādwíntrawórn ǣr he onwég hwúrfe.Beow. 264.sī́d ætsómne þā gesúndrod wǽs.Gen. 162.

gebādwíntrawórn ǣr he onwég hwúrfe.Beow. 264.

sī́d ætsómne þā gesúndrod 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 likeándswarian,íngong,ǽfterweard, &c.:

onándswáre and onélne stróng.Gū. 264.ǽðelīcíngongéal wæs gebúnden.Cri. 308.andḗac þāraýfelaórsorh wúnað.Met. vii. 43.úplang gestṓd wiðÍsrahḗlum.Ex. 303.

onándswáre and onélne stróng.Gū. 264.

ǽðelīcíngongéal wæs gebúnden.Cri. 308.

andḗac þāraýfelaórsorh wúnað.Met. vii. 43.

úplang gestṓd wiðÍsrahḗlum.Ex. 303.

Prefixes which do not take the alliteration are:ā,ge,for,geond,oð, e.g.

āhōn and āhébban onhḗahne bḗam.Jul. 228.hǽfde þā gefóhtenfóremǣrne blǣ́d.Jud. 122.brónde forbǽrnan ne onbǣ́l hládan.Beow. 2126.

āhōn and āhébban onhḗahne bḗam.Jul. 228.

hǽfde þā gefóhtenfóremǣrne blǣ́d.Jud. 122.

brónde forbǽrnan ne onbǣ́l 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 withverbs or other particles,[58]e.g.óferhēah,óferhȳd, butofercúman,oferbī́dan. The following lines will illustrate this:

(a) prefixes which alliterate:

þāra þe þurhóferhȳ́dúpāstī́geð.Dan. 495.átol is þīnónsēon hábbað weéalle swā́.Satan 61.ýmbe-síttendraǣ́nig þā́ra.Beow. 2734.

þāra þe þurhóferhȳ́dúpāstī́geð.Dan. 495.

átol is þīnónsēon hábbað weéalle swā́.Satan 61.

ýmbe-síttendraǣ́nig þā́ra.Beow. 2734.

(b) prefixes which do not alliterate:

oððæt he þābýsgu oferbíden hæfde.Gū. 518.ne wíllað ēow ondrǣ́dandḗade fḗðan.Exod. 266.sýmbel ymbsǣ́tonsǣ́grunde nḗah.Beow. 564.[59]

oððæt he þābýsgu oferbíden hæfde.Gū. 518.

ne wíllað ēow ondrǣ́dandḗade fḗðan.Exod. 266.

sýmbel ymbsǣ́tonsǣ́grunde 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 prepositionsbe,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:

hefḗāra súm befóran géngde.Beow. 1412.ne þe behíndan lǣ́t þonne þuhéonan cýrre.Cri. 155.

hefḗāra súm befóran géngde.Beow. 1412.

ne þe behíndan lǣ́t þonne þuhéonan cýrre.Cri. 155.

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

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

swā́ he þǣrínneándlangne dǽg.Beow. 2115.þe þǣrón síndonḗce drýhten.Hy. iv. 3.

swā́ he þǣrínneándlangne dǽg.Beow. 2115.

þe þǣrón síndonḗce drýhten.Hy. iv. 3.

(iii)weard, as inæfterweard,foreweard,hindanweard,niðerweard,ufeweard, &c., is not accented:

hwíthíndanweard and seháls grḗne.Ph. 298.níodoweard and úfeweard and þætnebb líxeð.ib. 299.fḗðe-géstumflét ínnanweard.Beow. 1977.

hwíthíndanweard and seháls grḗne.Ph. 298.

níodoweard and úfeweard and þætnebb líxeð.ib. 299.

fḗðe-géstumflét 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 likeþégn Hrṓðgā̀res(–́|–́×̀×) orfýrst fórð gewā̀t(–́|–́××̀).

(ii) In proper names likeHrṓðgā̀r,Bḗowùlf,Hýgelā̀c, this secondary accent may sometimes count as one of the four chief metrical accents of the line, as in

béornas onbláncum þǣr wæsBéowúlfes.Beow. 857.

contrasted with

éorl Béowùlfeséalde 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; ashlā́ford,ǣ́ghwylc,ínwit, and the large class of words compounded with -līcandsum.

þæt heHéardrḗdehlā́ford wǣ́re.Beow. 2375.lúfsum andlī́ðelḗofum monnum.Cri. 914.

þæt heHéardrḗdehlā́ford wǣ́re.Beow. 2375.

lúfsum andlī́ðelḗofum 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 formǽðelìngagets the same secondary accent. This secondary accent can count as one of the four rhythmic accents of the line, e.g.

þāǣ́réstanǣ́lda cýnnes.Gū. 948.sígefolcaswḗg oð þætsémnínga.Beow. 644.

þāǣ́réstanǣ́lda cýnnes.Gū. 948.

sígefolcaswḗg oð þætsémnínga.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.

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 elementiin the present stem of the second class of weak verbs always counts as a syllable when it follows a long root-syllable, thusfund-i-an,fund-i-endenotfund-yan, &c. In verbs with a short root-syllable it is metrically indifferent whether thisiis treated as forming a syllable by itself or coalescing as a consonant with the following vowel, so that we may divide eitherner-i-an,orner-yan; in verbs of the first and third class the consonantal pronunciation was according to Sievers probably the usual one, henceneryan(nerian),lifyan(lifᵹan), but for verbs of the second class the syllable remained vocalic, thusþolian.[61]

In foreign names likeAssyria,Eusebius, theiis generally treated as a vowel, but in longer words possibly as a consonant, asMacedonya(Macedonia). As to the epenthetic vowels developed from aw, the question whether we are to pronouncegearoweorgearwe,bealowesorbealwescannot be decided by metre. Syllabicl,m,n(l̥,m̥,n̥) following a short root-vowel lose their syllabic character, thussĕtl,hræ̆gl,swĕfnare monosyllables, butercoming from originalras inwæter,legermay be either consonantal or vocalic. After a long root-syllable vocalic pronunciation is the rule, but occasionally words of this kind, astúngl,bṓsm,tā́cn, are used as monosyllables, and thel,m, andnare 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 writeḗðlesinstead ofḗðeles,énglesinstead oféngeles,dḗoflesinstead ofdḗofeles, and in other cases we must restore the older and fuller forms such asṓðerraforṓðrā,eṓwereforḗowre.[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 likefároðewith one short accented syllable and two unaccented syllables has the same rhythmical value asfṓronwith one long accented and one unaccented syllable, or a combination likese þe wæsis rhythmically equivalent tosécg wæs.

§21.We now come tothe 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 disyllabicword. 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 thelengthened line(SchwellversorStreckvers). 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, andother 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 hemistichwī́sra wórda), but these half-accented syllables may be calledheavytheses, and the feet which contain them may be denoted by the formula–́×̀, as inwí̄sfæ̀st 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 sectiongū́ðrìnc 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 inþégn Hrṓðgā́res(–́|–́××̀), orfýrst fórð gewà̄t(–́|–́××̀), orhḗalǣ̀rna 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 themtheseswith 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 likegebū́n hǽfdon, Beow. 117;tōhā́m 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 inBeowulf, for instance, there are 592 hemistichs of the type–́×|–́×(ashȳ́ran scólde, 10), and that in the same text there are 238 of the type–́××|–́×(asgṓde 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 thetype–́×(×)|–́×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, asgenúmen hǽfdonBeow. 3167 (×|⏑́×|–́×), of which form there are 130 examples, while, as Rieger noticed,⏑́×|–́×is rare, as incýning mǣ́nanBeow. 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 inBeowulf), or an unaccented syllable must precede the first arsis and one unaccented syllable must follow the second arsis, thus×–́|–́×(127 times inBeowulf), 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)

b.Types with unequal feet

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, aswéorðmỳndum 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 syllablesbeforethe first accented syllable, in types A, D, and E; such a prefix of one or more syllables is called ananacrusis(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 befollowed.[71]

§25. Type Ahas three sub-types,A1,A2,A3.

The sub-typeA1(–́×|–́×) 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,þḗodnesþêgnasAn. 3,hȳ́ran scóldeBeow. 106,gómban gýldanBeow. 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 wúldorEl. 5,scéaðena þrḗatumBeow. 4,séofon niht swúnconBeow. 517,[72]níðer gewī́teðBeow. 1361. Examples of the resolution of the second arsis are less numerous, aswúldor cýningeEl. 291,éllen frémedonBeow. 3,Scýldes éaferanBeow. 19,óft gefrémedeBeow. 165; resolution of both in the same hemistich is rare, but is found, asgúmena géogoðeAn. 1617,mǽgenes DénigaBeow. 155,gúmum ætgǽdereBeow. 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, asríhta gehwýlcesEl. 910,gṓde gewýrceanBeow. 20,swéordum āswébbanAn. 72,súnnan ond mṓnanBeow. 94,fṓlce tō frṓfreBeow. 14,wḗox under wólcnumBeow. 8.

Resolution of the arsis may be combined with this disyllabic thesis, as (in the first arsis)wérum on þām wóngeAn. 22,éotenas ond ýlfeBeow. 112, or (in the second arsis)hā́lig of héofenumAn. 89,hélpe gefrémedeBeow. 551, or (in both)dúguðe ond géoguðeBeow. 160,hǽleð under héofenumBeow. 52.

The first thesis rarely exceeds two syllables; a thesis of three syllables is occasionally found, assǽgde se þe cū́ðeBeow. 90,hwī́lum hie gehḗtonBeow. 175, and this can be combined with resolution of the first arsis, asswéotulra ond gesȳ́nraAn. 565,bítere ond gebólgneBeow. 1431; or with resolution of the second arsis, asū́tan ymbe ǽðelneAn. 873,wī́ge under wǽtereBeow. 1657; or with resolution of both, asréceda under róderumBeow. 310. Examples of thesis of four syllables are (in the first thesis)séalde þām þe hē wóldeBeow. 3056,sécge ic þē tō sṓðeBeow. 591. A thesis with five syllables is still less common, aslǣ́ddon hine þā of lýfteGū. 398,stṓpon þā tō þǣre stṓweEl. 716.

The cases in which the second thesis has two syllables are rare and to some extent doubtful, aswúndor scḗawianBeow. 841 and3033.[73]

The anacrusis before the type–́×(×)|–́×is also of rare occurrence: examples areswā sǣ́ bebū́geðBeow. 1224, or, with resolution of the first arsis,swā wǽter bebū́geðBeow. 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 cámpeAn. 1327,gewāt æt wī́geBeow. 2630; with resolution,ābóden in búrgumAn. 78;genéred wið nī́ðeBeow. 828; disyllabic anacrusisic wæs éndesǣ́taBeow. 241; with resolution,þǣr wæs hǽleða hléahtorBeow. 612; trisyllabic anacrusis,oððe him ÓngenþḗowesBeow. 2475; four-syllable anacrusis,þæt we him þā gū́ðgeatwaBeow. 2637; monosyllabic anacrusis with disyllabic thesis, asin mǣ́gðe gehwǣ́reBeow. 25,āblénded in búrgumAn. 78; disyllabic anacrusis with disyllabic thesis,ge æt hā́m ge on hérgeBeow. 1249; trisyllabic anacrusis with disyllabic thesis,þū scealt þā fṓre gefḗranAn. 216; monosyllabic anacrusis with trisyllabic thesis,gemúnde þā sē gṓdaBeow. 759; monosyllabic anacrusis with resolution of first arsis and trisyllabic thesis,ne mágon hie ond ne mṓtonAn. 1217; with resolution of second arsis,gewā́t him þā tō wároðeBeow. 234; disyllabic anacrusis,ne geféah he þǣre fǣ́hðeBeow. 109; combined with thesis of four syllables,ofslṓh þā æt þǣre sǽcceBeow. 1666.

The sub-typeA2is 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 thefirstthesis strengthened (–́×̀|–́×); frequent in the second hemistich. The second arsis may be either long or short (–́×̀|–́×,or–́×̀|⏑́×). We denote–́×̀|–́×byA2aland–́×̀|⏑́×byA2ash, or, for brevity,A2l,A2sh. Examples ofA2lare,gódspèl ǣ́restAn. 12,wī́sfæ̀st wórdumBeow. 626,hríngnèt bǣ́ronBeow. 1890; with resolution of the first arsis,médusèld bū́anBeow. 3066; with resolution of the second arsis,gā́rsècg hlýnedeAn. 238,hórdbùrh hǽleðaBeow. 467; with resolution of both,fréoðobùrh fǽgereBeow. 522; with resolution of the strengthened thesis,súndwùdu sṓhteBeow. 208; resolution of the first arsis and thesis,mǽgenwùdu múndumBeow. 236; resolution of the first thesis and the second arsis,gū́ðsèaro gúmenaBeow. 328.

Examples ofA2share numerous, aswǣ́rfæ̀st cýningAn. 416,gū́ðrìnc mónigBeow. 839,þrḗanȳ̀d þólaðBeow. 284; it is exceptional to find the second arsis short when the thesis which precedes has no secondary accent, asHrḗðel cýningBeow.2436,Hrúnting námaBeow. 1458,ǽðeling bórenBeow. 2431; with resolution of the first arsis,séaronèt séowaðAn. 64,snótor cèorl mónigBeow. 909,sígerṑf cyningBeow. 619,mágodrìht micelBeow. 67, &c. Most of the hemistichs which fall under this head have double alliteration.

(ii)A2b, with thesecondthesis 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 gū́ðcræ̀ftBeow. 127,lḗofa BḗowùlfBeow. 855; with resolution of the first arsis,gámol ond gūðrḕowBeow. 58; with resolution of the second arsis,béorna béaducræ̀ftAn. 219; with resolution of both,séfa swā séarogrìmBeow. 595; with resolution of the strengthened thesis,lónd ond lḗodbỳrigBeow. 2472; with resolution of both the second arsis and thesismǣ́g ond mágoþègnBeow.408.[74]

This type may still further be varied by a first thesis of two or more syllables,ū́t on þæt ī́glàndAn. 15,fólc oððe frḗobùrhBeow. 694,réste hine þā rū́mhèortBeow. 1800; by resolution of the first arsis,glídon ofer gārsècgBeow. 515, of the second,lā́d ofer lágustrḕamAn. 423,sýmbel on sélefùlBeow. 620; by resolution of the thesis with secondary accent,éahtodon éorlscìpeBeow. 3173; the anacrusis is rarely found, asgesā́won séledrḕamBeow. 2253, and double alliteration (in the first hemistich) is the rule in this form of type A.

(iii)A2ab, with both theses strengthened–́×̀|–́×̀,bā́nhū̀s blṓdfā̀gAn. 1407,gū́ðrìnc góldwlàncBeow. 1882,ǣ́nlī̀c ánsȳ̀nBeow. 251; with resolution of first arsis,wlítesḕon wrǽtlī̀cBeow. 1651, and of the second arsis,glḗawmṑd góde lḕofAn. 1581,gū̀ðswèord géatolī̀cBeow. 2155, and of both first and second arsis,héorowèarh hételī̀cBeow. 1268; with resolution of the first (strengthened) thesis,nȳ́dwràcu nī́ðgrìmBeow. 193; with resolution of both the first arsis and the first thesis,býrelàde brȳ́d gèongGū. 842; with resolution of the second strengthened thesis,égeslī̀c éorðdràcaBeow. 2826; with resolution of the first and second thesis,fýrdsèaru fūslìcuBeow. 232. This form of the type has also as a rule double alliteration.

The sub-typeA3is 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 designatedA3b.

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 typesA1andA2where theses of one or two syllables are the rule, longer theses the exception. InA3, however, shorter theses are met with along with the usual resolutions: a monosyllabic thesis inhwǣ́r seþḗodenEl. 563,ḗow hēt sécganBeow. 391; with resolution of first arsis,wúton nū éfstanBeow. 3102; with resolution of the second arsis,þús mefǽder mīnEl. 528,íc þæthógodeBeow. 633; with disyllabic thesis,hḗht þā onúhtanEl. 105,hǽfde segṓdaBeow. 205; with resolution of the first arsis,þánon he gesṓhteBeow. 463; with resolution of the second arsis,wéarð him onHéoroteBeow. 1331; with strengthened second thesis,éart þū sēBḗowùlfBeow. 506; with trisyllabic thesis,gíf þē þæt gelímpeEl. 441,fúndon þā onsándeBeow. 3034; with resolution of the first arsis,hwǽðere mē gesǣ́ldeBeow. 574, of the second arsis,sýððan ic fordúgeðumBeow. 2502; with strengthened second thesis,nṓ hē þonegífstṑlBeow. 168; with thesis of four syllables,swýlce hī mē gebléndonCri. 1438,hábbað wē tō þǣmmǣ́ranBeow. 270; with resolution of the first arsis,útan ūs tō þǣrehȳ́ðeCri. 865; with resolution of the first and second arsis,þóne þe him onswéofoteBeow. 2296; with strengthened second thesis,nṓ þȳ ǣr þonehéaðorìncBeow. 2466; with thesis of five syllables,sýððan hē hine togū̀ðeBeow. 1473; with thesis of six syllables,hȳ́rde ic þæt hē þonehéalsbḕahBeow. 2173. These forms are also varied by monosyllabic anacrusis combined with monosyllabic thesis,þe ḗow ofwérgðeEl. 295,þæt híne onýldeBeow. 22; with strengthened second thesis,þæt híne sēobrímwỳlfBeow. 1600; with disyllabic thesis,ne þéarft þū swāswī́ðeEl. 940,gesprǽc þā sēgṓdaBeow. 676; the same with resolution of the first arsis,gewítan him þāgónganCri. 533; disyllabic anacrusis and disyllabic thesis,ne gefrǽgn ic þāmǣ́gðeBeow. 1012; with resolution of the second arsis,geséah hē inrécedeBeow. 728; with strengthened second thesis,ge swýlce sēohérepà̄dBeow. 2259; monosyllabic anacrusis with trisyllabic thesis,on hwýlcum þārabḗamaEl. 851; with four-syllable thesis,gewī́teð þonne onsealmanBeow. 2461; with resolution of the first arsis,ne mā́gon hī þonne gehȳ́nanCri. 1525; with resolution of the second arsis,gesā́won þā æfterwǽtereBeow. 1426. The last measure may be shortened exceptionally to⏑́×, aswǽs mīnfǽderBeow. 262.

On the whole type A seems to occur more frequently in thefirst 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 secondhemistichs.[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) andB2(with disyllabic second thesis). The commonest variation of the type occurs in the first thesis, which may be polysyllabic.

(i) The simplest form, sub-typeB1,×–́|×–́, is not very common; according to Sievers there are only 59 instances in the whole of Beowulf, asond Hā́lga tílBeow. 61,þām hā́lig gódAn. 14; with resolution of the first arsisin séle þām hḗanBeow. 714, and of the second arsis,þurh rū̀mne séfanBeow. 278, and of both,ǣr súmeres cýmeEl. 1228. Hemistichs of this type, on the other hand, with a disyllabic first thesis are not uncommon,syððan fúrðum wḗoxBeow. 914,him pā Scýld gewā́tBeow. 26; with resolution of the first arsis,under Héorotes hrṓfBeow. 403; with resolution of the second,þæt sēo céaster híderAn. 207, and of both,æfter hǽleða hrýreBeow. 2053; a trisyllabic first thesis is also common,þēah þe hē ā́tres drýncAn. 53,oð þæt him éft onwṓcBeow. 56,sē þe on hánda bǽrBeow. 495; with resolution of the first arsis,forðan hīe mǽgenes crǽftBeow. 418; of the second arsis,ond hū þȳ þríddan dǽgeEl. 185; of both,þæt hē þā géoguðe wíleBeow. 1182; with first thesis of four syllables,ne hȳrde ic sī́ð ne ǣ́rEl. 240,swylce hīe æt Fínnes hā́mBeow. 1157; with first thesis of five syllables (rare)siððan hē hire fólmum hrā́nBeow. 723, and with resolution of second arsisþonne hȳ him þurh mī́nne nómanCri. 1351.

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