A History of English Versification

by J. Schipper

Second hemistichs of the type C₁ are not infrequent, e.g. opon swývýng 9, sire Édwárd 46, o þy lýárd 47. Lines 5 and 7 are of a two-beat rhythm, l. 8 probably as well (cf. our scansion).

There is a decided similarity in regard to structure and versification between this stanza and that of a poem in Wright’s Pol. Songs, p. 153, although the long lines are divided in the middle by interlaced rhyme. This may be illustrated by its second stanza:

Nou haþ prúde þe prís | in éuervche pláwe,

By mony wýmmon owís | y súgge mi sáwe.

For ȝef a lády lýue ìs | léid after láwe,

Vch a strúmpet þat þer ís | such dráhtes wol dráwe.

In prúde

Vch a scréwe wol hire shrúde,

Þoh he nábbe nout a smók | hire fóule ers to húde.