Lydgate, St. of Thebes, line 1069.
Gód, that séndeth, | withdráweth wínter shárp. Surrey, p. 58..
§ 89. Disyllabic or polysyllabic thesis. Another important deviation from the regular iambic rhythm, which is clearly to be distinguished from the double thesis caused by inversion of rhythm, consists in the use of two or sometimes even more unaccented syllables instead of one to form a regular thesis of a verse. This irregularity, which is almost as common in Modern English as it is in Early English poetry, may occur in any part of the verse. If it occurs in the first foot, it may be called disyllabic or polysyllabic anacrusis, as in the following examples:
Gif we clépieþ híne féder þénne.
Pater Noster, 19.
Se þe múchel vólȝeð hís iwíl, | him sélue hé biswíkeð.
Moral Ode, 15.
To purvéie þám a skúlkyng, | on þe Énglish éft to ríde.
Rob. Mannyng, Chron. p. 3, l. 8.
With a thrédbare cópe, | as ís a póure scolér.