(1) Monosyllabic or masculine caesura:
Ne képeð he nóht | þet wé beon súne. 18.
(2) Disyllabic or feminine caesura, two kinds of which are to be distinguished, viz.
(a) Lyric caesura, within a foot:
And ȝéfe us míhte | þúrh his héld. 240.
(b) Epic caesura caused by a supernumerary unaccented syllable before the pause:
Ure gúltes, láverd, | bon ús forȝéven. 173.
These three kinds of caesura, the last of which, it is true, we meet here only sporadically, may thus in four-foot verse also occur after, as well as in the other feet. Thus we find in the very first line, a lyrical caesura after the first foot:
Ure féder | þét in héouene ís.
This, however, seldom happens in the oldest examples, in which caesuras sharply dividing the line are rare, enjambement being only seldom admitted. Examples of verses without caesuras are to be found, among others, in the following: Þúrh béelzebúbes swíkedóm 10, Intó þe þósternésse héllen 104. As a rule, in the four-foot verse as well as in French octosyllabics, a pause does not occur until the end, on account of the shortness of this metre, which generally only suffices for one rhythmic section, while in four-beat verse a regular division into two rhythmic sections, and consequently the constant occurrence of a caesura, is rendered possible by the greater number of unaccented syllables.