The Middle English Alexandrine was constructed on the model of the Old French Alexandrine—except for the use of Teutonic licences in even-beat rhythm—and it thus possessed four different types, which the following examples from On god Ureison of ure Lefdi[146] may serve to illustrate. We give the corresponding Old French metrical types from the Roman d’Alixandre (Bartsch, Chrestomathie de l’ancien français, p. 175).
a. Masculine caesura with masculine line-ending:
En icele forest, | dont voz m’oëz conter. 24.
Nim nu ȝéme to mé, | so me bést a béo ðe béo. 129.
b. Feminine (epic) caesura with masculine line-ending:
nesune male choze | ne puet laianz entrer.25.
vor þín is þé wurchípe, | ȝif ich wrécche wel iþéo.130.
c. Masculine caesura with feminine line-ending:
Moult fut biaus li vregiers | et gente la praële.1.
Þine blísse ne méi | nówiht únderstónden.31.