Occasionally these verses exhibit a somewhat more extended structure, so that they might pass for Alexandrines; mostly, however, a line of this type is connected by rhyme with an unmistakable four-beat line; cf.
If thóu hadst been, Drómio, | to dáy in my pláce,
Thou wouldst have changed thy fáce for a náme, | or thy náme
for an áss.
Com. of Err. III. i. 47.
For this reason the second line also is to be scanned somehow or other in conformity with the general four-beat rhythm of the passage; possibly we should assume an initial thesis of five syllables. In lyrical passages four-beat lines are often combined also with four-foot iambic verse of the freer type (cf. § 132); e.g. in the following passage from Midsummer Night’s Dream, II. i. 2–7:
Over híll, over dále, | thorough búsh, thorough bríer,
Over párk, over pále, | thorough flóod, thorough fíre,
I do wánder évery whére,
Swífter thán the móon’s sphére;