When he Goliath fought,
And laid the Gittite low?
Nor sword nor spear the stripling took,
But chose a pebble from the brook.
Numerous other examples are quoted in Metrik, ii, § 394, together with similar stanzas formed according to the schemes a b ~ a b ~3 c c4, a b a b3 C C4, a ~ b a ~ b3 c c5, a b a b4 c c5, a ~ b a ~ b4 c c6, &c.
The reverse order with regard to the length of the verses in the pedes and the cauda is also not uncommon, as e.g. in stanzas on the schemes a b a b c5 c4, a b a b c5 c3, a b a b5 c4 c5, &c.
Stanzas of this kind are met with chiefly in the earlier Modern English poets, e.g. in Cowley and Herbert. Shorter lines also are used, e.g. in stanzas corresponding to the formulas a b a b4 c c3, a b a b4 c c2; stanzas like these also occur later, e.g. in Moore. In Cowley, now and then, a stanza is found with a preceding frons (on the scheme a a5 b c b c4). In Moore we find yet another variety (in Poor broken flower), the cauda of which is enclosed by the pedes (according to the formula a ~ b5 c c3 a ~ b5).
Another group of stanzas is to be mentioned here, the verses of which are of different length in the first part, admitting of many various combinations. Especially stanzas of Septenary rhythm in the first part are very popular, as e.g. in Cowper’s fine poem The Castaway (p. 400), on the scheme a4 b3 a4 b3 c c4:
Obscurest night involved the sky,