2. In the second hemistich the chief alliterative sound, the head-stave, generally falls on the second accented syllable, as in the last example, and only exceptionally on the first accented syllable, as
Stȳ́ran sceal mon stróngum mṓde. Stórm oft hólm gebríngeð.
Gnom. Ex. 51.
§ 38. The origin and structure of the lengthened verse. It is clear from the comparative infrequency and the special use to which it is put that the lengthened line must be looked upon as originating in some way from the normal four-beat line. Two explanations of its development have been given. The first, which is Sievers’s original view,[90] is that a foot or measure with the form –́... (i.e. one accented syllable plus several unaccented ones) was prefixed to one of the five normal types; hence –́× prefixed to A would give the form –́×|–́×–́×, and –× prefixed to B would give –́×|×–́×–́. The other explanation, given by Luick,[91] is that the lengthened hemistich is due to a blending of several types of the normal kind in this way. The hemistich starts with the beginning of one of the normal types A, B, C, then with the second accented syllable another type is begun and continued, as if the poet found the original beginning inadequate to express his emotion.
The manner in which the blending of two normal types results in new lengthened types of three beats will be seen in the following illustrations:
| A | –́×–́× |
| +C | ×–́–́× |
| gives AC, | –́×–́–́×; |
| A | –́×–́× |
| +D | –́–́×̀× |
| gives AD, | –×–́–́×̀×; |
| B | ×–́×–́ |
| +C | ×–́–́× |
| gives BC, | ×–́×–́–́×; |
| B | ×–́×–́ |
| +A | –́×–́× |
| gives BA, | ×–́×–́×–́×; |
| C | ×–́–́× |
| +A | –́×–́× |
| gives CA, | ×–́–́×–́× |
| A | –́×–́× |
| +A | –́×–́× |
| gives AA, | –́×–́×–́× |
As Prof. Sievers himself[92] has accepted this theory (or, at least, has recognized it as a convenient method of exhibiting the structural varieties of the lengthened line), we shall adopt it here.
Of the fifteen different possible combinations of the original types, some do not actually occur, but with the sub-types to be taken into consideration we get no less than eighteen different types of the regular lengthened whole line, and these again admit of variations by means of resolution of accented syllables, polysyllabic theses, &c.
Only the most commonly occurring forms of the lengthened hemistich will be given here; for the others the reader may be referred to Sievers.[93].
§ 39. By far the most common type is A A (some 525 examples),