A + A: A sáng ihc schàl ȝou sínge | of Múrrȳ̀ þè kínge. 2–3.
A + A: He fónd bì þe strónde, | aríued òn his lónde, 35–6.
B + C: Àll þe dáy and àl þe nī́ȝt, | tìl hit spráng dái lìȝt. 123–4.
B + B: Fàirer nis nón þàne he wás, | hè was bríȝt sò þe glás. 13–14.
C + C: Bì þe sé síde, | ase hè was, wóned (⏑́×) ríde. 33–4.
C + A: Of þìne méstére, | of wúde and òf rivére. 229–30.
D + A: Schípes fíftène | with sárazìn[e]s kéne. 37–8.
C + A: Þe chìld him ánswérde, | sóne so hè hit hérde. 199–200.
B + E: Hè was whít sò þe flúr, | róse-rèd was hìs colúr. 15–16.
In most cases we see that identical or similar types of verse are connected here so as to form a couplet (printed by us as one long line). Even where this is not so, however, the two chief accents in each short line serve to make all the different forms and types of verse occurring in this poem sound homogeneous. This admits of a ready explanation, as the poem, in which no stanzaic arrangement can be detected, although styled a ‘song’ (line 2), was certainly never meant to be sung to a regular tune. On the contrary, it was undoubtedly recited like the ‘Song’ of Beowulf—probably not without a proper musical accompaniment—by the minstrels.