And wént on his wáy || with his wýȝe óne 6.
Þat schulde téche hym to tóurne || to þat téne pláce 7.
But three stresses are not uncommonly found in the first half line:
Brókeȝ býled and bréke || bi bónkkeȝ abóute 14;
and, even for the simpler forms in Old and Middle English, the two-stress analysis has its opponents.
2. The two half lines are bound together by alliteration. In alliteration ch, st, s(c)h, sk, and usually sp, are treated as single consonants (see lines 64, 31, 15, 99, 25); any vowel may alliterate with any other vowel, e.g.
Þis óritore is v́gly || with érbeȝ ouergrówen 122;
and, contrary to the practice of correct OE. verse, h may alliterate with vowels in Gawayne:
Hálde þe now þe hýȝe hóde || þat Árþur þe ráȝt 229.