The háþel héldet hym fró || and on his áx résted 263.
3. In correct OE. verse the alliteration falls on one or both of the two principal stresses of the first half line, and invariably on the first stress only of the second half line. This is the ordinary ME. type:
Þat schulde téche hym to tóurne || to þat téne pláce 7;
though verses with only one alliterating syllable in the first half line, e.g.
Bot Í wyl to þe chápel || for cháunce þat may fálle 64,
are less common in ME. than in OE. But in ME. the fourth stress sometimes takes the alliteration also:
Þay clómben bi clýffeȝ || þer cléngeȝ þe cólde 10.
And when there is a third stress in the first half line, five syllables may alliterate:
Míst múged on þe mór || mált on þe móunteȝ 12.
In sum, Middle English verse is richer than Old English in alliteration.