Tied down in torment till time shall cease,
115 With serpents bewound, amid woes and tortures,
All firmly fixed in the flames of hell,
When death came upon him. He durst not hope,
Enveloped in blackness, to venture forth ever
From that dreary hole, but dwell there he shall
120 Forever and aye till the end of time,
In that hideous home without hope of joy.
[52.] Here begins a series of extended lines which some critics think are intended to lend an air of solemnity to the passage. A study of the occurrence of these long lines in this and other poems, such as [The Wanderer], [The Charms], or [Widsith], does not seem to bear out this contention. Usually these long lines have three accents in each half. The rules for the alliteration are the same as for the short verses.