The monophthong y is rhymed with a diphthong, the second part of which is y:—l. 441, Sarsynes : Romaynes; 2761, Apolyne : agayne; 2105 : slayne; 2175 : eyne; 2280, dye : waye (cf. 1582); 589, fyne : Bourgoyne.
o: ou (ow).—l. 1023, wrothe : southe (which is written sothe in ll. 2014, 2024, 2246, 2719); 779, fonde : grounde; 260, clarione : soune; 879, lione : crowne; 2780, malison : towne, &c. Cf. also 1264, endured : covered.
o: e.—463, oost : best. The rhyme is restored in reading rest instead of oost.
o: i.—l. 966, sonne : begynne.
ue: ewe.—l. 2312, vertue : fewe. But this rhyme cannot be objected to, as “final French u (as in due) was diphthongized into eu in Chaucerian English.”[78]
Other irregularities are:—l. 112, douȝte : rowte; 1987, use : house; 1131, thou : lough; 1200, moost : goist; 1730, dethe : sleith; [‹xlv›] 2136, pas : grace; 1611, was : mace (in which cases e is silent); 931, 1144, peris : fiers.
A line or verse generally contains four accented syllables, separated from each other by one or by two unaccented syllables, so that there are some instances of trisyllabic feet, as in ll. 817, 834, 2035, 2301, 2791, 3020, 3073, 2313, &c. In ll. 692, 695, two accented syllables are put close together without being separated by an unaccented one, which is altogether wanting. In some passages we find lines of three accented syllables alternating with those of four accents, as in ll. 575–582, 763–770, 839–846, 871–878, 2287–2290, &c. But in most cases lines with four accents follow each other in an unbroken succession, as in ll. 1–372, 995–1010, 1026–1029, 1067–1107, 1147–1154, 1731–1734, &c.
A few instances of verses with more than four accented syllables are also to be met with in the Sowdan. They are either due to the author and therefore intended, as in l. 37, where the poet almost literally imitates his original,[79] or they may be considered as due to some clerical error, in which case the metre generally can be restored by a slight emendation.
A verse has generally an iambic effect, that is to say, the first foot begins with an unaccented syllable, which is followed by an accented one. Frequently, however, the first accented syllable is preceded by two unaccented ones, as in ll. 41, 75, 127, 151, 367, 849, 1060, 1815, 1819, 2289, 2758, &c. There are some instances of the first foot consisting of a single (accented) syllable only, the unaccented one being altogether wanting, as in ll. 2120, 2288, 2374, 2394, &c.