regular interchange of arsis and thesis, its fixed number of syllables and the use of rime. Since the English language was different in character, they were not immediately and fully successful. Early ME. rimed verse has kept much of the freedom of the old alliterative verse (cp. Sievers, PBB 10, 216). As we shall see later, in early ME. rimed verse two more or less strongly stressed 'members' of the verses, or let us now say 'arses', could follow one another: the thesis could be omitted. The arses could be separated by two unstressed syllables: the thesis could be disyllabic. Till Chaucer's time, and even in the fifteenth century an anacrusis could be present or absent before the first strongly stressed syllable of the verse. In Chaucer's heroic verse the anacrusis is ⚫ rarely wanting, in Gower's and in Hoccleve's very rarely wanting, so that the English verse, which before could begin either with a strongly stressed or with a slightly stressed syllable (trochaic or iambic) now became mainly iambic. 105. The Introduction of Rime. The most important alteration in ME. verse was the gradual change from alliteration to rime even in the kind of verse which was not imitated from foreign models but derived from the OE. alliterative long-line. At first in some later poems a great irregularity in the use of alliteration appears. Double allit eration in the first half-line becomes rarer; one syllable only in any position can alliterate. Also in the second half-verse the alliteration is not confined to the beginning of the verse. Sometimes, too, alliteration is not used to connect the two half-verses, but is confined to one half-verse. Thus alliteration gradually sank from being an essential condition of the long-line to a condition of external adornment. It became unnecessary the more rime was adopted to adorn and to join verses. For a time both rime and alliteration were in use. Thus, for example, in Lagamon's Brut (§ 107 ff.) we find some verses which only alliterate, some connected by rime, and many which both alliterate and rime. In King Horn (§ 116), however, rime is used throughout, and alliteration is confined to a few formulae still in use. The whole character of English verse became changed by the consistent adoption of rime. In alliterative verse, with a few exceptions, the chief stress lay on the first or second member, i.e. at the beginning of each half-verse, and the last two members could not alliterate. By the use of rime, however, the 'centre of gravity' of the verse was transferred from the beginning to the end. Further the pause in the caesura gradually became stronger owing to the introduction of a rime of the caesura with the end of the long-line. Thus the long-line ceased to be looked on as a unity, and became two independent short lines of like structure. These two short lines were connected only by the rime (short rimed couplet). NOTE. The earliest example of a ME. rimed song is the Cantus Beati Godrici (c. 1100): Sainte Marie, Christes bur, maidenes clenhad, moderes flur, § 106. Last alliterative Verses in the early ME. Period. Lazamon's Brut (§ 107 ff.) and The Proverbs of Alfred (§ 115), which were written c. 1200, contain the last alliterative verses of the early ME. period. Here the rhythmical structure of alliterative verse can be clearly recognized, although alliteration has partly given way to rime. King Horn (§ 116 ff.), too, which belongs to the end of the thirteenth century, shows in its rhythmical structure a closer relationship to alliterative verse than to the later ME. romances written in regular short couplets, based on foreign models. § 107. Lagamon's Brut. The beginning of Brut is here given. Italics show alliteration, bold type rime, feet of two members (§ 62 ff.) are marked by one line (1), feet of three members by two lines (||). This will make the origin of the verse from the alliterative verse clear. An preost wes on | leoden | Lagamon wes i hoten. He wes | Leouenađes | sone He wonede at | Ernlege lide him beo | drihten]. at | æđelen are | chirechen. sel þar him | puhte. Onfest || Rade stone per he || bock | radde |. Hit | com him on | mode: ond on his || mern | þonke||. bet he wolde of | Engle: þa | æđelæn | tellen. Wat heo ihoten | weoren || ond | wonene heo | comen. pa Englene | londe | ærest | ahten. After pan flode: be from | drihtene | com. quic þat he | funde. beal her aqueldo | be | mid heom weren on | archen. An oper he nom on | latin | be | makede seinte | Albin. be | fulluht broute | hider in. leide per a midden). Ond be feire | Austin | Boc he nom be| bridde pa makede a | Frenchis clerc | Wace wes ihoten: pe | wel coupe | writen[. Ond he hoe gef þare | ædelen | Aelilenor). be wes Henries | quene: bes | heges | kinges). § 108. The old Verse-types in Lagamon's Brut. The individual types can be easily recognized here and in the whole poem, which contains some 15 000 long lines. To type A belong An preost wes on leoden - Lazamon gon liden - æfter pan flode -arest ahten etc., to type B: be from drihtne pa he to bisne nom He wes Leouenades sone etc., to type C: Onfest Radestone bock radde ond on his mern ponke etc. But com per he anacrusis has become more frequent before A verses, e.g. An preost wes on leoden pa Englene londe peal her aquelde etc. Verses with more 'filling' of the first members of the verse, which were rare in OE., types 4, 10, 29, 30, 39, 40, have become commoner, e.g. æt | ædelen are | chirechen lide him beo | drihten - he wes | Leouenađes | sone etc. The E verses and shortened C and D1 verses are wanting, as in Otfrid. Some verses, too, exceed the limits of the OE. types. Thus, for example, whilst the fourth member is subordinated to the third, as in A and C types the first two members have about the same stress, e.g. anóper he nóm on | látin what héo thóten | wéorèn etc. In some verses all four members have about the same stress, so that they can be scanned monopodically with regular interchange of arsis and thesis: e.g. ónd biwón paœđela | bóc be | fúlluht | bróuhte | híder | in. § 109. Alliteration in Lagamon's Brut. The alliteration is by no means regular. Double alliteration in the first half-verse is rare, e.g. Lazamon gan liđen; wide gond pas leode. This verse shows, too, that the alliteration in the second half-line can be at the end, which was not possible in OE. Also in the first half-verse the alliteration is more often in the last foot than was formerly the case. This is not only so where weakly stressed words stand first, e.g. |