Chapter X: The Septenary, the Alexandrine, and the Three-Foot Line

§ 135. The septenary 192
136. Irregularity of structure of the septenary rhyming
line as shown in the _Moral Ode_ 193
137. Regularity of the rhymeless septenary verse of the
_Ormulum_ 193
138. The septenary with a masculine ending 194
139. The septenary as employed in early lyrical poems and
ballads 195
140. Use of the septenary in Modern English 196
141-4. Intermixture of septenaries, alexandrines, and
four-beat lines 197
145, 146. Origin of the 'Poulter's Measure' 202
147. The alexandrine: its first use 204
148. Structure of the alexandrine in Mysteries and
Moral Plays 205
149. The alexandrine in Modern English 205
150. The three-foot line 206

CHAPTER XI

THE RHYMED FIVE-FOOT VERSE

§ 151. Rhymed five-foot verse in Middle English 209
152. Sixteen types of five-foot verse 210
153. Earliest specimens of this metre 212
154. Chaucer's five-foot verse; treatment of the caesura 213
155. Masculine and feminine endings; rhythmic licences 214
156. Gower's five-foot verse; its decline 215
157. Rhymed five-foot verse in Modern English 216
158. Its use in narrative poetry and by Shakespeare 217
159. The heroic verse of Dryden, Pope, and later writers 218

DIVISION III. VERSE-FORMS OCCURRING IN MODERN ENGLISH
POETRY ONLY