Chapter III

THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE FREER FORM OF
THE ALLITERATIVE LINE IN LATE OLD ENGLISH AND
EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH

A. TRANSITIONAL FORMS.

§ 41. Increasing frequency of rhyme 64
42. Combination of alliteration and rhyme 65

B. THE 'PROVERBS OF ALFRED' AND LAYAMON'S 'BRUT'.

43. Development of the progressive form of the alliterative
line 67
44. Nature and origin of the four-beat short-lined metre 69
45. Number of stresses 72
46. Analysis of verse-types 74
47. Extended types 75
48. Verse-forms rhythmically equivalent 78

C. THE PROGRESSIVE FORM OF THE ALLITERATIVE LINE,
RHYMED THROUGHOUT. 'KING HORN.'

49. Further development of the Layamon-verse 79
50. The metre of _King Horn_ and its affinity to the
alliterative line 82
51. Characteristics of _King Horn_ and Layamon compared 84