English Literature / Unit 1 ENL 0014 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Accentual Verse and the Old English Line
Captions available
The idea
Old English poetry does not count feet or rhyme. Each line has four strong stresses, split by a caesura into two half-lines, and alliteration binds them: a sound in the first half repeats in the second. Beowulf is the great example, and alliteration, not rhyme, marks the structure.
In practice
Four stresses, two halves, one repeated sound.
Where people slip
No rhyme, no regular foot.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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