_t[=o] =c=wále =c=níhta f[=é]orum._ Dan. 226.
=Type C C=, × . . . . -´ -´ [=)´] ×, occurs only nine times, of which six are in the second hemistich, as
with resolution of the first accented syllable,
_ne s[=e] =b=rýne =b=[=é]tm[æ´]cgum._ Dan. 265,
Other combinations are given by Sievers, _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 95, but these occur so rarely or are so doubtful that they need not be mentioned here. A few lengthened hemistichs have four beats, as
_engel in þone ófn ínnan becw[=ó]m._ Dan. 238,
and others in Sievers's _Altgermanische Metrik_, § 96.
§ =40.= OE. poetry is mainly narrative, and does not run into any kind of recurring stanza or strophe, but is entirely stichic. Traces of an arrangement of lines so as to form a stanza are found in D[=e]or, the Runic Poem, the Psalms and Hymns, the so-called First Riddle, and in the Gnomic verses of the Exeter Book, which may be compared to the Old French 'tirades'.[94]
On the other hand, end-rhyme of the two hemistichs, combined with alliteration, is not very uncommon, though in most cases it seems only an incidental ornament, as
_=f=ýlle ge=f=[=æ´]gon; =f=[æ´]gere geþ[=æ´]gon._ Beow. 1014.
_=w=órd-gyd =w=récan ond ymb =w=ér sprécan._ Beow. 3172.
In the Rhyming Poem of the Exeter Book we have eighty-seven lines in which the first and second hemistichs rhyme throughout, and in some passages of other poems, noticeably in the _Elene_, vv. 114-115, and vv. 1237-1251, in which Cynewulf speaks in his own person, or Crist 591-595, And. 869-871, 890, G[=u]thl. 801, Phoen. 15-16, 54-55; assonance is found not unfrequently alongside of perfect rhyme, as in G[=u]thl. 802, Phoen. 53. These places are sufficient to prove a systematic and deliberate use of rhyme, which serves to accentuate the lyrical tone of the passages.
Monosyllabic rhymes such as _n[=a]n: t[=a]n_ (Rhym. Poem 78), _r[=a]d: geb[=á]d_ (ib. 16), _onl[=á]h: onwr[=á]h_ (ib. 1) are called masculine, and disyllabic rhymes like _wóngum: góngum_ (ib. 7), _géngdon: méngdon_ (ib. 11), or trisyllabic _hlýnede: dýnede_ (ib. 28), _swínsade: mínsade_ (ib. 29), _bífade: hlífade_ (ib. 30), are called feminine.
According to their position in the hemistich, rhymes fall into two classes (_a_) interior rhymes like _hónd rónd gef[=è]ng_ Beow. 2609, _st[=í]ðm[=ò]d gest[=ó]d_ Beow. 2567, in compounds _wórd-hòrd ont[=é]ac_ Beow. 259, in co-ordinate formulae like _þ[=a] wæs s[=æ´]l and m[=æ´]l_ Beow. 1008, _wórdum and bórdum_ El. 24, _grund ond sund_ And. 747, and as so-called grammatical rhymes _l[=a]ð wið l[=a]ðum_ Beow. 440, _béarn æfter béarne_, Gen. 1070; (_b_) sectional rhymes joining the two halves of one line, as