Editing Alliterative verse (section)

====Meter and rhythm====
As described above for the Germanic tradition as a whole, each line of poetry in Old English consists of two half-lines or verses with a pause or ''[[caesura]]'' in the middle of the line. Each half-line usually has two accented syllables, although the first may only have one. The following example from the poem ''[[The Battle of Maldon]]'', spoken by the warrior Beorhtwold, shows the usual pattern:

{{Verse translation|
{{lang|ang|<u>'''H'''</u>ige sceal þe <u>'''h'''</u>eardra, {{pad|1em}} <u>'''h'''</u>eorte þe cēnre,
<u>'''m'''</u>ōd sceal þe <u>'''m'''</u>āre, {{pad|1em}} swā ūre <u>'''m'''</u>ægen lȳtlað
Her lið ure <u>'''ea'''</u>ldor &nbsp; &nbsp;<u>'''ea'''</u>ll forheawen,}}
|
Will must be the harder, courage the bolder,
spirit must be the greater, as our might lessens.
Here our leader lies all overthrown ...}}

Note the single alliteration per half-line in the third line. Clear indications of Modern English meanings can be heard in the original, using phonetic approximations of the Old English sound-letter system:
<blockquote><poem>
<u>'''H'''</u>igh [courage] shall the <u>'''h'''</u>arder, {{pad|1em}} <u>'''h'''</u>eart the keener,
<u>'''m'''</u>ood shall the <u>'''m'''</u>ore, {{pad|1em}} as our <u>'''m'''</u>ain [might] littleth
here lies our <u>'''e'''</u>lder ''{{pad|1em}} <u>'''a'''</u>ll for-heaved''
</poem></blockquote>

Single 'half-lines' are sometimes found in Old English verse; scholars debate how far these were a characteristic of Old English poetic tradition and how far they arise from defective copying of poems by scribes.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=A. J. |last1=Bliss |title=Single Half-Lines in Old English Poetry |journal=Notes and Queries |volume=18 |issue=12 |date=1971 |pages=442–449 |doi=10.1093/nq/18-12-442b }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Knapp |first1=Mona |title=Hybrid prosody and single half-lines in Old English and Serbo-Croatian poetry |journal=Neophilologus |date=1 April 1980 |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=284–289 |id={{ProQuest|1301899784}} |doi=10.1007/BF01531480 |s2cid=162116959 }}</ref>