Restrictions on Dip Length in the Alliterative Line: The A-Verse and the B-Verse

This article examines long-dip length in the unrhymed alliterative long lines and argues that: (1) in the b-verse, the metrically required long dip must not exceed three syllables: a b-verse with a four-syllable dip is unmetrical; (2) in the a-verse, a dip of four or more syllables is permitted when this dip consists only of closed-class words that do not normally receive beat, but it seems regularly to be avoided in crowded a-verses when the dip would have to include a potentially beat-bearing word, if it were assumed that the a-verse never has more than two beats, a theory which such avoidance tends to confirm.