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Home > Alliterative verse

In prosody, alliterative verse is any of a number of closely related verse forms that are the common inheritance of the older Germanic languages.

This was the verse form in which the Old English epic Beowulf was written, as well as most of the other Old English poetry; so were the Bavarian Muspillo and the Old Saxon Heliand. A modified form of alliterative verse is found in the Elder Edda. Alliterative verse exists from the earliest attested monuments of the Germanic languages; extended passages of alliterative verse are attested in Old English, Old Norse, Old High German, and Old Saxon.

1 Common features and origins

The basic shape of the inherited form of alliterative verse is that:

• A line of verse is divided into two half-lines by a cæsura.
• Each half-line has two strongly stressed words, or "lifts".
• At least two, usually three, of the lifts in a whole line must alliterateAlliteration is one of the stylistic devices ( literary technique) in which successive words (more strictly, stressed syllables) begin with the same sound. Alliteration is a frequent tool of poetry but it is also common in prose, particularly short phrase with each other.
• Usually two alliterations occur in the first half-line, so each lift alliterates there;
• One lift alliterates in the second half-line.
• The alliterating lift in the second half-line is almost always the first lift.
• The number of weak syllables between the lifts can vary from zero to three.
  
• Weak syllables may appear before the first lift in anacrusisAnacrusis in music or poetry, is a word for the lead-in syllables or notes that precede the first full measure. In the Star Spangled Banner the word Oh in the first line is in anacrusis in both the music and the anapestic meter of the poem: x / x x / x x.

Alliterative verse existed from the earliest monuments of Germanic literature to the present. The Golden Horn of GallehusThe Golden Horn of Gallehus is a golden drinking horn, discovered in North Slesvig, or Schleswig, in Denmark. Around its rim it bears a runic inscription: ek hlewagastiR holtijaR horna tawido (Runic, Unicode) which is one of the earliest inscriptions in t, discovered in DenmarkKongeriget Danmark ( In Detail) Motto of the Queen: Guds hjaelp, Folkets kaerlighed, Danmarks styrke (English: God's help, the love of the people, Denmark's strength) Official language Danish Capital Copenhagen Kobenhavn Monarch Margrethe II Prime Ministe and likely dating to the fourth century3rd century 4th century 5th century other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. Events Definitive declaration of biblical canon: Council of Carthage Demotic is replaced by Gr, bears the Runic inscription:

which forms a line of alliterative verse, alliterating with /h/.

A number of rules evolved in different languages as to what counted as a proper alliteration. Generally, consonant groups like /sk/ and /st/ only alliterated with identical consonant groups. Any vowel alliterated with any other vowel.

All of these verse forms impacted the textIn language, text is something that contains words to express something. The term usually has broader meaning. In linguistics text enters at least two types of contrasts. One is that between system and text, system being understood as the ability of the ss written in them. As they developed, standard images and metaphorThere are broad categories of figurative language which are classified as metaphorical (see Literal and figurative language). The more common meaning of metaphor is a figure of speech that is used to paint one concept with the attributes normally associats called kennings developed, and one of the purposes of these kennings was to allow the poet to substitute a stock image appropriate for his alliterating line.

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Alliterative verseBeowulf is written in alliterative verse. In prosody, alliterative verse is any of a number of closely related verse forms that are the common inheritance of the older Germanic languages. This was the verse form in which the Old English epic Beowulf was w