(_c_) The _Orison to Our Lady_, _Genesis_ and _Exodus_, the _Bestiary_, the _Moral Ode_, the _Proverbs of Alfred_, and the _Proverbs of Hendyng_ are usually placed about the middle of the thirteenth century. Of originality there is little to comment upon; but as metrical experiments they are of great importance. The _Proverbs_ show some regular stanza-formation, and the _Moral Ode_ is remarkable for the steadiness and maturity of its measure, a long line coming very close to the fourteener. (_d_) The _Cursor Mundi_ was composed about 1320. It is a kind of religious epic, twenty-four thousand lines long, composed in the Northern dialect. The author, who divides his history into seven stages, draws upon both the Old and the New Testaments. The meter shows a distinct advance in its grip of the octosyllabic couplet. (_e_) =Richard Rolle of Hampole=, who died in 1349, is one of the few contemporary figures about whom definite personal facts are recorded. He was born in Yorkshire, educated at Oxford, and ran away from home to become a hermit. Subsequently he removed to Hampole, near Doncaster, where he enjoyed a great reputation for sanctity and good works. He wrote some miscellaneous prose and a few short poems, but his chief importance lies in his authorship of the long poem _The Pricke of Conscience_. This work, which is based upon the writings of the early Christian Fathers, describes the joys and sorrows of a man’s life as he is affected in turn by good and evil. The meter is a close approximation to the octosyllabic couplet, which shows extensions and variations that often resemble the heroic measure. It has been suggested that Hampole is the first English writer to use the heroic couplet; but it is almost certain that his heroic couplets are accidental.