_To purvéie þám a skúlking, | on the Énglish éft to ríde_; p. 3, l. 8. _Bot soiórned þám a whíle | in rést a Bángóre_; p. 3, l. 16. _In Wéstsex was þán a kýng, | his náme wás Sir Íne_; p. 2, l. 1. There is less freedom of structure in the Alexandrine as used in the lyrical poems of this period, in which, however, the verse is generally resolved by middle rhyme into short lines, as may be seen from the examples in § 150. § =148.= The structure of the Alexandrine is, on the other hand, extremely irregular in the late Middle English Mysteries and the Early English Moral Plays, where, so far as we have observed, it is not employed in any piece as the exclusive metre, but mostly occurs either as the first member of the above-mentioned _Poulter's Measure_, and occasionally in uninterrupted sequence in speeches of considerable length. We cannot therefore always say with certainty whether we have in many passages of _Jacob and Esau_ (Dodsley's _Old Plays_, ed. Hazlitt, vol. ii, pp. 185 ff.) to deal with four-beat lines or with unpolished Alexandrines (cf. Act II, Sc. i). In other pieces, on the other hand, the Alexandrine, where it appears in passages of some length, is pretty regularly constructed, as, for instance, in Redford's _Marriage of Wit and Science_ (Dodsley, ii, pp. 325 ff.), e.g. in Act II. Sc. ii (pp. 340-1): _How mány séek, that cóme | too shórt of théir desíre: How mány dó attémpt, | that daíly dó retíre. How mány róve abóut | the márk on évery síde: How mány think to hít, | when théy are much too wíde: How mány rún too fár, | how mány light too lów: How féw to góod efféct | their trávail dó bestów!_ &c. The caesura and close of the line are in this passage, which comprises eighteen lines, monosyllabic throughout. § =149.= In Modern English the Alexandrine is also found in a long-lined rhyming form, as, for instance, in the sixteenth century in certain poems by Sidney, but notably in Drayton's _Polyolbion_. The Modern English Alexandrine is particularly distinguished from the Middle English variety by the fact that the four types of the Middle English Alexandrine are reduced to one, the caesura being regularly masculine and the close of the line nearly always so; further by the very scanty employment of the Teutonic rhythmical licences; cf. the opening lines of the _Polyolbion_ (_Poets_, iii. pp. 239 ff.): _Of Álbion's glórious ísle | the wónders whílst I wríte, The súndry várying sóils, | the pléasures ínfiníte, Where héat kills nót the cóld, | nor cóld expéls the héat, The cálms too míldly smáll, | nor wínds too róughly gréat_, &c. Minor caesuras seldom occur, and generally in the second hemistich, as, e.g., minor lyric caesuras after the first foot: