In accordance with the general character of the metre the verses in this Chronicle are, even when rhyming as short lines, printed as long lines, especially as this order of rhymes is not consistently observed in all places in which they occur. In lyrical poetry this metre is naturally chiefly found arranged in short lines, as in the following examples: Wright's Spec. of L. P., 97: Minot, ed. Hall, 17: _Máyden móder mílde,_ _Tówrenay, ȝów has tíght_ _oiéz cel óreysóun;_ _To tímber tréy and téne_ _from sháme þóu me shílde, A bóre, with brénis bríght_ _e dé ly málfelóun._ _Es bróght opón ȝowre gréne_. With another order of rhymes these verses are also met with in tail-rhyme stanzas of different kinds, as, for instance, in Wright's _Spec. of L. P._, p. 41: _Of a món mátheu þóhte,_ _In márewe mén he sóhte,_ _þo hé þe wýnȝord wróhte;_ _at únder mó he bróhte,_ _and wrót hit ón ys bóc,_ _and nóm, ant nón forsóc_. As a rule, the verses in such lyrical compositions intended to be sung are more regularly constructed than in those of narrative poetry, where the usual Germanic metrical licences occur more frequently. In Modern English the three-foot verse has remained a favourite, chiefly in lyrical poetry, and occurs there as well with monosyllabic as with disyllabic rhymes, which may either follow one another or be crossed, e.g.: Surrey, p. 128: Surrey, p. 39: _Me líst no móre to síng_ _Though Í regárded nót_ _Of lóve, nor óf such thing,_ _The prómise máde by mé;_ _How sóre that ít me wríng;_ _Or pássed nót to spót_ _For whát I súng or spáke,_ _My fáith and hónestý:_ _Mén did my sóngs mistáke._ _Yét were my fáncy stránge_, &c. We seldom find three-foot verses with disyllabic rhymes throughout. There is, on the other hand, in lyrical poetry a predilection for stanzas in which disyllabic rhymes alternate with monosyllabic, as, for instance, in Sheffield, _On the Loss of an only Son_: _Our mórning's gáy and shíning, The dáys our jóys decláre; At évening nó repíning, And níght's all vóid of cáre. A fónd transpórted móther Was óften héard to crý, Oh, whére is súch anóther So bléss'd by Héaven as Í?_ &c. Rhythmical licences, such as suppression of the anacrusis, seldom occur in such short lines. The species of licence that is most frequent appears to be inversion of accent. CHAPTER XI THE RHYMED FIVE-FOOT VERSE § =151.= Among all English metres the five-foot verse may be said to be the metre which has been employed in the greatest number of poems, and in those of highest merit. Two forms can be distinguished, namely, the rhymed and the rhymeless five-foot verse (the latter being known as _blank verse_), which are of equal importance, though not of equal antiquity.