1. Regular alliterative lines, which are very numerous, and at least in the first half of Layamon's _Brut_, possibly throughout the poem, form the bulk, e.g. _Prov._ xv. 247-8, Layamon, 13847-8, 13851-2, 13855-6, 13859-60, 13867-8, 13881-2, or _=B=úte if he =b=éo | in =b=óke iléred._ Prov. iii. 65-6. _þat his =b=lód and his =b=rain | =b=á weoren todáscte._ Lay. 1468-9. 2. Rhyme (or assonance) and alliteration combined; equally numerous, e.g. _Prov._ xv. 253-4, Lay. 13841-2, 13845-6, 13869-70, &c., or _Þat þe =ch=íriche habbe grýþ | and the =ch=éorl beo in frýþ._ Prov. v. 93. _his =s=édes to =s=ówen, | his =m=édes to mówen._ ib. 95. _biuóren wende =H=éngest, | and =H=órs him alre =h=ǽndest._ Lay. 13973-4. _Heo cómen into =h=álle | =h=ǽndeliche álle._ ib. 13981-2. 3. Verses with rhyme (or assonance) only, without alliteration, also not unfrequent, e.g. _Prov._ xv. 249-50 ff., or Lay. 13853-4, &c. _And his plóuh beo idrýue | to ure álre bihóue._ Prov. v. 97-8. _þe póure and þe ríche | démen ilýche._ ib. iv. 80-1. _On Itálȝe heo comen to lónde, | þer Róme nou on stóndeþ._ Lay. 106-7. _fele ȝér under súnnan | nas ȝet Róme biwónnen._ ib. 108-9. 4. Four-beat verses without either rhyme or alliteration, occurring comparatively rarely, and in most cases probably to be attributed to corruption of the text. Examples: _he may béon on élde | wénliche lórþeu._ Prov. vi. 101-2. _we habbeð séoue þúsund | of góde cníhten._ Lay. 365-6. It is certain that these four different forms of verse cannot have been felt by the poets themselves as rhythmically unlike; their rhythmic movement must have been apprehended as essentially one and the same.