This form of the metre is represented by a short poem[104] consisting of only twelve lines, belonging to the first half of the thirteenth century, and by the well-known poem _King Horn_[105] (1530 lines) which belongs to the middle of the same century. The prevailing rhythmical form of this poem is exemplified by the following verses, which for the sake of convenience we print here, not in the form of couplets (as the editors, quite justifiably, have done), but in that of long lines as they are written in the Harleian MS.: _Hórn þu àrt wel kéne | and þat is wèl iséne._ 91-2. _Þe sé bigàn to flówe | and Hórn chìld to rówe._ 117-18. This form occurs in more than 1300 out of the 1530 short lines of which the poem consists. It is evident that the rhythm of these lines is nearly the same as in the following taken from earlier poems: _ǣ́fre embe stúnde | he séalde sume wúnde._ Byrhtn. 271. _ínnon þām gemónge | on ǣ́nlicum wónge._ Dom. 6. _súme hi man bénde | súme hi man blénde._ Chron. 1036. 4. _þát he nam be wíhte | and mid mýcelan unríhte._ ib. 1087. 4. _wiþ póuere and wiþ ríche | wiþ álle monne ilýche._ Prov. 375-6. _ne míhte we bilǽve | for líve ne for dǽþe._ Lay. 13875-6. If those syllables which have the strongest accent in the unaccented parts of these verses are uttered a little more loudly than was usual in the alliterative line the rhythm becomes exactly the same as in the corresponding verses of King Horn, where the three-beat rhythm already has become the rule. This rule, however, is by no means without exceptions, and even the old two-beat rhythm (which may have been the original rhythm) is, in the oldest form of the poem, sometimes clearly perceptible, rarely, it is true, in both hemistichs, as e.g. in the following line: _Hi slóȝen and fúȝten | þe níȝt and þe úȝten._ 1375-6, but somewhat oftener in one of them, as in the following: _Hi wénden to wísse | of hère líf to mísse._ 121-2. _So schál þi náme sprínge | from kínge to kínge._ 211-12. _In Hórnes ilíke | þú schalt hùre beswíke._ 289-90. _Hi rúnge þe bélle | þe wédlak fòr to felle._ 1253-4. Of this type of verse a great many examples are of course to be met with in the earlier alliterative poems: _wúldres wédde | wī́tum āspḗdde._ An. 1633. _wýrmum bewúnden, | wī́tum gebúnden._ Jud. 115. _rā́d and rǣ́dde | ríncum tǣ́hte._ Byrhtn. 18. _on míddan gehǣ́ge | éal swā ic sécge._ Dom. 4. _þat lónd to léden | mid láweliche déden._ Prov. 75-6. _þe póure and þe ríche | démen ilíche._ ib. 80-1. _bivóren þan kínge | fáirest àlre þínge._ Lay. 14303-4. The third type (three beats with masculine ending), which is of rarer occurrence, is represented by the following lines: