It is of special interest, however, to notice that words of Romanic origin which in the course of time had been introduced into the language are in many cases accented according to Germanic usage. Words of which the last syllable was accented in French have in their Middle-English form the chief accent thrown on a preceding, frequently on the first, syllable, and in consequence of this the originally fully accented syllable in trisyllabic words receives the secondary accent and is treated in the rhythm of the verse in the same way as syllables with a secondary accent in English words. The laws, too, which in Old English affect the subordination and position of the parts of speech in their relationship to the rhythm of the verse and to the alliteration, remain, generally speaking, in force. It is remarkable that 'if an attributive adjective is joined to a substantive, and a verb to a prepositional adverb, the first part of these groups of words still has the chief accent' (Luick). The relationship, on the other hand, of verse and sentence is changed. While in Old English poetry run-on-lines were very popular and new sentences therefore frequently began in the middle of a line, after the caesura, we find that in Middle English, as a rule, the end of the sentence coincides with the end of the line. Hence every line forms a unity by itself, and the chief pause falls at the end, not, as was frequently the case in Old English times, after the caesura. § =54. Alliteration.= On the whole, the same laws regarding the position of the alliterative sounds are still in force as before; it is indeed remarkable that they are sometimes even more strictly observed. In the _Destruction of Troy_, e.g. triple alliteration according to the formula _a a a x_ is employed throughout. _Now of =T=róy forto =t=élle | is myn en=t=ént euyn, Of the =st=óure and þe =st=rýfe, | when it di=st=róyet wás._ Prol. 27-8. Alongside of this order of alliteration we find in most of the other poems the other schemes of alliteration popular in Old English times, e.g. _a x a x, x a a x, a b a b, a b b a_: _In þe =f=órmest yére, | that he =f=írst réigned._ Als. 40. _Þénne gonne I =m=éeten | a =m=érvelous svévene._ P. P. Prol. 11. _I had =m=índe on my =s=lépe | by =m=éting of =s=wéuen._ Als. 969. _And =f=ónd as þe =m=éssageres | hade =m=únged be=f=óre._ W. 4847. Irregularities, however, in the position of the alliteration are frequently met with, e.g. parallel alliteration: _a a, b b_: _What þis =m=óuntein be=m=éneþ | and þis =d=érke =d=ále._ P. P. i. 1; or the chief alliterative sound (the 'head-stave') may be placed in the last accented syllable (_a a x a_): _'Now be =C=ríst,' quod the =k=íng, | 'ȝif I míhte =c=hácche._ ib. ii. 167; or it may be wanting entirely, especially in _William of Palerne_: