9. v - v - | - v - v - 9. 10. v - v - v | - v - v - 10. 11. v - v - | - v - v - v 10. 12. v - v - v | - v - v - v 11. IV. Two syllables dropped. 13. - v - | - v - v - 8. 14. - v - v | - v - v - 9. 15. - v - | - v - v - v 9. 16. - v - v | - v - v - v 10. s. 105. Thus Chaucer had, unquestionably, sixteen forms of verse to choose from. It only remains to discover how many of these he actually employed. The shortest answer is, that he freely accepted the principles of adding a syllable at the end of the line and at the end of the half-line. He also allowed himself to accept the principle of dropping the first syllable of the line[73]. But he disliked forms 9, 11, 13, and 15, which introduce a most disagreeable jerk into the middle of the line, such as he very rarely allows[74]. s. 106. The general rules for the mode of reading Chaucer's lines have been given above (s. 67); and need not be here repeated. I now subjoin some examples. In each case the prefixed number refers to one of the sixteen forms given in s. 104; whilst the symbols following the lines give the natural method of scansion. Words joined by hyphens are pronounced in the same jet of breath. I may also note here that a trochee is sometimes substituted for an iamb, i.e. ¯| for |¯; especially at the beginning of a line, or of the latter half-line. The place of the caesura is denoted by a bar. A shorter down-stroke than usual signifies a _light_ syllable, as defined in s. 98. The following examples are from Group A of the Canterbury Tales:-- 12. Wh['a]n-that Apr['i]ll[:e] | with his-sh['o]ures s['o]te (1). ¯| |¯| . ¯ |¯| ¯| 4. The-dr['o]ght' of-M['a]rch[:e] | hath-p['e]rced t['o] the-r['o]te. |¯ |¯' . |¯| ¯ |¯| 1. Of-wh['i]ch vert['u] | eng['e]ndred ['i]s the-fl['o]ur (4). |¯ |¯ . |¯| ¯ |¯ 3. Hath-['i]n the-R['a]m | his-h['a]lfe c['o]urs y-r['o]nne (8). |¯ |¯ . |¯| ¯¯ |¯| 10. That-fr['o] the-t['y]me | th['a]t he-f['i]rst big['a]n (44). |¯ |¯| . ¯ |¯ |¯ 2. Whan-th['e]y were-w['o]nne | and-['i]n the-Gr['e]te S['e]e. |¯ |¯ . |¯ |¯| ¯¯ 14. ['A]l bism['o]t'red | w['i]th his-h['a]ber. ge['o]un (76). ¯¯ |¯| . ¯ |¯| ¯¯ 6. Th['a]t no-dr['o]pe | ne-f['i]ll' up['o]n hir-br['e]st (131). ¯ |¯' . |¯ |¯ |¯ 7. G['i]nglen ['i]n | a-wh['i]stling w['i]nd as-cl['e]re[75] (170). ¯| ¯ . |¯| ¯¯ |¯| 16. F['o]r to-d['e]len | w['i]th no-sw['i]ch por['a]ille (247). ¯¯ |¯| . ¯ |¯ |¯| 5. N['o][:e]s fl['o]od | com'-w['a]lwing ['a]s the-s['e]e (3616). ¯| ¯¯ . |¯| ¯ |¯ We have here examples of many of the above forms, viz. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14, 16; sufficient to shew Chaucer's general conformity with his French models.