Mr. Israel Gollancz says, in his Introduction to this poem: "I can point to no direct source to which the poet of _Pearl_ was indebted for his measure; that it ultimately belongs to Romance poetry I have little doubt. These twelve-line verses seem to me to resemble the earliest form of the sonnet more than anything else I have as yet discovered.... Be this as it may, all will, I hope, recognize that there is a distinct gain in giving to the 101 stanzas of the poem the appearance of a sonnet sequence, marking clearly the break between the initial octave and the closing quatrain.... The refrain, the repetition of the catch-word of each verse, the trammels of alliteration, all seem to have offered no difficulty to our poet; and if power over technical difficulties constitutes in any way a poet's greatness, the author of _Pearl_, from this point of view alone, must take high rank among English poets." (Introduction, pp. xxiv, xxv.) Other examples of intricate stanza structure are found in _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_, supposed to be by the author of _Pearl_. See in Part Two, p. 156. _aabccbddbeebffgggf_ Ne mai no lewed lued libben in londe, be he never in hyrt so haver of honde, So lerede us biledes. ȝef ich on molde mote wiþ a mai, y shal falle hem byfore & lurnen huere lay, ant rewen alle huere redes. ah bote y be þe furme day on folde hem byfore, ne shaly nout so skere scapen of huere score; so grimly he on me gredes, þat y ne mot me lede þer wiþ mi lawe; on alle maner oþes [þat] heo me wulleþ awe, heore boc ase on bredes. heo wendeþ bokes on brad, ant makeþ men a moneþ a mad; of scaþe y wol me skere, ant fleo from my fere; ne rohte hem whet yt were, boten heo hit had.[10] (Song from Harleian MS. 2253. Böddeker's _Altenglische Dichtungen_, p. 109.)