The phonological and metrical correlates

In an important section of A History of Old English Meter, R.D. Fulk points the way for a detailed analysis of specific patterns of Old English verse and the underlying principles of rhythm that rationalize those patterns: “Since before the time of Sievers the general assumption among metrists has been that the primary phonological correlate of ictus in Old English verse is stress. Syllable length plays a contributory role, inasmuch as short full lifts are exceptional; but otherwise the pattern of lifts, half-lifts, and drops in Sievers’ five metrical types is determined solely on the basis of stress. … Now it appears that syllable length plays a greater role than previously imagined …” (1992: 223).

General handbook and anthology summaries of Old English meter usually fail to take up syllable length, even to the extent of noting its “contributory role.” The most familiar rubrics give the game away: “accentual meter,” “strong-stress meter.” Textbooks for introductory language courses in Old English do indicate the role of syllable length in assigning metrical stress, but the student has to turn to technical books and articles to find that syllable length is an element not only of stress but also of something called a “position.” (Pope-Fulk 2001: 149–50 is an exception in presenting the idea, and presenting it clearly.)

Even with the focus solely on stress (Fulk's reference to “lifts, halflifts, and drops”), syllable length, or quantity, has a natural place, because metrical stress can occur only on a long syllable or its resolved equivalent. Therefore, at the very minimum, a bare-bones summary of Old English meter by the usual view must include both metrical stress (at three different levels) and syllable quantity.

With so much going on in the meter, it is understandable that the “position” is often left out. Yet the position – as in four positions to the half-line – has arguably been the most important element of the metrical analysis of Old English verse during the past half century. Although it was a part of Sievers’ original system, the position was generally overlooked in favor of the Five Types for several decades.

Four positions are implicit in the simplest forms of Sievers’ Five Types, illustrated by four-syllable verses.