Dodecasyllable generally called the "alexandrine", after the French equivalent. Dodecasyllable Dodecasyllable verse () is a line of verse with twelve syllables. 12 syllable lines are used in a variety of poetic traditions. Jacob of Serugh (c. 451 – 29 November 521), a Miaphysite Bishop of Batnan da-Srugh, also called 'Flute of the Spirit' who composed in the dodecasyllabic verse more than seven-hundred verse homilies, or mêmrê (ܡܐܡܖ̈ܐ), of which only 225 have thus far been edited and published. It is also used in Italian and French poetry, and in poetry of the Croats (the most famous example being Marko Marulić). In
Alliterative verse with specific rules for the addition of extra unstressed syllables. Alliteration is the principal ornamental feature of Old English poetry. Two stressed syllables alliterate when they begin with the same sound. In addition to the general rules for alliteration in Germanic poetry listed above, there are some further complications due to sound-changes in Old English: The first stressed syllable of the off-verse, or second half-line, usually alliterates with one or both of the stressed syllables of the on-verse, or first half-line. The second stressed syllable of the off-verse does not usually alliterate with the others. Just as rhyme was seen