Note 13 — Chapter V · THE CAROLINGIANS AND THE TENTH CENTURY

Iamb for spondee in the third foot, as in line 8, is a liberty adopted from classical verse by Bede (Adesto, Christe, vocibus) and by Paulus Diaconus (Fratres, alacri pectore). Even Sedulius Scotus, as to whose metrical expertness there can be no doubt, uses this liberty in a classical poem (Ventosa cum desæviat, MGH, Poet. lat. Car. III. 162). Rendered rhythmically, their hymns often suggest the shift of stress that seems to be intended in the Irish hymns.