What is the specific poetic structure used throughout 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'?
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Correct answer: Alliterative long lines followed by a 'bob and wheel'
The poem is written in a North-West Midlands dialect using alliterative verse. Each stanza concludes with a 'bob' (a very short line) and a 'wheel' (four short rhyming lines), which provides a melodic resolution to the unrhymed alliterative lines.
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More Sir Gawain and the Green Knight questions
- What are the two colors that dominate the description of the Green Knight and his horse?
- Which animal is hunted by Lord Bertilak on the first day of the 'Exchange of Winnings' game?
- What does Gawain fail to relinquish to Bertilak on the third day of the game?
- Who is the 'elderly lady' at Hautdesert who is eventually revealed to be the mastermind behind the Green Knight's challenge?
- In the 'Beheading Game,' how much time passes between Gawain's blow to the Green Knight and his required appointment at the Green Chapel?
- The 'Pentangle' on Gawain's shield is referred to by the poet as a sign of what?