Can William Morris Count?

I know I just said that William Morris wrote a poem with fourteen-syllable lines (ostentatiously designated as fourteeners), and then I quoted the poem, anddid you notice something about that first line?

Woe, woe! in the days passed over I bore the Helm of Dread

Thats right: It only has thirteen syllables. Whats going on?

In order to make the line work, you the reader need to pause after the word over. A pause like this in a poem is called a caesura. Fourteeners are very similar to ballad...