Given that the last foot of the Old English verse line does not alliterate, and therefore remains unaffected by the phonetic and semantic effects that go along with alliteration, it can be expected to have weaker poetic force than the other three feet, and this is indeed verified in many lines of the text studied, the Sacrifice of Isaac episode of Genesis A. However, various poetic devices can be used to increase the poetic quality of the last foot and compensate for the lack of alliteration. Conversely, the poet can use the very weakness of the last foot to express Abraham’s powerlessness.