Chapter III: RHYME.—There are two kinds of rhyme; consonantal rhyme, in which

both the consonants and the vowels agree (_donde_—_responde_), and assonance, in which the vowels alone agree and the consonants are disregarded (_muero_—_puerto_). In *consonantal rhyme* both the consonants and the vowels should agree exactly: _sabio_—_labio_, _orgánica_—_botánica_. Still, as _b_ and _v_ represent the same sound, they may rhyme together, _acaba_—_esclava_, _recibo_—_cautivo_.

A word should not form consonantal rhyme with itself; although, at times, a simplex is found rhyming with a derivative (_precio_—_menosprecio_) or two derivatives rhyme with each other (_menosprecio_—_desprecio_). Similar suffixes (verbal, substantival, adjectival, etc., _-aba_, _-eza_, _-oso_) should not rhyme together any more than can possibly be avoided. Adverbs in _mente_ should not rhyme together. Words similar in sound and form, but distinct in sense, may rhyme: _ama_ (“mistress”) and _ama_ (“he loves”).

A series of assonances is offensive in verses having consonantal rhyme, as that in _e—o_ in these four verses of Garcilaso:

El más seguro tema con recelo
Perder lo que estuviere poseyendo.
Salid fuera sin duelo,
Salid sin duelo, lágrimas, corriendo.

Words having a weak accent or none at all, e.g., the definite article and monosyllabic prepositions, should not appear in rhyme, unless, possibly, in jocose style.

Consonantal rhyme may extend to three or more words (as in sonnets, octaves, _terza rima_), but combinations of three successive rhymes are not very common. Occasionally inner rhyme is found (cf. the Latin leonine hexameter), as in Tirso’s _El pretendiente_:

Ya sabes que el objeto deseado
Suele hacer al cuidado sabio Apeles,
Que con varios pinceles, con distinta
Color, esmalta y pinta, _etc._

As has been said, *assonance* excludes the rhyme of consonants and requires that of vowels alone, from the accented vowel on: _clàro_—_mármol_, _blànco_—_amàron_. But in words accented on the third last syllable (_esdrújulos_) or any syllable farther removed from the end (_sobresdrújulos_), the syllables between the accented one and the last unaccented one are disregarded; so, _cándido_—_diáfano_—_párvulo_—_enviándotelos_, all form a good assonance in _à—o_. In accented diphthongs and triphthongs, agreement of the vowels bearing the accent is the sole requirement: _piàno_—_clàustro_, _ve_—_agraciéis_. In unaccented diphthongs and triphthongs there is required only agreement of the strong vowels: _càmbies_—_amàreis_. Cf. the assonance in _è—a_ in the second, fourth, sixth and eighth lines of this passage from a poem of Moratín’s:

¡Que desgracia!—La mayor
Que sucederme pudièra.
Si me quieras despachar.—
¿La pobre doña Vicènta,
Cómo está?—¿Cómo ha de estar?
Traspasada. Si quisièrais
Despacharme...—Sí, al momento
Iré, si me dais licència.

These main rules are to be observed:

(1) in words accented on the last syllable (_agudos_), the assonance is that of the accented syllable only, as in Zorrilla:

Abierto tiene delante
Aquel cajón singulàr
Hábilmente preparado,
Que, mitad cuna y mitàd
Barco, condujo en su seno
Al desdichado rapàz.

(2) words accented on the last syllable (_agudos_) cannot assonate with those accented on the penult (_graves_), on the antepenult (_esdrújulos_), or on any preceding syllable (_sobresdrújulos_).

(3) the assonance is of two vowels and no more in words accented on the penult (_graves_), on the antepenult (_esdrújulos_), or any preceding syllable (_sobresdrújulos_); cf. the assonance in _ù—o_ in _mùstio_—_fúlgido_—_púsoselo_.

Penults may assonate arbitrarily with antepenults, but the effect is better when penults assonate with penults and antepenults with antepenults. But little use is made in rhyme of words accented on a syllable preceding the antepenult.

In the final unaccented syllable, as the result of an obscured pronunciation, _i_ and _u_, if not in diphthongs, assonate as _e_ and _o_ respectively, e.g., _cáliz_—_vàlle_, _débil_—_vèrde_, _Vènus_—_cièlo_, _espíritu_—_efímero_. Possible assonances are, then, those in _á_, _é_, _í_, _ó_, _ú_ (a difficult one), _à—a_, _à—e_, _à—o_, _è—a_, _è—e_, _è—o_, _ì—a_, _ì—e_, _ì—o_, _ò—a_, _ò—e_, _ò—o_, _ù—a_, _ù—e_, _ù—o_.

Because of the great difficulty that they present, continuous rhymed antepenults (_esdrújulos_) have not been much used. In strophic compositions, unrhymed antepenults may terminate certain lines occurring at regular intervals in the poem. Consonant rhyme should be avoided in assonanced poems. In modern Spanish, the assonance of alternate lines is the rule, and, if the composition is short, the one assonance may run all the way through it.

*Blank verse.*—Lines lacking both consonantal and vocalic rhyme occur and are called _versos sueltos_ (blank verse). Into compositions in _verso suelto_ consonantal rhyme may, however, enter, particularly at the end of the chief sections into which the subject matter is divided.