Chapter III: Spanish Versification (1)

Spanish versification is subject to the following general laws:

(1) There must be a harmonious flow of syllables, in which harsh combinations of sounds are avoided. This page xliv usually requires that stressed syllables be separated by one or more unstressed syllables.[6]

[Footnote 6: By stress is meant secondary as well as primary syllabic stress. Thus, _en nuestra vida_ has primary stress on _vi-_, and secondary stress on _nues-_.]

(2) Verse must be divided into phrases, each of which can be uttered easily as one breath-group. The phrases are normally of not less than four nor more than eight syllables, with a rhythmic accent on the next to the last syllable of each phrase.[7] Phrases of a fixed number of syllables must recur at regular intervals. There may or may not be a pause at the end of the phrase.

[Footnote 7: The unstressed syllable may be lacking, or there may be two unstressed syllables, after the rhythmic accent. See under _Syllabication_.]

(_a_) In the n-syllable binary line the phrases may recur at irregular intervals. In lines with regular ternary movement phrasing is largely replaced by rhythmic pulsation (cf. p. lxx).

(3) There must be rime of final syllables, or final vowels, recurring at regular intervals.

(_a_) In some metrical arrangements of foreign origin the rimes recur at irregular intervals, or there is no rime at all. See the _silva_ and _versos sueltos_ under _Strophes_.

Whether normal Spanish verse has, or ever had, binary movement, with the occasional substitution of a "troche" for an "iambic," or vice-versa, is in dispute.[8] That is, whether in Spanish verse, with the usual movement, (1) the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables is essential, or whether (2) the mere balancing of page xlv certain larger blocks of syllables is sufficient. For instance, in this line of Luis de León:

ya muestra en esperanza el fruto cierto,

is there regular rhythmic pulsation, much less marked than in English verse, doubtless,--but still an easily discernible alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables? If so, there must be secondary stress on _es-_. Or is _ya muestra en esperanza_ one block, and _el fruto cierto_ another, with no rhythmic stresses except those on _-anza_ and _cierto_?

[Footnote 8: There are in Spanish certain types of verses in which there is regular ternary movement throughout. These are treated separately. Cf. p. lxx.]

The truth seems to be that symmetry of phrases (the balancing of large blocks of syllables) is an essential and important part of modern Spanish versification; but that, in musical verse of the ordinary type, there is also a subtle and varied binary movement, while in some recitative verse (notably the dramatic _romance_ verse) the binary movement is almost or quite negligible.[9]

[Footnote 9: A count of Spanish verses (none from drama), by arbitrarily assuming three contiguous atonic syllables to be equal to-[/-]-(with secondary stress on the middle syllable), gave the following results (cf. _Romanic Review, Vol. III_, pp. 301-308):

Common syllabic arrangements of 8-syllable lines:

(1) / _ / _ / _ / (_): Esta triste voz oí.

(2) _ / _ / _ _ / (_): Llorando dicen así.

(3) _ / _ _ / _ / (_): Mi cama las duras peñas.

Of 933 lines, 446 (nearly one-half) were in class (1); 257 in class (2); and 191 in class (3). The remaining lines did not belong to any one of these three classes.

Common syllabic arrangements of 11-syllable lines:

(1) _ / _ / _ / _ / _ / (_): Verás con cuánto amor llamar porfía.

(2) / _ / _ _ / _ / _ / (_): Cuántas veces el ángel me decía.

(3) / _ _ / _ / _ / _ / (_): Este matiz que al cielo desafía.

Of 402 lines, 216 (slightly more than one-half) were in class (1); 94 were in class (2); and 75 in class (3). The remaining lines did not belong to any one of these three classes. Note that, in these arrangements of the 11-syllable lines, the irregularities in rhythm are found only in the first four syllables.] page xlvi Some poets have used at times a quite regular binary movement in Spanish verse; but they have had few or no followers, as the effect was too monotonous to please the Spanish ear. Thus, Solís:

Siempre orillas de la fuente
Busco rosas á mi frente,
Pienso en él y me sonrío,
Y entre mí le llamo mío,
Me entristezco de su ausencia,
Y deseo en su presencia
La más bella parecer.
(p. 53, ll. 6-12)

The Colombian poet, José Eusebio Caro, wrote much verse thus, under the influence of the English poets.

On the other hand, some recent "decadent" poets have written verses in which the principle of symmetry of phrases, or of a fixed number of syllables, is abandoned, and rhythm and rime are considered sufficient to make the lines musical. Thus, Leopoldo Lugones (born 1875?), of Argentina, in verses which he calls «_libres_» (cf. _Lunario sentimental_, Buenos Aires, 1909):

Luna, quiero cantarte
¡Oh ilustre anciana de las mitologías!
Con todas las fuerzas de mi arte.

Deidad que en los antiguos días
Imprimiste en nuestro polvo tu sandalia,
No alabaré el litúrgico furor de tus orgías
Ni su erótica didascalia,
Para que alumbres sin mayores ironías,
Al polígloto elogio de las Guías,
Noches sentimentales de _mises_ en Italia.
(_Himno á la luna_)

This is largely a harking back to primitive conditions, for in the oldest Castilian narrative verse the rule of "counted syllables" apparently did not prevail. Cf. the _Cantar de mío Cid_, where there is great irregularity in the number of syllables. And, although in the page xlvii old _romances_ the half-lines of eight syllables largely predominate, many are found with seven or nine syllables, and some with even fewer or more. The adoption of the rule of "counted syllables" in Spanish may have been due to one or more of several causes: to the influence of medieval Latin rhythmic songs;[10] to French influence; or merely to the development in the Spanish people of a feeling for artistic symmetry.

[Footnote 10: Such as:

Stabat Mater dolorosa
Juxta crucem lachrymosa
Dum pendebat filius.]

Other poets of to-day write verses in which the line contains a fixed number of syllables or any multiple of that number. Thus, Julio Sesto (_Blanco y Negro_, Nov. 5, 1911):

¡Cómo desembarcan..., cómo desembarcan
esas pobres gentes...!
Desde la escalera de la nave todo Nueva York abarcan
de un vistazo: muelles, río, casas, puentes...
Y después que todos sus cinco sentidos
ponen asombrados en ver la ciudad,
como agradecidos,
miran á la estatua de la Libertad.
¡Ella es la Madona, ella es la Madona,
que de la Siberia saca á los esclavos,
que á los regicidas la vida perdona,
y que salva á muchos de contribuyentes, pobres, perseguidos,
subditos y esclavos!...

(_La tierra prometida_)

Spanish poets have often tried to write verses in classical meters with the substitution of stress for quantity. Thus, Villegas in the following hexameters:

Seis veces el verde soto coronó su cabeza
de nardo, de amarillo trebol, de morada viöla,
en tanto que el pecho frío de mi casta Licoris
al rayo del ruëgo mío deshizo su hielo.[11]

[Footnote 11: Apparently _trebol_ instead of _trébol_. These lines are quoted by Eugenio Mele, in _La poesia barbara in Ispagna_, Bari, 1910.] page xlviii José Eusebio Caro wrote similar hexameters, and, strange to say, made alternate lines assonate:

¡Céfiro rápido lánzate! ¡rápido empújame y vivo!
¡Más redondas mis velas pon: del proscrito á los lados,
haz que tus silbos susurren dulces y dulces suspiren!
¡Haz que pronto del patrio suelo se aleje mi barco!
(_En alta mar_)

The number of these direct imitations is large; but few succeeded. They are, at best, foreign to the spirit of Castilian poetry.

In singing Spanish verses two facts are of especial interest: that, where the rules of prosody require synalepha, hiatus sometimes occurs (especially in opera), thus:

Recógete--ese pañuelo.
(Olmedo, _Folk-lore de Castilla_, p. 133)

Y el pájaro--era verde.
(Ledesma, _Cancionero salmantino_, p. 53)

And that musical accents do not necessarily coincide with syllabic stresses, even at the end of a phrase. Thus,

¡Cuántas vèces, vida mìa,
Te asomàrás al balcòn![12]

¡Cuerpo buèno, alma divìna,
Qué de fàtigas me cuèstas!

¡Bendiga Dios ese cuerpò,
Tan llenísimo de gracià!
(Hernández, _Flores de España_)

[Footnote 12: The grave accent mark (`) indicates a strong musical accent.] page xlix

SYLLABICATION

In most modern Spanish verse there is a fixed number of syllables in a line up to and including the last stressed syllable.[13] In counting these syllables consideration must be given to the following facts:

[Footnote 13: The number of unstressed syllables at the end of a line is not fixed. See p. lvi.

In order to have the correct number of syllables, poets sometimes (1) shorten a word or (2) shift the accent:

(1) ¿Ya qué mi puro _espirtu_ sucias carnes...
(Cabanyes, _Á Cintio_)

(2) Puede querer...? _Abralé_...
(Zorrilla, _Don Juan Tenorio_, primeraa parte, III, 6)
Deben de ser _angeles_.
(Lope de Vega, _El mejor alcalde el rey_, II)

Note the artificial separation of lines in some dramatic _romance_-verse:

... Soy un cate-
Cúmeno muy diligente.
(Calderón, _El José de las mujeres_, II)

De una vil hermana, de un
Falso amigo, de un infame
Criado...

(Calderón, _No hay burlas con el amor_, III)]

(1) SYNERESIS

Within a word two or three contiguous vowels usually combine to form a diphthong or a triphthong respectively (this is called "syneresis"): _bai|le, rey, oi|go, ciu|dad, cui|da|do, es|tu|diar, es|tu|diáis, dien|te, lim|pio, gra|cio|so, muy, bien, pue|de, buey_, etc. Exceptions:

(_a_) A stressed "weak" vowel (_i, u_) may not combine with a "strong" vowel (_a, e, o_) to form a diphthong: _dí|a_,_rí|e, frí|o, ra|íz, le|í|do, o|í|do, page l con|ti|nú|a, con|ti|nú|e, con|ti|nú|o, ba|úl, sa|bí|a, sa|brí|ais, ca|í|ais,_ etc.[14]

[Footnote 14: Note that in these combinations the weak vowel receives the accent mark. Some Spanish-American poets have sinned grievously, by reason of their local pronunciation, in diphthongizing a strong vowel with a following stressed weak vowel, as _maiz, a|taud, oi|do_, for _ma|íz, a|ta|úd, o|í|do_, respectively, etc.]

Exceptions are rare:

Su|pe | que | se|ría | di|cho|so |
(Calderón, _No hay burlas con el amor_, III)

Cf. also _rendíos_, etc., where the _o_ of _os_ combines with the _í_ by synalepha.

(_b_) _uá, uó_, are usually disyllabic, except after _c, g_, and _j: a|dü|a|na, sü|a|ve;_ but _cua|tro, san|ti|guó, Juan_, etc. Syneresis may occur: _sua|ve_.

(_c_) _úi_ is usually disyllabic, except in _muy: flú|i|do_.

(_d_) Two unstressed strong vowels, if they follow the stress, regularly form a diphthong; but if they precede they may form a diphthong or they may be dissyllabic, usually at the option of the poet.

Que | del | em|pí|r=eo e=n | el | ce|nit | fi|na|ba.[15]
(p. 180, l. 11)
Las | mar|mó|r=ea=s|, y aus|te|ras | es|cul|tu|ras.
(p. 138, l. 22)
La | ne|gra ad|ver|si|dad|, con | fé|rr=ea= | ma|no.
(p. 144, l. 20)
El | tiem|po en|tre | sus | plie|gues | r=o|e=|do|res.
(p. 85, l. 24) page li
Te | van | á ar|mar | do | c=a|e=|rás | in|cau|ta.
(p. 40, l. 24)
La | f=e|a=l|dad | del vi|cio|; pe|ro hu|yó|se...[16]
(p. 39, l. 14)
En | tan | frá|gil | r=ea=|li|dad.
(p. 97, l. 18)
La | sub|li|me | p=oe=|sí|a | re|ver|be|ra.
(p. 149,1. 19)

[Footnote 15: Note that here poetic usage differs from the rules for syllabication that obtain in prose. Thus, in _empíreo_ the _í_ receives the accent mark, since it is held to be in the antepenultimate syllable, but in verse _empíreo_ is regularly trisyllabic.]

[Footnote 16: The _ea_ of _fealdad_ is normally disyllabic by analogy with _feo_. Cf. (_f_) below.]

(_e_) Two strong vowels, if one is stressed, are usually disyllabic:

_pa|se|a, re|cre|o, ca|no|a,_ etc.

A|rran|ca a|rran|ca|, Dios | mí|o,
De | la | men|te | del | p=o|e=|ta
Es|te | pen|sa|mien|to im|pí|o
Que en | un | de|li|rio | cr=e|ó=.
(p. 83, ll. 7-10)
¿Qué | se hi|cie|ron | tus | mu|ros | to|rr=e|a=|dos,
Oh | mi | pa|tria | que|ri|da?
¿Dón|de | fue|ron | tus | hé|roes | es|for|za|dos,
Tu es|pa|da | no | ven|ci|da?
(p. 78, ll. 1-4)
A|na|cr=e|o=n|te, el | vi|no y | la a|le|grí|a.
(p. 150, l. 4)
S=a|e=|ta | que | vo|la|do|ra...
(p. 121, l. 15)
De o|ro | la | n=a|o= | ga|di|ta|na a|por|ta.
(p. 39, l. 24)
Y | no | se es|me|re en | l=o|a=r|la.
(p. 43, l. 18)
Don|de á | c=a|e=r | vol|ve|rá.
(p. 121, l. 22)
page lii
Syneresis is rare, but may occur,--except in _éa_, _éo_
and _óa_,--provided the second vowel does not receive a
rhythmic accent:

Es|cri|ba|no al | c=ae=r | el | sol.
(p. 109, l. 3)
C=ae=n | es|ta|llan|do | de | los | fuer|tes | gon|ces.
(p. 57, l. 19)
Cual | na|ve | r=ea=l | en | triun|fo em|pa|ve|sa|da.
(p. 40, l. 15)

(_f_) In some words vowels that would normally form a diphthong are usually disyllabic by analogy with other forms derived from the same stem: _fi|é_, _fi|ó_ (cf. _fí|o_), _ri|ó_, _ri|e|ron_ (cf. _rí|o_), _con|ti|nu|é_ (cf. _con|ti|nú|o_), _di|a|rio_ (cf. _dí|a_), _bri|o|so_ (cf. _brí|o_), _hu|í_, _hu|i|mos_ (cf. _hu|yo_), etc.

Syneresis is rare, but possible, as in _brio|so_ for _bri|o|so_.

(_g_) Prefixes, except _a_-, usually form separate syllables: _pre|in|ser|to_, _re|im|pri|mir_, _re|hu|sar_; but _aho|gar_. If the syllable after _a_-is stressed, dieresis usually occurs:

Á | los | que a|ho|ra a|cla|ma.
(p. 220, l. 3)
En | la | sub|li|me | so|le|dad | a|ho|ra...
(p. 188, l. 3)

(2) DIERESIS

By poetic license vowels that normally form one syllable may often be dissolved into separate syllables (this is called "dieresis") at the will of the poet: _glo|rio|so_ or _glo|rï|o|so_, _rui|do_ or _rü|i|do_, etc.[17] See also (1), _d_, above.

[Footnote 17: Note that the dieresis mark is generally used in dieresis of two weak vowels, or of strong and weak vowels where the strong vowel is stressed.] page liii But dieresis is impossible if the diphthong is _ie_ or _ue_ from Latin _[e]_ and _[o]_ respectively, as in _bien_, _siente_, _huevo_, _puedo_.

(3) SYNALEPHA

The final vowel or diphthong of one word and the initial vowel or diphthong of an immediately following word in the same line usually combine to form one syllable (this is called "synalepha")[18] as in:

Cuan|do | re|cuer|do | la | pie|dad | sin|ce|ra
Con | qu=e e=n | m=i e=|dad | pri|me|ra
En|tra|b=a e=n | nues|tras | vie|jas | ca|te|dra|les.
(p. 137, ll. 19-21)
La | cien|c=ia au=|daz|, cuan|do | de | ti | s=e a=|le|ja.
(p. 143, l. 16)
¡És|t=a e=s | Es|pa|ñ=a! A=|tó|ni|t=a y= | mal|tre|cha...
(p. 147, l. 3)
Que | mi | can|tar | so|no|ro
A|com|pa|ñ=ó ha=s|t=a a=|quí|; n=o a=|pri|sio|na|do...
(p. 49, ll. 6-7)

[Footnote 18: Note that the union of vowels in separate words is called synalepha, while the union of vowels within a word is called syneresis. But synalepha may occur in combinations of vowels in which syneresis would be impossible. Compare _te|ní|a_ and _ca|no|a_ with:

A|sí al | man|ce|bo in|te|rrum|pe (p. 94, l. 13).
Ni | la | mi|ra|da | que | lan|zó al | sos|la|yo (p. 219, l. 8).]

The vowels of three words may thus combine if the middle word is _a_ (or _ha_) (see also (4), _a_):

Le | di|j=o é=s|t=e á u=|na | mu|jer.
(p. 79, l. 15)
Sal|v=a á e=s|ta | so|cie|dad | des|ven|tu|ra|da.
(p. 143, l. 12)
page liv
(4) HIATUS

(_a_) Hiatus (i.e. the final vowel of one word and the initial vowel of the immediately following word form separate syllables)[19] is caused by the interposition of a weak unstressed vowel, as in:

En | sus | re|cuer|dos | de | hiel.
(p. 84, l. 3)
De | sus | á|la|mos | y | huer|tos.
(p. 91, l. 8)
Y hoy | en | sus | can|ta|res | llo|ra.
(p. 84, l. 18)

[Footnote 19: Note that hiatus between words is equivalent to dieresis within a word.]

Note that, similarly, the vowels of three words may not combine, if the middle word is _y, é_ (or _he_), _ó_ (or _oh_), _ú_:

O|las| de | pla|ta y | a|zul.
(p. 73, l. 12)
Que | la al|ma | no|che | ó el | bri|llan|te | di|a.
(p. 180, l. 20)
¿Quién | cal|ma|rá, | ¡Oh Es|pa|ña! | tus | pe|sa|res?
(p. 79, l. 7)

And in all such expressions as: _o|cio|so é | i|rri|ta|do_, _Se|vi|lla | ú O|vie|do_, etc.

Except when a vowel is repeated:

Si he es|cu|cha|do | cuan|do ha|bla|bas.
(Calderón, _No hay burlas con el amor_, III)

In modern Spanish, _h_, being silent, has no effect, but in older Spanish, _h_ for Latin _f_, being then pronounced, prevented synalepha, as in:

Por | el | mes | e|ra | de | ma|yo
cuan|do | ha|ce | la | ca|lor.
(p. 7, l. 1-2)
page lv
Hiatus was common in Old Spanish, except when the first
of two words was the definite article, a personal
pronoun-object or the preposition _de_; or when the vowels
were the same.

(_b_) Hiatus is usual when the initial vowel of the second word has a strong accent (usually the rhythmic accent at the end of a line or phrase):

Pues | en | fin | me | de|jó | una (Calderón).
Ta|les | fue|ron | ya | és|tos | cual | her|mo|so (Herrera).
Tal | de | lo | al|to | tem|pes|tad | des|he|cha (Maury).
No hay | pla|ce|res | en | su | al | ma.
(p. 85, l. 4)
Cuan|do | po|bre | de | a|ños | y | pe|sa|res
(p. 221, l. 9)
Con|ti|go | se | fué | mi | hon|ra.
(p. 103, l. 19)
De | gra|na|das | es|pi|gas|; tú | la | u|va...
(p. 215, l. 5)
Por|que es | pa|ra el | ser | que | a|ma.
(p. 84, l. 9)
Muy | más | her|mo|sa | la | ha|llan
(p. 44, l. 5)
El | ne|va|do | cue|llo | al|za
(p. 43, l. 4)
Por|que | tam|bién | e|ra| u|so.
(p. 115, l. 9)
Que en | la | bo|ca, y | só|lo | u|no.
(p. 52, l. 26)
Gen|te en | es|te | mon|te | an|da...
Ya | que | de | tu | vis|ta | hu|ye.
(Calderón)
Gi|gan|te | o|la | que el | vien|to...[20]
(p. 121, l. 23)

[Footnote 20: Synalepha is usually to be avoided when it would bring together two stressed syllables as in _gigante ola, querido hijo_, etc.] page lvi But synalepha is possible (especially of _de o-_):

To|do e|le|va|ba | mi á|ni|mo in|tran|qui|lo.
(p. 139, l. 22)
Yo | le | da|ré|; mas | no en | el | ar|pa | de o|ro...
(p. 49, l. 5)

And synalepha is the rule, if stress on the initial syllable is weak:

Á o|tra per|so|na en | Ma|drid.
(p. 36, l. 19)
To|da, to|da e|res | per|fec|ta.
(p. 44, l. 22)

If the vowels are the same, they usually combine into one:

Del | sol | en | la al|ta | cum|bre
(p. 49, l. 13)
Tem|blar | en | tor|no | de él|: un | ar|co in|men|so...
(p. 180, l. 10)

(5) FINAL SYLLABLES

In estimating the number of syllables in a Spanish verse-line one final unstressed syllable after the last stressed syllable is counted whether it be present or not; or, if there be two unstressed syllables at the end of the line, only one is counted.[21] Thus the following are considered 8-syllable lines although, in fact, one line has nine syllables and another has only seven:

La | sal|pi|ca | con | es|com|bros
De | cas|ti|llos | y | de al|cá|za|res...
Pa|ra | vol|ver | á | bro|tar...

[Footnote 21: In Spanish, a word stressed on the final syllable is called _agudo_; a word with one syllable after the stress is called _grave_ or _llano_; one with two syllables after the stress, _esdrújulo: farol, pluma, pájaro_.] page lvii This system of counting syllables obtains in Spanish because there is one and only one unstressed syllable at the end of most verse-lines. It would, perhaps, be more logical to stop the count with the last stressed syllable, as the French do. For instance, a Spanish 11-syllable line would be called a "feminine" 10-syllable line by the French; but the French language has only one vowel (_e_) that may occur in a final unstressed syllable, while in Spanish there are several (_a, e, o,_ rarely _i, u_).

RIME

Spanish poetry may be in rimed verse or in blank verse. (1) Rimed verse may have "consonance," in which there is rime of the last stressed vowel and of any consonants and vowels that may follow in the line, as in:

En las presas
Yo divido
Lo cogido
Por igual:
Sólo quiero
Por riqueza
La belleza
Sin rival.
(p. 75, ll. 5-12)

Madre mía, yo soy niña;
No se enfade, no me riña,
Si fiada en su prudencia
Desahogo mi conciencia,
(p. 51, ll. 10-13)

¡Cuán solitaria la nación que un día
Poblara inmensa gente!
¡La nación cuyo imperio se extendía
Del ocaso al oriente!
(p. 76, ll. 19-22)
page lviii
¡Oh tú, que duermes en casto l=echo=,
De sinsabores ajeno el p=echo=,
Y á los encantos de la hermos=ura=
Unes las gracias del coraz=ón=,
Deja el descanso, doncella p=ura=,
Y oye los ecos de mi canc=ión=!
(p. 199, ll. 1-6)

In a diphthong consisting of a strong and a weak vowel the weak vowel may be disregarded in rime. Cf. above: _prudencia, conciencia; corazón, canción; igual, rival_.

(2) Or rimed verse may have "assonance," in which there is rime of the last accented vowel and of any final vowel that may follow in the line, but not of consonants.[22]

[Footnote 22: Assonance is rare in popular English verse, but it occurs in some household rimes; e. g.:

Little Tommy Tucker,
He cried for his supper.
What shall little Tommy Tucker have for his supper?
Black-eyed beans and bread and butter.

Here the assonance is _ú-er_ (final unstressed _-er_ in standard present-day English represents vocalic _r_).]

Assonance of alternate lines is the usual rime of the _romances_, as in:

Cabellos de mi cabeza
lléganme al corvej=ó=n;
los cabellos de mi barba
por manteles tengo y=o=:
las uñas de las mis manos
por cuchillo tajad=o=r.
(P. 7, ll. 15-20)

Here the assonance is _o_.
page lix
¡Abenámar, Abenámar,
moro de la morer=ía=,
el día que tú naciste
grandes señales hab=ía=!
Estaba la mar en calma,
la luna estaba crec=i=d=a=:
moro que en tal signo nace,
no debe decir ment=i=r=a=.
(P. 1, 11. 1-8)

Here the assonance is _í-a_.[23]

[Footnote 23: The _romances viejos_ were originally in lines of approximately sixteen syllables, and every line then had assonance.]

Del salón en el ángulo obscuro,
De su dueño tal vez olvid=a=d=a=,
Silenciosa y cubierta de polvo
Veíase el =a=rp=a=.
¡Cuánta nota dormía en sus cuerdas,
Como el pájaro duerme en las r=a=m=a=s,
Esperando la mano de nieve
Qué sabe arranc=a=rl=a=s!
(P. 122, ll. 12-19)

Here the assonance is _á-a_.

The following rules for assonance should be noted:

_(a)_ In modern Spanish a word stressed on the final syllable may not assonate with one stressed on a syllable preceding the final.[24]

[Footnote 24: In the old _romances_ and in the medieval epic, _á_ could assonate with _á-a._ In singing these old verses every line was probably made to end in an unstressed vowel by adding paragogic _e_ to a final stressed syllable. Thus, _son_ was sung as _sone, dar_ as _dare, temí_ as _temíe_, etc. Cf. Men. Pel., _Ant._ V, 65; XI, 86, 92; and Men. Pid., _Cantar de mío Cid_, I, 65 f.]

_(b)_ A word stressed on the penult may assonate with one page lx stressed on the antepenult. Vowels between the stressed syllable and the final syllable are disregarded, as in _cruza, cúpula (ú-a), bañe, márgenes, árabes (á-e)._

_(c)_ In stressed diphthongs and triphthongs only the vowels receiving the stress assonate, as in _vale, aire (á-e), cabellos, suelo (é-o), envolviendo, aposento (é-o), guardias, alta (á-a), pleito, siento (é-o), mucho, triunfo (ú-o)._

_(d)_ In unstressed diphthongs and triphthongs only the strong vowels assonate, as in _turba, lluvia (ú-a), licencia, quisierais (é-a), pido, continuo (í-o)_. Similarly, _e_ or _o_, before another strong vowel, is disregarded in an unstressed diphthong, as in _modo, erróneo (ó-o), crece, héroe (é-e)_.

_(e)_ In final unstressed syllables, _i_ and _u_ (not in diphthongs) assonate with _e_ and _o_, respectively, as in _verde, débil (é-e), amante, fácil (á-e), líquido, espíritu (í-o)_.

(3) In Spanish blank verse (_versos sueltos, libres, blancos_) there is usually no rime; or if there be rime it is merely incidental. Blank verse usually consists of 11-syllable lines.

¡Oh! ¡cuánto rostro veo, á mi censura,
De palidez y de rubor cubierto!
Ánimo, amigos, nadie tema, nadie,
Su punzante aguijón; que yo persigo
En mi sátira el vicio, no al vicioso.
(P. 39, ll. 3-7)

Blank verse is little used in Spanish. It occurs chiefly in serious satirical or philosophical poems. But separate _versos sueltos_ are introduced into some varieties of compositions, such as the _romance, seguidilla, silva_, etc.[25]

[Footnote 25: The _versos sueltos_ are, with regard to the absence of rime, in imitation of classic Greek and Latin verse. They came into Spain by way of Italy during the Renaissance movement. Abjured by the romanticists, they were restored to favor by Núñez de Arce.]

page lxi
VERSE-MEASURES

A. VERSE WITH BINARY MOVEMENT[26]

[Footnote 26: The term "binary" is used here to distinguish ordinary Spanish verse from that with regular ternary movement. Cf. p. lxx.]

In modern Spanish this verse is commonly found in lines of seven, eight or eleven syllables. It may occur in lines of any length; but in lines of five or six syllables the binary and ternary movements are generally mingled. In Old Spanish binary lines of approximately 8+8 and 7+7 syllables were common, and lines of 6+6, or of nine, syllables were then, as now, also occasionally used.[27]

[Footnote 27: Verses of three or four syllables are best treated as half-lines, with inner rime (_versos leonínos_).]

The most popular measure, and the one of most importance in the history of Spanish verse, is the 8+8-syllable line of the old _romances_, which was later divided into two 8-syllable lines, and became the most common measure in the drama and in popular songs. This line usually has only one rhythmic accent, which falls on the seventh syllable.[28]

[Footnote 28: By "rhythmic accent" is meant the musical accent on the last stressed syllable of a phrase and not syllabic stresses that may occur within a phrase.]

Mis arreos son las armas,
mi descanso el pelear,
mi cama las duras peñas,
mi dormir siempre velar
(p. 5, ll. 1-4)
page lxii
Rarely 8-syllable lines are written with a fixed accent on
the third syllable (cf. p. 51, l. 10 f.).[29] There is then
sometimes _pie quebrado_ in alternate lines, as in:

Hijo mío mucho amado,
Para mientes;
No contrastes á las gentes
Mal su grado.
Ama: é serás amado;
Y podrás
Hazer lo que no harás
Desamado.[30]

[Footnote 29: They are less common in Spanish than in Italian:

Sai tu dirme, o fanciullino,
In qual pasco gita sia
La vezzosa Egeria mia
Ch'io pur cerco dal mattino?
(Paolo A. Rolli)]

[Footnote 30: Note the example of hiatus in this older Spanish.]

Next to the popular 8-syllable line the most important measure in modern Spanish verse is that of eleven syllables, with binary movement, which came to Spain from Italy in the fifteenth century, and was generally accepted by the writers of the Siglo de Oro. This 11-syllable line, though of foreign origin, has held the boards as the chief erudite measure in Spanish verse for four centuries, and taken all in all it is the noblest metrical form for serious poems in modern Spanish. A striking peculiarity of the line is its flexibility. It is not divided into hemistichs as were its predecessors, the 14-syllable Alexandrine and the 12-syllable _arte mayor_ verse; but it consists of two phrases and the position of the inner rhythmic accent is usually variable. page lxiii A well constructed line of this type has a rhythmic accent on the sixth syllable, or a rhythmic accent on the fourth syllable (usually with syllabic stress on the eighth), beside the necessary accent in the tenth position. Generally the inner accent falls on the sixth syllable approximately twice as often as on the fourth.

Y con diversas flòres va esparcièndo... (León)
Y para envejecèrse florecièron... (Calderón)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cuna y sepùlcro en un botón hallàron... (Calderón)
Se mira al mùndo á nuestros pies tendìdo... (Zorrilla)

Logically, the close of the first phrase should coincide with the end of the word that receives the inner rhythmic accent, and this is usually so, as in:

¿Qué tengo yò, | que mi amistad procùras?... (Lope)
Son la verdad y Diòs, | Dios verdadèro... (Quevedo)

But in some lines the rhetorical and the rhythmic accents do not coincide, as in:

... pero huyóse
El pudor á vivìr en las cabànas... (Jovellanos)
Del plectro sabiamènte meneàdo... (León)
Que á mi puerta, cubièrto de rocìo... (Lope)

The 11-syllable line may be used alone. Cf. the sonnets of Lope de Vega (p. 14) and Calderón (p. 18), the _Epístola satírica_ of Quevedo (p. 15), the blank verse of Jovellanos (p. 38) and Núñez de Arce (p. 144), _et al._ The neo-classic poets of the eighteenth century and some of the earlier romanticists even used it in _redondillas_ or assonated: page lxiv

En pago de este amor que, mal mi gr=ado=,
Hasta el crimen me lleva en su del=irio=,
Y á no verse por ti menospreci=ado=
Mi virtud elevara hasta el mart=irio=...

¿Por qué de nuevo pálida tristeza
Tus rosadas mejillas descol=o=r=a=?
¿Por qué tu rostro en lágrimas se inunda?
¿Por qué suspiras, niña, y te acong=o=j=a=s?
(Bretón de los Herreros, _¿Quién es ella?_)

But the poets of the Siglo de Oro and the neo-classic poets generally used it in combination with 7-syllable lines, as in Leon's verses:

¡Qué descansada vida
la del que huye el mundanal rüido,
y sigue la escondida
senda por donde han ido
los pocos sabios que en el mundo han sido!

Strophes of three 11-syllable lines and one 5-syllable line (_versos sáficos_) are not uncommon in highly lyric poems. Usually, in the long lines, the inner accent falls on the fourth syllable, with syllabic stress on the eighth, and with cesura after the fifth syllable. Thus:[31]

Dulce vecino de la verde selva,
Huésped eterno del Abril florido,
Vital aliento de la madre Venus,
Céfiro blando.
(Villegas, _Al céfiro_)

[Footnote 31: Mele (_op. cit_) states that the Sapphic ode was introduced into Spain from Italy by Antonio Agustín, bishop of Tarragona, in the first half of the sixteenth century, and quotes these lines by Agustín:

Júpiter torna, como suele, rico:
Cuerno derrama Jove copiöso,
Ya que bien puede el pegaseo monte
Verse y la cumbre.
page lxv
The romanticists used the _versos sáficos_ with rime.
Thus, Zorrilla:

Huye la fuente al manantial ingrata,
El verde musgo en derredor lamiendo,
Y el agua limpia en su cristal retrata
Cuanto va viendo.
(p. 86, ll. 3-6)

In the Sapphic strophe of Francisco de la Torre (d. 1594), the short line has seven syllables, and the long line may have inner rhythmic accent on the sixth, or on the fourth syllable. Thus:

El frío Bóreas y el helado Noto
Apoderados de la mar insana
Anegaron agora en este puerto
Una dichosa nave.
(_¡Tirsi, Tirsi! vuelve y endereza_)

The Sapphic strophe of Francisco de la Torre has been not infrequently imitated. Thus, Bécquer:

Volverán las obscuras golondrinas
En tu balcón sus nidos á colgar,
Y, otra vez, con el ala á sus cristales
Jugando llamarán.
(p. 122, l. 24-p. 123, l. 2)[32]

[Footnote 32: These long lines are especially cantabile, as most are accented on the third and sixth syllables. Only one is accented on the fourth and eighth.]

The 7-syllable line is commonly used in combination with those of eleven syllables (see above). In the seventeenth century, particularly, the 7-syllable line was used in anacreontics, artistic _romances, quintillas,_ page lxvi etc., in imitation of the Italian _settenario_, as in Villegas' _Cantilena_ beginning:

Yo vi sobre un tomillo
Quejarse un pajarillo,
Viendo su nido amado,
De quien era caudillo,
De un labrador robado.

In present-day songs the 7-syllable line is rather rare, except in combination with lines of five syllables, as in:

Camino de Valencia,
Camino largo...

And:

Á la puerta del cielo
Venden zapatos...

In these lines there is no fixed inner rhythmic accent.

The Old Spanish Alexandrine verse-line was composed of two 7-syllable half-lines. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries numerous monkish narrative poems (_mester de clereçía_) were written in this measure:

En el nonbre del Padre,--que fizo toda cosa,
E de don Jhesu Christo,--Fijo dela Gloriosa,
Et del Spiritu Sancto,--que egual dellos posa,
De un confessor sancto--quiero fer vna prosa...
(Gonzalo de Berceo)

The old Alexandrine fell before the rising popularity of the _arte mayor_ verse early in the fifteenth century. In the eighteenth century a 13-syllable Alexandrine appears in Spanish in imitation of the classic French line. This later Spanish Alexandrine is not composed of two distinct half-lines. It also has, like its French page lxvii prototype, alternate couplets of masculine and feminine lines (_versos agudos_ and _versos llanos_ or _graves_). Thus, Iriarte:

En cierta catedral una campana había
Que sólo se tocaba algún solemne día
Con el más recio son, con pausado compás,
Cuatro golpes ó tres solía dar, no más.

There is an inner rhythmic accent on the sixth syllable. Iriarte also revived the older Alexandrine, but without hiatus:

Cuando veo yo algunos,--que de otros escritores
Á la sombra se arriman,--y piensan ser autores...

Recent poets have revived the old Alexandrine.[33] Thus, Rubén Darío uses it, even retaining the hiatus between the half-lines; but instead of grouping the lines in quatrains with monorime, as the old monks did, he uses assonance in alternate lines, which is, so far as I know, without precedent:

Es con voz de la Biblia--ó verso de Withman
Que habría que llegar--hasta ti, ¡cazador!
Primitivo y moderno,--sencillo y complicado,
Con un algo de Wáshington--y mucho de Nemrod...
(p. 211, ll. 1-4)

[Footnote 33: For their use of this line with ternary movement, see p. lxxix.]

Lines of five or six syllables usually have a mingled binary and ternary movement:

Una barquera
Hallé bizarra,
De pocos años
Y muchas gracias.
(N. Moratín)
page lxviii
Salí á las diez
Á ver á Clori
(No lo acerté):
Horas menguadas
Debe de haber...
(L. Moratín)

Lines of 5+5 syllables (_versos asclepiadeos_) are occasionally written:

Id en las alas--del raudo céfiro,
Humildes versos,--de las floridas
Vegas que diáfano--fecunda el Arlas,
Adonde lento--mi patrio río
Ve los alcázares--de Mantua excelsa.
(L. Moratín)

The Mexican poet Pesado used the same line in his _Serenata_:

¡Oh tú que duermes--en casto lecho,
De sinsabores--ajeno el pecho,
Y á los encantos--de la hermosura
Unes las gracias--del corazón,
Deja el descanso,--doncella pura,
Y oye los ecos--de mi canción!
(P. 199, ll. 1-6)

The same measure appears in a patriotic song, _Himno de Riego_:

En las cabezas--él proclamó
La suspirada--constitución,
Y enarbolando--marcial pendón,
Á los leales--acaudilló...[34]

[Footnote 34: It should be noted that these latter verses, like most Spanish patriotic songs, are sung with ternary movement, thus:

Èn las cabèzas--èl proclamò...]
page lxix
This 10-syllable measure is cantabile, and its phrases are
too short and too regular to make good recitative verse.

_Versos alcaicos_ differ from the _asclepiadeos_ in that the former have, in a strophe, two lines of 5 + 5, one of nine, and one of ten syllables. Thus, in these lines of Victorio Giner (who probably introduced this strophe into Spain in the second half of the nineteenth century):

Y si los nautas, cantando el piélago,
Con remos hieren y espumas alzan,
Se aduerme á los ecos sus penas
Y á los ecos su batel avanza.

Juan Luis Estelrich (_Poesías_, 1900) uses _versos alcaicos_ with the first two lines of each strophe _esdrújulo_, in imitation of Carducci:

Carmen, tu nombre trae al espíritu
Vuelo de aromas, susurro de árboles,
Los píos consorcios del cielo,
Y el cantar melodioso del Lacio.

(_Á Carmen Valera._)[35]

[Footnote 35: Cf. Mele, _op. cit._]

_Romances_ in lines of 6 + 6 (or 6 + 5) syllables occur in popular Spanish verse, as in the Asturian _romance_ of _Don Bueso_, beginning:

Camina don Bueso--mañanita fría
á tierra de moros--á buscar amiga...

(Men. Pel., _Ant._ X, 56: cf. also _Ant._ XI, 102)

This measure was also used in _endechas_, as in _Los comendadores de Córdoba_ (fifteenth century), beginning:

¡Los comendadores,--por mi mal os vi! Yo vi á vosotros,--vosotros á mí... page lxx The 9-syllable line was not well received in Spain, and it has been little used. Iriarte, in his desire to vary the metrical constructions of his fables, used it at least once:

Sobre una mesa, cierto día,
Dando estaba conversación
Á un Abanico y á un Manguito
Un Paraguas ó Quitasol...

There is certainly no fixed inner rhythmic accent in these lines. The fact seems to be that the 9-syllable line is too long to be uttered comfortably in one phrase, or breath-group, and it is too short to be regularly divided into parts by cesura.

B. VERSE WITH TERNARY MOVEMENT

Verse with regular ternary movement may occur in lines of any length, but it is commonly found only in lines of ten, eleven or twelve syllables. Many ternary lines of five and six syllables are found, but they are almost invariably mingled with binary lines. This _rondel antiguo_ (Nebrija, quoted by Men. Pel., _Ant._ V. 66) is ternary throughout, it would seem:

Despide plazer
y pone tristura;
crece en querer
vuestra hermosura.

For mixed movements, see the _serranilla_ on p. 45, l. 9 f.

In lines with _regular_ ternary movement, properly speaking, every primary stress receives a rhythmic accent, and these accents are always separated by two page lxxi atonic syllables, as in:

Yo no sè como bàilan aquì,
Que en mi tièrra no bàilan ansì...

Rarely one finds 6-syllable and 9-syllable lines with regular ternary movement, and these are probably never of popular origin. Thus:

Serèna la lùna
Alùmbra en el cièlo,
Domìna en el suèlo
Profùnda quietùd...

(Espronceda, _El reo de muerte_, II)

Y luègo el estrèpito crèce
Confùso y mezclàdo en un sòn,
Que rònco en las bòvedas hòndas
Tronàndo furiòso zumbò...

(Espronceda, _Estudiante de Salamanca_)

Formerly the Spanish 10-syllable line occurred usually in combination with other lines, as in:

En la calle de Atòcha, ¡litòn!
Que vìve mi dàma;
Yo me llàmo Bartòlo, ¡litòn!
Litòque, vitòque, y[36] èlla Catànla.
--En la càlle del Sòrdo, ¡litòn!
Que vìve mi mòzo,
Pues á cuànto le pìdo, ¡litòn!
Litòque, vitòque, que sièmpre está sòrdo.

[Footnote 36: There is hiatus here.]

(Quiñones de Benavente, _Entremeses, bailes, loas y sainetes_, quoted by Milá y Fontanals, _Obras completas_, Vol. V, p. 324 f.) page lxxii Calderón used it in the _Viña del Señor_:

Á la vìña, á la vìña, zagàles;
Zagàles, venìd, venìd á la vìña.
Á la vìña, á la vìña, zagàles,
Y vàya de jìra, de bùlla y de bàile.
Zagàles, venìd, venìd á la vìña,
Y vàya de bàile, de bùlla y de jìra.

A recent number of the _Ilustración Española y Americana _ (15 Enero, 1911) contains lines of similar construction by Don Rafael Torromé:

Al miràr su carìta sonriènte,
Tan dùlce y tan buèna,
Siempre obsèrvo que mi àlma presiènte,
Con duèlo y con pèna,
Que más tàrde este mùndo inclemènte
Trocarà en sentimièntos de hièna
Los pùros afèctos de su àlma inocènte.

Iriarte did not hesitate to write fables in these 10-syllable lines alone:

De sus hìjos la tòrpe Avetùrda
El pesàdo volàr conocìa...

And the romanticists of the nineteenth century used it not infrequently:

Con inmòvil, irònica muèca
Inclinàron formàndo en redòr...

(Espronceda, _Est. de Sal._)

Del salòn en el àngulo obscùro,
De su duèño tal vèz olvidàda,
Silenciòsa y cubièrta de pòlvo,
Veìase el àrpa.
(Bécquer, _Rima_ VII)
page lxiii
In the nineteenth century this line came to be popular in
patriotic songs which are sung by the multitude, while the
crash of the drum marks the rhythmic accents:

Entonèmos festìvos cantàres,
Pues el dìa felìz ha llegàdo,
Que del yùgo servìl aliviàdo
Goza yà el Españòl libertàd.

(_La Constitución_)

Al combàte corrèd, Bayamèses,
Que la pàtria os contèmpla orgullòsa;
No temàis una muèrte gloriòsa,
Que morìr por la pàtria es vivìr.

(Cuban national hymn, cf. p. 251)

The commoner form of verse with 11-syllable ternary lines is that popularly called "_de gaita gallega_" (Men. Pel., _Ant._, V, p. cxcv; X, 141. Cf. also Milá, _op. cit._), the assumption being that this verse is intimately related to that type of popular Galician poetry known as the _muiñeira_, which was sung to the music of the bagpipe. These lines are typical of the "_endecasílabos de gaita gallega_":

Tànto bailè á la puèrta del cùra,
Tànto bailè que me diò calentùra;
Tànto bailè á la puèrta del hòrno,
Tànto bailè que me dièron un bòllo.[37]

[Footnote 34: Many Galician _muiñeiras_ have been collected: cf. Milá, _op. cit._; Carolina Michaëlis de Vasconcellos, _Cancioneiro de Ajuda_, Vol. II, Halle, 1904; José Pérez Ballesteros, _Cancionero popular gallego_, Madrid, 1885.] page lxxiv Menéndez y Pelayo (_Ant._ X, 141) gives, in his collection of _Romances tradicionales de Asturias_, the following one in ternary 11-syllable lines:

=La tentación=

--¡Ày, probe Xuàna de cuèrpo garrido!
¡Ày, probe Xuàna de cuèrpo galàno!
¿Dònde le dèxas al tù buen amigo?
¿Dònde le dèxas al tù buen amàdo?
--¡Muèrto le dèxo á la orìlla del rìo,
muèrto le dèxo á la orìlla del vàdo!
--¿Cuànto me dàs, volverètelo vìvo?
¿Cuànto me dàs, volverètelo sàno?
--Dòyte las àrmas y dòyte el rocìno,
dòyte las àrmas y dòyte el cabàllo.
--No hè menestèr ni armàs ni rocìno,
no hè menestèr ni armàs ni cabàllo...

It should be noted that this poem has assonance of the odd and of the even lines. Men. Pel. says of this popular 11-syllable _romance_ that «su aparición en la poesía popular castellana es un fenómeno singular, aun en Asturias misma, y hasta ahora no se ha presentado más ejemplo que éste.» Note the apparent shifting of stress in _armas_. Iriarte and L. Moratin did not scorn to use this line.

Iriarte:

Cièrta criàda la càsa barrìa
Còn una escòba muy sùcia y muy vièja...

Moratin (in the chorus of _Padres del Limbo_):

Hùyan los àños con ràpido vuèlo;
Gòce la tièrra duràble consuèlo;
Mìre á los hòmbres piadòso el Señòr...
page lxxv
The 11-syllable line of ternary movement has had less
vogue in artistic verse than those of ten and twelve
syllables.[38]

[Footnote 38: In _Las hijas del Cid_ E. Marquina has used a flexible 11-syllable ternary line beginning with either [\-] - - [\-] or - [\-] - [\-]:

Sus nòmbres jùntos los llèvo en el alma,
Jùntos los guàrda tambièn mi memòria.

These are blank verses with occasional assonance.]

The Spanish ternary 12-syllable line was formerly used chiefly in combination with lines of ten or eleven syllables. Some examples of mingled 10-and 12-syllable lines have already been given above. Another is:

Mancebìto, perdòne las hèmbras,
Que còmen y bèben y no tienen rèntas.
--Pues, mocìtas, maldìtas sean èllas,
Ó còsan ó làbren ó càiganse muèrtas.

A song of mingled 11-and 12-syllable lines begins thus:

Al pàsar la bàrca, me dìjo el barquèro:
Mòza bonìta no pàga dinero.[39]

[Footnote 39: Cf. Milá, _op. cit._ In singing _pasar_, there is apparently a shifting of stress which is not uncommon in songs.]

Efforts have been made from time to time to use the ternary movements in erudite verse, but these, for the most part, have proven futile. The most serious and the most successful attempt appears in the use of the _copla de arte mayor_ in the fifteenth century. The _copla (metro, versos) de arte mayor_ consists of mingled 12-and 11-syllable lines arranged in strophes of eight lines, each with consonantal rime according to some definite scheme. The _arte mayor_ verse attained to its most perfect form and its greatest popularity in page lxxvi _El laberinto de la fortuna_ (1444?), by Juan de Mena, of which the following is a strophe:

Amores me dieron corona de amores
porque mi nombre por más bocas ande;
entonçes no era mi mal menos grande,
quando me dauan plazer sus dolores;
vençen el seso sus dulçes errores,
mas non duran sienpre, segund luego plazen;
pues me fizieron del mal que vos fazen,
sabed al amor desamar, amadores.

(Strophe 106)

The old _arte mayor_ verse has these distinguishing characteristics:

The line is divided into hemistichs, each of which may have four, five or six syllables, thus:

(1) (-) - - - [/-] (-) | (-) - - - [/-] (-),

except that the final syllable of the first hemistich and the initial syllable of the second may not both be lacking. These arrangements may also occur (the third is rare):

(2) (-) - - - [/-] - - | - - - [/-] (-)

(3) (-) - - - [/-] | - - - - - [/-] (-).

Examples of types:

(1) Las grandes fazañas | de nuestros mayores... (Str. 4)
Vayan de gente | sabidos en gente... (Str. 3)
Reconocerán | maguer que feroce... (Str. 274)
Assí que qualquiera | cuerpo ya muerto... (Str. 244)
Cuya virtud | maguer que reclama...
Sufren que passen | males e viçios... (Str. 232)

(2) E ví á Pitágoras | que defendía... (Str. 118)
Bien como médico | mucho famoso... (Str. 178)

(3) Quando el señor | es en neçessidad... (Str. 258) page lxxvii The initial unstressed syllable of the first hemistich is lacking in approximately one-third of the lines of the _Laberinto_. These lines resemble the 11-syllable _gaita gallega_ verse, and the others resemble the popular Galician 12-syllable ternary line, for in both the final unstressed syllable of the first hemistich may fall,[40] which seems to indicate that the appearance of the _arte mayor_ verse in Castilian was due to Galician influence.

[Footnote 40: Cf. these Galician _muiñeiras_, cited by Milá y Fontanals (_Romanía_, VI, p. 47 f.):

Càndo te vèxo | na bèira do rìo,
Quèda o meu còrpo | tembràndo de frìo;
Càndo te vèxo | d'o mònte n'altùra,
A tòdo o mon córpo | lle dà calentùra.
Ìsca d'ahì | galìña maldìta,
Ìsca d'ahì | non me màte la pìta;
Ìsca d'ahì | galìña ladròna,
Ìsca d'ahì | pra càs de tua dòna.]

Again, as in many Galician songs of this type, the ternary movement of the old _arte mayor_ verse is not strictly regular. Approximately nine-tenths of the lines in the _Laberinto_ may be read with regular ternary movement:

(-) [/-] - - [/-] (-) | (-) [/-] - - [/-] (-),

by giving a rhythmic accent to a syllable with secondary stress or to a middle syllable in a group of atonics, in a not inconsiderable number of lines, as in:

Pòr las altùras, | collàdos y cèrros...
Assì que tu ères | la gòvernadòra...

In the remaining lines the commonest movement is:

(-) - [/-] - [/-] (-) | (-) - [/-] - [/-] (-),

as in:

Aquel claro padre, aquel dulce fuente... page lxxviii

In the second half of the sixteenth century and in the seventeenth century, the _arte mayor_ verse was out of fashion, although it appeared occasionally, as in these lines of Lope de Vega (a variety of the Sapphic strophe), with inner rime:

Amor poderoso en cielo y en tierra,
dulcísima guerra de nuestros sentidos,
¡oh, cuántos perdidos con vida inquiëta
tu imperio sujeta!

(From first act of _Dorotea_)

In the nineteenth century it was restored to favor by the romanticists.[41] Good examples are: Espronceda, _El templario_; Avellaneda, _Las siete palabras_; and Zorrilla, _Á un torreón_ (part). Some writers used it even in the drama (cf. Gil y Zárate, _Guzmán el bueno_). The modern _arte mayor_ verse is written in 12-syllable lines, usually with regular ternary movement. Thus:

¡Oh Antìlla dichòsa! | ¿qué màgicos sònes,
Qué lùz inefàble, | qué extràña alegrìa,
Del cièlo destièrran los nègros crespònes,
Prestàndo á esta nòche | la pòmpa del dìa?

¿Por qué tan ufàna, | tan bèlla la lùna
Con fàz refulgènte | comiènza su gìro,
Y no hày leve sòmbra | que crùce importùna
Su tròno esmaltàdo | de plàta y zafìro?

(Avellaneda, _Serenata de Cuba_)

[Footnote 41: Iriarte, of course, had written a fable or
two in _arte mayor_ verse. Cf. _Fábula_ XXXIX.]
page lxxix
Soldàdos, la Pàtria | nos llàma á la lìd;
Jurèmos por èlla | vencèr ó morìr;
Serènos, alègres, | valièntes, osàdos,
Cantèmos, soldàdos, | el hìmno á la lìd:
Ya nuèstros acèntos | el òrbe se admìre,
Y en nòsotros[42] mìre | los hìjos del Cìd;
Ya nuèstros acèntos | el òrbe se admìre,
Y en nòsotros mìre | los hìjos del Cìd.
(_Himno de Riego_: cf. p. 242)

[Footnote 42: Note in _nosotros_ the shifting of stress, which the musical notation indicates clearly.]

Lines of fourteen and fifteen syllables with ternary movement are never popular, and in artistic verse they are exceedingly rare. Avellaneda used these measures in _Soledad del alma_:

Sàle la auròra risuèña, de flòres vestìda,
Dàndole al cièlo y al càmpo variàdo colòr;
Tòdo se anìma sintièndo brotàr nueva vìda,
Càntan las àves, y el àura suspìra de amòr.

Huyèron velòces--cual nùbes que el viènto arrebàta--
Los brèves momèntos de dìcha que el cièlo me diò...
¿Por què mi existència, ya inùtil, su cùrso dilàta,
Si el tèrmino ansiàdo á su espàlda perdìdo dejò?

Some recent poets have attempted to write ternary Alexandrine verse. Thus, the Peruvian poet, José S. Chocano (1867-):

Los Estados Unidos, como argolla de bronce,
contra un clavo sujetan de la América un pie;
y la América debe, si pretende ser libre,
imitarles primero, é igualarles después.
page lxxx
Imitemos ¡oh Musa! las crujientes estrofas
que en el Norte se arrastran con la gracia de un tren,
y que giren las rimas como ruedas veloces
y que caigan los versos como varas de riel.
(_La epopeya del Pacífico_)

STROPHES

There are certain conventional combinations of line and rime known by special names. Those used in modern Spanish may best be considered under the heads (I) Assonance, (II) Consonantal Rime, and (III) No Rime.

I. (1) The _romance_ is the most characteristic and national of all Spanish meters. The proper _romance_ consists of 8-syllable lines with assonance in alternate lines[43] (cf. pp. 1-8, 42, etc.). The structure of the _romance_ line has already been treated (p. lxi). In the old _romances_ there was no division into stanzas, but poets from the end of the sixteenth century on regularly employ a pause after every fourth line, thereby creating a series of quatrains (pp. 42, 60, etc.), except in the drama (p. 19).

[Footnote 43: Historically, of i6-syllable lines, all assonating.]

(2) Alternate assonance may be employed with lines of any length. With 11-syllable lines the verse is called _romance heroico_ or _real_. Lines of seven syllables make _versos anacreónticos_. The name _endecha_ is given to some assonated verse of either six (p. 124) or seven syllables. When the first three lines of a stanza are of seven syllables and the last of eleven, the verse is called _endecha real_. For examples of alternate assonance in lines of various lengths, see pp. 122 (2 examples), 123, 137, 160, 177.

An _estribillo_, or refrain, may be used in any assonating verse (p. 45). page lxxxi (3) The use of alternate assonance in lines of fourteen syllables (pp. 211, 212) is a none too happy device of the author.

(4) The _seguidilla_ is usually a stanza of seven lines of seven and five syllables in length, in this order: 7, 5, 7, 5; 5, 7, 5. There is usually a pause after the fourth line; lines 2 and 4 have one assonance and lines 5 and 7 another. The assonances change from one stanza to another. See pp. 112 and 120. In some _seguidillas_ the stanzas consist only of the first four lines described.

II. The native Spanish strophes are usually combinations of 8-syllable or shorter lines. The 11-syllable line, itself an importation from Italy, brought with it many well-known Italian strophes. In none of the pure Italian forms are lines ending in _agudos_ or _esdrújulos_ permissible.

(1) The _redondilla mayor_ consists of four 8-syllable lines with the rime-scheme _abba_ (pp. 149, 167), or, less commonly, _abab_ (p. 136). It is a common and characteristic Spanish meter. The _redondilla menor_ has the same form expressed in lines of less than eight syllables. The same rime-schemes are found with lines of seven or of eleven (pp. 117, 207) syllables, and with combinations of eleven and seven (p. 134), or eleven and five (p. 86) syllables; but they are not properly called _redondillas_.

(2) The _quintilla_ is a 5-line strophe, usually of 8-syllable lines. Only two rimes are used in one stanza, and not more than two lines having the same rime should stand together (pp. 26, 114). _Quintillas_ are sometimes written with lines of other lengths. Examples with eleven and seven syllables are found on pp. 128, 133 and 148. The stanza used in _Vida retirada_ (p. 9) is termed _lira_: cf. _Introduction_, p. xxiii. page lxxxii (3) The _décima_ (or _espinela_) is a 10-line strophe of 8-syllable lines which may be considered as two _quintillas_; but there should be a pause after the fourth line, and the rime-scheme is usually as follows: _abbaaccddc_.

(4) The _arte mayor_ line has already been described (p. lxxv). The _copla de arte mayor_ is a stanza of eight such lines, usually having the rime-scheme _abbaacca_.