(1) the _pausa mayor_, or chief pause, ending the strophe;
(2) the _pausa media_, or pause of moderate duration, separating the
larger symmetrical parts of a strophe;
(3) the _pausa menor_, or slight pause, separating one verse from
another.
The _pausa mayor_ generally coincides with the end of a sentence, or at
least (as in sonnets, octaves, etc.) with that of the larger members or
clauses of a sentence. The _pausa media_ is more varied in its
distribution, since perfect symmetry and continual uniformity would make
the metre monotonous. The _pausa menor_ should generally coincide with a
break in the thought, but _enjambement_, or the violent carrying over of
the thought from one line to another, is not unknown; cf. p. 97, l. 14.
II. ACCENTS AND RHYTHM.—The regular recurrence of accents in a verse
gives it its rhythmical character. The rhythmical divisions of a Spanish
verse are, as a rule, either dissyllabic or trisyllabic. When
dissyllabic and accented on the first syllable, they are called
trochaic:
Dìme | puès, pas|tòr ga|rrìdo.
When dissyllabic and accented on the second syllable, they are iambic:
¿A dón|de vàs, | perdì|da?
When trisyllabic and accented on the first syllable, they are dactylic;
Moratín:
Sùban al|cèrco d[e O]limpo lu|ciènte.
When trisyllabic and accented on the second syllable, they are
amphibrachs; Mena:
Con crìnes | tendìdos | ardèr los | comètas.
When trisyllabic and accented on the third syllable, they are anapæsts;
Iriarte:
De sus hì|jos la tòr|pe avutàr|da.
The terms given marked in Latin a quantitative division into feet, while
in Spanish they denote only accentual conditions.
A syllable may be lacking at the end of a verse (then called
catalectic); trochaic:
Yà los | càmpos | òrn[a A]|bril;
in one of amphibrachs:
Derràma | su páli|da lùz;
dactylic:
Hìnche los | àires ce|lèst[e a]rmo|nía;
dactylic with two syllables lacking:
S[è o]ye á lo | lèjos tre|mèndo fra|gòr.
In an iambic or an anapæstic verse, there may be one or two unaccented
syllables in excess; in a verse of trochees or amphibrachs, one:
¿A dón|de vàs | perdì|da?
Suspì|r[a e]l blàn|do cé|firo.
Sacudièn|do las sèl|vas el á|brego.
Tiènde el | mànto | nòche | lóbre|ga.
El nìdo | desièrto | de míse|ra tórto|la.
But all verses are not subjected rigorously to rhythmical division
according to the types explained. In trochaic and iambic verses not
exceeding eight syllables in length and not intended for singing, no
accent is obligatory except that of the last division (or foot). The
rhythmical nature of the composition then depends upon the regular
recurrence of this final accent.
Not all accents satisfy the rhythmical requirements in a verse.
Insufficient accents are those of the prepositions that have one
(_contra_, _para_, etc.), those of the demonstratives before their
nouns, those of the forms of the indefinite article (the definite
article has none), those of monosyllabic adverbs before the words that
they modify (_bien alojado_, etc.). Moreover, the verse is impaired when
a strong, accidental accent precedes immediately a necessary accent, as
in _Mis ruegos cruèl òye_.
*Cæsura.*—In the longer verses, a necessary pause or break in a
determined place is called the cæsura. The cæsura requires a strong
accent on the word preceding it, and does not prevent synalœpha;
Garcilaso:
¿Ves el furor | del animoso viento
Embravecid[o | e]n la fragosa sierra?
*The different kinds of verse.*—N.B. In naming Spanish verse forms, all
syllables, even those after the final accent, are taken into account.
The longest *trochaic* verse is the octosyllabic. In its typical form it
has four accents, viz., on the first, third, fifth and seventh
syllables:
Bràma, | bùf[a, e]s|càrba, | huèle.
But only one of the rhythmical accents is necessary, viz., that on the
seventh syllable; Heredia:
Ya tu familia gozòsa
Se prepara, amado pàdre.
For the purposes of singing, the third syllable should be stressed as
well as the seventh.
Compositions in six-syllabled verses, with the accent on the fifth
syllable (hexasyllables), may have the trochaic metre, but are likely to
intermingle the trochees with amphibrachs; e.g., Espronceda:
Músicas lejànas; \ _Trochees._
De enlutado pàrche /
Redòble monótono; \ _Amphibrachs._
Cercàno huracán. /
Four-syllabled (tetrasyllabic) trochaic lines may accent the first and
third syllables, but only the accent on the third syllable is requisite;
Iriarte:
A una mòna
Muy taimàda
Dìjo un día
Cièrta urràca.
When it alternates with other longer verses, the four-syllabled trochaic
is called the _verso quebrado_.
*Iambics.*—The longest iambic verse is the alexandrine of the French
type. It has thirteen syllables and a central cæsura dividing it into
hemistichs. The first hemistich may end in a stressed vowel or have an
unaccented vowel after the stress, but in the latter case synalœpha must
join the unaccented vowel to the following hemistich; Iriarte:
En cierta catedral | una campana había
Que sólo se tocab[a | a]lgún solemne día.
Con el más recio son, | con pausado compás,
Cuatro golpes ó tres | solía dar no más.
N.B.—When both hemistichs end in an accented vowel, the line has but
twelve syllables. Sometimes the alexandrine adapts itself to the
anapæstic metre, as in Iriarte:
Que despàcio y muy rèc[io | e]l dichòso esquilón.
At all events, the only necessary rhythmical accents are those on the
sixth and the twelfth syllable. An older form of the alexandrine also
existed (see below).
The eleven-syllabled iambic line is called the heroic verse, from its
use in epics, or the hendecasyllable (see below).
The nine-syllabled iambic verse is of French origin. The perfect type,
with accents on the second, fourth, sixth and eighth syllables, is seen
in
No dè jamás mi dùlce pàtria
La nòble frènte al yùgo vìl.
Only the accent on the eighth syllable is necessary; e.g., Iriarte:
Tú, manguito, en invierno sìrves,
En verano vas á un rincón.
But in songs the fourth syllable should also be stressed.
The seven-syllabled iambic (the heptasyllabic or anacreontic verse) has
a necessary accent on the sixth syllable; Villegas:
Quiero cantar de Càdmo.
The perfect type is seen in Villegas:
Las cuèrdas mùd[o a]prìsa.
In songs the fourth syllable is also stressed. Sometimes the anapæst
supplants the iambic, e.g., Villegas:
Sólo cànta mi lìra.
In older Spanish, the alexandrine often consisted of two seven-syllabled
iambic verses or half-lines, separated by the cæsura. There might be one
or two unaccented syllables after the stressed sixth, and the unaccented
syllables did not coalesce with the second half-line, since hiatus,
rather than synalœpha, prevailed in Old Spanish; e.g., Berceo:
En esta romería | habemos un buen prado.
El fruto de los árbores | era dulze sabrìdo.
Some modern poets have imitated this alexandrine, avoiding the hiatus,
however.
The five-syllabled (pentasyllabic) iambic verse has a necessary stress
on the fourth syllable. In this line the iambics easily yield to
dactyls; e.g., Moratín:
El que inocente
La vìda pàsa
No necesìta
Morìsca lànza,
. . . . . .
Arcos ni aljàba
Llèna de flèchas.
Here, verses 2 and 4 are typical iambic pentasyllables, 1 and 3 have
only the requisite accent on the fourth syllable, 5 and 6 are dactylic.
*Dactylic verses.*—There are examples of a dactylic hendecasyllable;
Iriarte:
Cièrta criàda la càsa barría.
The dactylic octosyllable accents the first, fourth and seventh
syllables:
Vuèlve la pàz á los hòmbres.
The trochaic octosyllable with the necessary accent of the seventh
syllable often becomes dactylic; Meléndez:
Tòd[o o]s adòr[a e]n silèncio.
On the dactylic pentasyllable or adonic verse, see below.
*Amphibrachs.*—Of a single foot are these verses of Espronceda:
Suspìra
La lìra
Que hirió
En blàndo
Concènto, _etc._
But Bello objects to considering these short lines as individual verses.
Twelve-syllabled (dodecasyllabic) amphibrachs were formerly of much use
and were called _versos de arte mayor_; e.g., Mena:
El cònd[e y] | los sùyos | tomàron | la tièrra
Que estàb[a e]n|tre el àgua | [y e]l bòrde | del mùro.
A cæsura divides the line into hemistichs. Properly there should be four
accents, viz., on the second, fifth, eighth and eleventh syllables; but
the accents of the second and eighth syllables may be lacking.
The cæsura may come immediately after the accented syllable; Mena:
Entràndo tras él | por el àgua decían,
and it may permit of two unaccented syllables before it, though in this
case the second hemistich has only five syllables; Mena:
Ni sàle la fúlica | de la marìna.
This and the further fact that synalœpha may occur between the
hemistichs; Mena:
Con mùcha gran gènt[e | e]n la màr anegàdo,
prove that the two hemistichs really form one verse and not two verses.
Still, at times, the cæsura marked an absolute break in the verse, e.g.,
with hiatus; Mena:
Ya puès, si se dèbe | en èste gran làgo
Guiarse la flota.
Again the first syllable may be lacking in the first amphibrach; Mena:
Mièntras morían | y mièntras matàban.
The nine-syllabled amphibrach is illustrated in Espronceda’s _Estudiante
de Salamanca_:
Y luègo el estrépito crèce
Confùso y cambiàdo en un sòn, _etc._
The six-syllabled amphibrach accents the second and fifth syllables in
its perfect type; Moratín:
Ropàjes sutìles
Adòrno le sòn,
Y en èllos duplìca
Sus lùces el sòl.
But in pieces of more familiar import, the first accent may be lacking;
e.g., Samaniego:
Plumas, sombrerètes,
Lunàres y rìzos
Jamás en s[u a]dòrno
Fueron admitìdos.
Here the first and fourth verses have only the accent of the fifth
syllable.
*Anapæsts.*—These are most common in the verse of ten syllables, with
three necessary accents; Iriarte:
Escondìdo en el trònco d[e u]n árbol.
Anapæsts are found also in the verse of seven syllables, though this is
usually iambic; Meléndez Valdés:
Yo también soy cautìvo;
También yò, si tuvièra
Tu piquìt[o a]gradàble,
Te diría mis pènas.
*The iambic hendecasyllable or heroic verse.*—This ordinarily has eleven
syllables, but it may end in an accented syllable and have only ten
(_verso agudo_), or it may have two unaccented syllables at the end, and
in such a case will have twelve syllables (_verso esdrújulo_). The
latter two forms are always introduced into a composition according to
some design. The typical form with five accents is rare:
Cayó, [y e]l sòn tremènd[o a]l bòsque atruèna.
All these accents are not necessary, but one of two main schemes of
accentuation must be followed; viz., the accents must come on the sixth
and tenth syllables, or else on the fourth, eighth and tenth; Rioja:
Campos de soledàd, | mustio collàdo.
Mora:
Sube cual àura | d[e o]loròso inciènso.
In the second scheme the cæsura properly comes after the stressed fourth
or the unstressed fifth syllable.
*Sapphic verse.*—The sapphic is a hendecasyllable which requires that
certain accents be present and that certain syllables be short. The full
requirements are:
(1) accents on the fourth, eighth and tenth syllables as in a heroic of
the second scheme;
(2) an accent on the first syllable;
(3) that the second and third syllables be short;
(4) that the sixth, seventh and ninth syllables be short;
(5) that the first hemistich end in a word stressed on the penult;
(6) that there be no synalœpha at the cæsura; e.g., Villegas:
Dùlcĕ vĕcìno | dĕ lă vèrdĕ sèlva.
Requirements 1, 4 and 5 must be met; the others may occasionally be
neglected, thus the accent of the first syllable is lacking in Villegas:
Vital aliènto | dĕ lă màdrĕ Vènus.
Every sapphic is a good heroic hendecasyllable, but not all heroic
hendecasyllables are good sapphics, since the latter are heroics
subjected to certain conditions.
*Adonic verse.*—This is a five-syllabled (pentasyllabic) line of
dactyls, in which it is required that the first and fourth syllables be
accented, and that the second and third be short; cf. p. 177:
Céfĭrŏ blàndo.
Dìlĕ quĕ muèro.
It is really the first hemistich of a sapphic, and in strophic
arrangement the two are always associated; cf. the ode of Villegas, p.
177. The strict laws of the sapphic and adonic are sometimes infringed.
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.
IV. STROPHES.—The strophe is frequently of arbitrary length, though,
when once the poet has fixed the particular measure of his strophe, he
is supposed to maintain the same measure throughout his composition.
One of the more common forms is the *romance* strophe. This generally
consists of four verses having the same number of syllables each
(normally trochaic octosyllables), and having besides, in the alternate
verses, an assonance which remains the same throughout the poem. Cf. on
p. 258 the _Castellano leal_ of Rivas, and on p. 148 the _Romance_ of
Lope de Vega.
The heroic _romance_ strophe is that consisting of iambic
hendecasyllables; Rivas:
Brilla la luz del apacible cielo,
Tregua logrando breve de la cruda
Estación invernal, y el aura mansa
Celajes rotos al oriente empuja.
The *Anacreontic* is a _romance_ in seven-syllabled verses, dealing with
matter of light import; cf., on p. 211, Meléndez Valdés’s _Á un
ruiseñor_. _Romances_ in short lines of less than eight syllables are
called _romancillos_; e.g.:
Blanca y bella ninfa
De los ojos negros,
Huye los peligros
Del hijo de Venus.
The distinguishing features of the _romance_ are, then, (1) the
assonance of the alternating lines, and (2) the greater or less pause
occurring at the end of every fourth verse. An _estribillo_, or refrain,
may occur at regular intervals in a _romance_; cf. p. 124, _La Conquista
de Alhama_, and p. 184, Calderón’s _Lágrimas_. In older Spanish, the
_romance_ did not necessarily consist of strophes of four lines, but
rather of shorter strophes having two lines only; cf. p. 116, _A caza va
Don Rodrigo_.
Compositions in seven-syllabled quatrains, dealing with matter of
serious or mournful content, are called *endechas*; and if the last line
of each quatrain is a hendecasyllable, they are called *endechas
reales*; e.g.:
¡Ay! presuroso el tiempo
Póstumo, se desliza:
Ni á la piedad respetan
La rugosa vejez, la muerte impía.
The *seguidilla* is a stanza made up of lines of five and seven
syllables arranged in two divisions. The first division consists of a
quatrain of alternating seven-syllabled and five-syllabled verses, with
the second and fourth verses in assonance. The second division,
separated from the first by at least a moderate pause, is made up of
three lines, the first and third of five syllables and in assonance, the
second of seven syllables. The assonance may vary from stanza to stanza.
Cf. Iriarte:
Pasando por un pueblo
De la montaña,
Dos caballeros mozos
Buscan posada.
De dos vecinos
Reciben mil ofertas
Los dos amigos.
Consonantal rhyme, as well as assonance, occurs in the _endechas_. In
the other stanzas thus far described, assonance prevails, although
consonantal rhyme is not excluded.
Of ancient as well as modern use is the strophe well illustrated in the
_Coplas_ of Jorge Manrique, cf. p. 43. (N.B. In the text, two
independent stanzas are printed together as one stanza.) The scheme is
that of a strophe of six trochaic verses with consonantal rhyme in the
series _a b c a b c_; lines 1, 2, 4, 5 have eight syllables each, and
lines 3 and 6 have four. Sometimes an extra syllable is prefixed to the
short lines, making them iambic in character; cf. p. 43, l. 28, p. 46,
l. 8.
The *letrilla* is a strophic composition of short verses and varied
structure. The peculiarity is a refrain (_estribillo_), recurring at
regular intervals; cf. p. 214, ll. 19 ff., p. 221, ll. 23 ff. Sometimes
there are two refrains that alternate.
The *redondilla* stanza is a quatrain of eight-syllabled verses
(_redondilla mayor_)—and occasionally of shorter length, especially of
six syllables (_redondilla menor_)—in which verse 1 stands in
consonantal rhyme with verse 4, and verse 2 with verse 3; cf. p. 131.
Occasionally the rhymes alternate; cf. p. 226, ll. 23 ff.
The *quintilla* is a stanza of five verses and only two rhymes, the
latter being so distributed that not more than two verses with the same
rhyme ever come together; cf. p. 95, León’s _Vida del campo_. The verses
may be all of eight syllables, cf. p. 196, Moratín’s _Fiesta de toros_,
or of mingled hendecasyllables and seven-syllabled lines, cf. p. 195.
The *décima* (cf. p. 181) is a stanza of ten lines, having four rhymes.
The usual scheme for rhyme agreement is 1, 4, 5—2, 3—6, 7, 10—8, 9. In
this scheme, a pause occurs at the end of the fourth verse.
The *tercetos* (borrowed from Italy and called in Italian _terza rima_)
are stanzas of three verses—generally hendecasyllables—so constituted
that each stanza is connected by rhyme with the following stanza. The
rhyme scheme is as follows: _a b a_—_b c b_—_c d c_..._d e d e_. Cf. p.
163 and p. 193.
*Canción* (“song”) is a generic name for all lyric compositions. It is
also used in a specific way to denote a poem of iambic hendecasyllables,
generally intermingled with verses of seven and even of five syllables.
Each line of the strophe stands in consonantal rhyme with some other.
The poet constructs the typical strophe according to his fancy, but he
must make all the others like it. A short _envoi_—usually addressed to
the composition itself—may end the poem. Cf. p. 70, ll. 7 ff., p. 87,
ll. 4 ff.
The *octava rima*, or octave, is an eight-lined stanza, generally of
hendecasyllables, with consonantal rhyme according to the scheme _a b a
b a b c c_. A pause usually occurs at the end of the fourth line, and
frequently also at the end of the second and sixth lines. Cf. p. 68,
Boscán’s _Octava rima_. Examples of octaves in eight-syllabled trochaics
and seven-syllabled iambics are also found. An older form of the octave
was the so-called _Copla _(“stanza”)_ de arte mayor_, a stanza
containing eight lines of four amphibrachs (or twelve syllables) each,
and rhyming according to the scheme _a b b a a c c a_;{2} cf. p. 31.
{2} As opposed to the term _arte mayor_, there was used that of _arte
menor_, applied in general to any verse of not more than eight syllables
in length.
The *sonnet*—a short poem of fourteen hendecasyllables—is of Italian
origin and has the conventional Italian forms. It always consists of
four divisions, i.e., two quatrains and two tercets, separated from one
another by pauses. Two of the commonest arrangements of the rhymes are
illustrated by Lope’s _Á la nueva lengua_, p. 153, and his _Mañana_, p.
152.
To the composition called *versos sueltos*, rules hardly apply. While it
often consists of iambic hendecasyllables only, or of such verses
mingled with seven-syllabled lines, it is really very free in form.
Rhyme is only accidental in it; there is no fixed arrangement of verses
of different lengths; the position of the pauses is wholly arbitrary.
Cf. p. 109, Figueroa’s _Tirsi_.
There are found other free compositions into which rhyme enters as an
essential feature, but which are governed by no law regulating the
number and the order of the various kinds of verse, or the distribution
of the rhymes and the pauses. Of this class is the *silva*, composed of
iambic hendecasyllables intermingled with seven-syllabled lines. Every
verse is made to rhyme by the best versifiers; but occasionally some
lines are left unrhymed; cf. p. 157, Jáuregui’s _Acaecimiento amoroso_,
and p. 170, Rioja’s _Á la rosa_. There are also _silvas_ with lines of
eight syllables or less, having rhyme throughout, but no fixed order of
verses; cf. the _Cantilenas_ of Villegas on pp. 175–6.
Many other and quite artificial forms exist, of which space forbids a
description. Thus, there are the *glosa*, cf. p. 82 and p. 135,
beginning with a text, a line of which enters into each of the stanzas
expounding it; the *letra*, a poem with short verses and also of the
nature of a gloss, cf. p. 59; the *madrigal*, elaborating a conceit in
verses of mingled hendecasyllables and heptasyllables, such as those
written by Gutierre de Cetina; cf. p. 73.
Our text also presents examples of certain old forms, originally
popular, such as the *villancico* and the *serranilla*; cf. pp. 35 and
81. In these the refrain is always an important element.
In more recent times, and especially since the advent of the Romantic
Movement of the nineteenth century, the caprice of the poet has invented
many forms, the arrangement of which is generally self-evident and need
not be explained here.