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.