Que estas torres llegué a ver (8)

This is a very bad verse, because _a_ is dominant over _é_ and brings

about stress-shift, and the two consecutive syllables _a_ and _ver_ are

both stressed. The result is unharmonious. A syllable bearing stress and

standing immediately before the final stress is called an obstructing

syllable (_una sílaba obstruccionista_). Every effort is made by a good

poet to avoid such a cacophony. The above is a good example of one. I

have emended llegué to _llegue_ in the text.

A short verse can easily be spoken without pause, but above ten

syllables it becomes necessary for the reader to rest somewhere within

the line. The resting-place is called the caesural pause. The longer the

verse, the greater its importance. It does not prevent synalepha. The

stress immediately before the caesura must be the second most important

rhythmic stress of the verse.

El Estudiante de Salamanca and Other Selections · 第 38 / 71 题