Part 3

Between the vowels of separate words there may occur _synalœpha_ or _hiatus_. Synalœpha is the contracting into a single syllable of the vowels ending one word and those beginning the next word, as in _hombr[e i]lustre_, _soberb[io e]dificio_, _S[i á u]n infeliz la compasión se niega_.

The vowels thus contracted are still pronounced separately, except in cases of the repetition of the same vowel, where only a single prolonged sound is heard, as in _cas[a a]jena_. As synalœpha may take place where synæresis would be impossible, it is governed by somewhat different rules.

Hiatus—which corresponds to diæresis within a word—occurs when there is no contraction of the final vowel of one word and the initial vowel of the next; as in _la hora_, _bella obra_.

The following general observations are necessary:

(1) Mute _h_ is disregarded in the verse and does not prevent synalœpha.

(2) An unaccented weak vowel between two other vowels prevents synalœpha of these latter; thus, _comercio y agricultura_, in which the _io_ is kept apart from the _a_ by the _y_, which itself forms a diphthong with the _a_; so also _Sevilla ú Oviedo_ with the _a_ in one syllable and the _uo_ in another. Some writers have violated this rule, but most have observed it.

(3) _ó_ prevents synalœpha and forms a syllable with the following vowel; Lupercio de Argensola:

El orbe escucha atónito ó atento.

(4) The conjunction _é_ generally prevents synalœpha; Lupercio de Argensola:

Pues he de retratarme, dónde ó cómo Me pueda yo estar viendo [é i]mitando.

Synalœpha is not wholly inadmissible.

(5) Two similar contiguous vowels form synalœpha, and the sound is a single prolonged one: _el volubl[e e]lemento_.

Three similar contiguous vowels may form synalœpha, but the combination is a harsh one; as in Maury:

No su palanc[a á A]rquímedes le diera.

(6) A pause due to a break in sense does not prevent synalœpha.

Rules for Synalœpha

(1) Synalœpha is necessary where two or more unaccented vowels come together (unless a weak unaccented vowel, or the conjunctions _ó_, _é_, intervene); Meléndez Valdés:

Yo vi correr l[a a]soladora guerra Por l[a Eu]rop[a i]nfeliz.

Quintana:

El od[io á u]n tiempo [y e]l amor unirse.

Calderón:

Aunqu[e e]l negoc[io he i]gnorado.

The synalœpha of five vowels is very rare.

(2) When the vowel at the end of the first word is accented, synalœpha is natural; Quintana:

Se heló la risa y se torn[ó e]n gemido.

(3) When the accent is on the last word, synalœpha is the general rule, especially when _e_ is the first vowel; _grand[e ho]mbre_, _est[a a]lma_. Upon occasion hiatus sounds better, and especially so under a strong accent.

(a) Hiatus is preferable when there is a close syntactical connection between the vowel before the accent and the accented vowel, as, e.g., between the definite article or the possessive adjective and its substantive, between the preposition and its object, etc.; Calderón:

Es sù àmo un caballero De mucho valor y brío.

Lupercio de Argensola:

A èstos muerdas y á los otros ladres.

(b) The hiatus is most likely when the accented word is at the end of the phrase or verse, or occupies a strongly accented position in the verse; Meléndez Valdés:

¡Oh gran naturaleza! ¡Cuán magníficà ères!

Maury:

Tal de lò àlto tempestad deshecha.

(c) When the syntactical relation mentioned in (a) exists, but the accented word is not in the position stated in (b), synalœpha may occur; Martínez de la Rosa:

L[a o]da sublime entusiasmada canta.

(d) The feeling expressed is sometimes rendered best by synalœpha and again by hiatus; thus, the action is accelerated and the energy increased by synalœpha in:

Habl[a, ha]bla: ¿por qué callas? ¿qué recelas?

while in Garcilaso’s line (p. 72, l. 1)

Casi los paso y cuent[o u]nò á ùno

the hiatus marks the deliberation with which the act is performed.

(4) When two accented vowels come together, the hiatus is much more pleasing than the synalœpha; Herrera:

¡Oh yà ìsla católica potente!

But synalœpha is tolerable when the second accent does not coincide with the end of the clause or with a necessary rhythmical accent; Herrera:

¿Qu[é á]spera condición de fiero pecho?

Quintana:

Ser[á a]lma sin amor ni sentimiento.

N.B.—In Old Spanish poetry hiatus prevailed and synalœpha was less common. Cf. F. Hanssen, _Notas á la prosodia castellana_ (cited above).

METRE

In general the metre of a Spanish poetical composition is regulated by its pauses, accents, rhyme and, in most cases, its strophic arrangement.

I. PAUSES.—Of these there are three kinds:

(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.