INDEX OF AUTHORS

El que inocenteLa vìda pàsaNo necesìtaMorìsca lànza,. . . . . .Arcos ni aljàbaLlèna 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:Tòdo os adòra en silèncio.On the dactylic pentasyllable or adonic verse, see below.Amphibrachs.—Of a single foot are these verses of Espronceda:SuspìraLa lìraQue hirióEn blàndoConcènto,etc.But Bello objects to considering these short lines as individual verses.Twelve-syllabled (dodecasyllabic) amphibrachs werexxxviiformerly of much use and were calledversos de arte mayor; e.g., Mena:El cònde y| los sùyos | tomàron | la tièrraQue estàba en|tre el àgua |y el 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 gènte | en 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 làgoGuiarse 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’sEstudiante de Salamanca:Y luègo el estrépito crèceConfùso y cambiàdo en un sòn,etc.xxxviiiThe six-syllabled amphibrach accents the second and fifth syllables in its perfect type; Moratín:Ropàjes sutìlesAdòrno le sòn,Y en èllos duplìcaSus lùces el sòl.But in pieces of more familiar import, the first accent may be lacking; e.g., Samaniego:Plumas, sombrerètes,Lunàres y rìzosJamás en su adòrnoFueron 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 tròncode un 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 tuvièraTu piquìto agradàble,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 el sòn tremèndo al bòsque atruèna.xxxixAll 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 | de oloròso 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.Requirements1,4and5must 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.xlIt 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). Inconsonantal rhymeboth the consonants and the vowels should agree exactly:sabio—labio,orgánica—botánica. Still, asbandvrepresent 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 inmenteshould not rhyme together. Words similar in sound and form, but distinct in sense, may rhyme:ama(“mistress”) andama(“he loves”).A series of assonances is offensive in verses having consonantal rhyme, as that ine—oin these four verses of Garcilaso:El más seguro tema con receloPerder 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. Occasionallyxliinner rhyme is found (cf. the Latin leonine hexameter), as in Tirso’sEl pretendiente:Ya sabes que el objeto deseadoSuele hacer al cuidado sabio Apeles,Que con varios pinceles, con distintaColor, esmalta y pinta,etc.As has been said,assonanceexcludes 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 goodassonanceinà—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 inè—ain the second, fourth, sixth and eighth lines of this passage from a poem of Moratín’s:¡Que desgracia!—La mayorQue sucederme pudièra.Si me quieras despachar.—¿La pobre doña Vicènta,Cómo está?—¿Cómo ha de estar?Traspasada. Si quisièraisDespacharme...—Sí, al momentoIré, 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 inZorrilla:Abierto tiene delanteAquel cajón singulàrHábilmente preparado,xliiQue, mitad cuna y mitàdBarco, condujo en su senoAl 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 inù—oinmùstio—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,iandu, if not in diphthongs, assonate aseandorespectively, e.g.,cáliz—vàlle,débil—vèrde,Vènus—cièlo,espíritu—efímero. Possible assonances are, then, those iná,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 calledversos sueltos(blank verse). Into compositions inverso sueltoconsonantal rhyme may, however, enter, particularly at the end of the chief sections into which the subject matter is divided.xliiiIV. 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 theromancestrophe. 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. onp. 258theCastellano lealof Rivas, and onp. 148theRomanceof Lope de Vega.The heroicromancestrophe is that consisting of iambic hendecasyllables; Rivas:Brilla la luz del apacible cielo,Tregua logrando breve de la crudaEstación invernal, y el aura mansaCelajes rotos al oriente empuja.TheAnacreonticis aromancein seven-syllabled verses, dealing with matter of light import; cf., onp. 211, Meléndez Valdés’sÁ un ruiseñor.Romancesin short lines of less thaneightsyllables are calledromancillos; e.g.:Blanca y bella ninfaDe los ojos negros,Huye los peligrosDel hijo de Venus.The distinguishing features of theromanceare, then, (1) the assonance of the alternating lines, and (2) the greater or less pause occurring at the end of every fourth verse. Anestribillo, or refrain, may occur at regular intervals in aromance; cf.p. 124,La Conquista de Alhama, andp. 184, Calderón’sLágrimas. In older Spanish, theromancedid 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.xlivCompositions in seven-syllabled quatrains, dealing with matter of serious or mournful content, are calledendechas; and if the last line of each quatrain is a hendecasyllable, they are calledendechas reales; e.g.:¡Ay! presuroso el tiempoPóstumo, se desliza:Ni á la piedad respetanLa rugosa vejez, la muerte impía.Theseguidillais 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 puebloDe la montaña,Dos caballeros mozosBuscan posada.De dos vecinosReciben mil ofertasLos dos amigos.Consonantal rhyme, as well as assonance, occurs in theendechas. 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 theCoplasof 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 seriesa 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 isxlvprefixed to the short lines, making them iambic in character; cf.p. 43, l. 28,p. 46, l. 8.Theletrillais 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.Theredondillastanza 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.Thequintillais 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’sVida del campo. The verses may be all of eight syllables, cf.p. 196, Moratín’sFiesta de toros, or of mingled hendecasyllables and seven-syllabled lines, cf.p. 195.Thedécima(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.Thetercetos(borrowed from Italy and called in Italianterza 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. 163andp. 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. Axlvishortenvoi—usually addressed to the composition itself—may end the poem. Cf.p. 70, ll. 7 ff.,p. 87, ll. 4 ff.Theoctava rima, or octave, is an eight-lined stanza, generally of hendecasyllables, with consonantal rhyme according to the schemea 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’sOctava rima. Examples of octaves in eight-syllabled trochaics and seven-syllabled iambics are also found. An older form of the octave was the so-calledCopla(“stanza”)de arte mayor, a stanza containing eight lines of four amphibrachs (or twelve syllables) each, and rhyming according to the schemea b b a a c c a;[2]cf.p. 31.2: As opposed to the termarte mayor, there was used that ofarte menor, applied in general to any verse of not more than eight syllables in length.Thesonnet—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’sÁ la nueva lengua,p. 153, and hisMañana,p. 152.To the composition calledversos 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’sTirsi.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 thesilva, composed of iambic hendecasyllables intermingled with seven-syllabled lines. Every verse is made to rhyme by the bestxlviiversifiers; but occasionally some lines are left unrhymed; cf.p. 157, Jáuregui’sAcaecimiento amoroso, andp. 170, Rioja’sÁ la rosa. There are alsosilvaswith lines of eight syllables or less, having rhyme throughout, but no fixed order of verses; cf. theCantilenasof Villegas onpp. 175–6.Many other and quite artificial forms exist, of which space forbids a description. Thus, there are theglosa, cf.p. 82andp. 135, beginning with a text, a line of which enters into each of the stanzas expounding it; theletra, a poem with short verses and also of the nature of a gloss, cf.p. 59; themadrigal, 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 thevillancicoand theserranilla; cf.pp. 35and81. 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.xlixINDEX OF AUTHORSpageAcuña, Fernando de72Alcázar, Baltasar de131Almogaver, Juan Boscán67Álvarez de Cienfuegos, Nicasio223Álvarez de Villasandino, Alfonso24Álvaro de Luna, el Condestable28Álvarez Gato, Juan59Anónimo:Aventura amorosa3Anónimo:Canción130Anónimo:Coplas de Mingo Revulgo32Anónimo:El Beso60Anónimo:La Danza de la Muerte16Anónimo:Revelación de un Ermitaño21Anónimo:Romance Caballeresco126Anónimo:Romance Caballeresco128Anónimo:Romance erótico128Anónimo:Romance erótico129Anónimo:Romance histórico112Anónimo:Romance histórico114Anónimo:Romance histórico116Anónimo:Romance histórico117Anónimo:Romance histórico119Anónimo:Romance histórico122Anónimo:Romance morisco124Anónimo:Soneto, A Cristo crucificado111Argensola, Bartolomé Leonardo de140Argensola, Lupercio Leonardo de137Argote y Góngora, Luis de141Arias Montano, Benito111Arjona, Manuel María de230Arriaza y Superirela, Juan255Avellaneda, Gertrudis Gómez de296Ayala, Adelardo López de300Ayala, Pero López de14Bachiller de la Torre, el165Baena, Juan Alfonso de39Barahona de Soto, Luis110Barca, Pedro Calderón de la180Bécquer, Gustavo Adolfo303Bello, Andrés310Berceo, Gonzalo de8Blanco, José María249Borja, Francisco de167Boscán Almogaver, Juan67lBretón de los Herreros, Manuel288Cabanyes, Manuel de279Cadalso, José de207Calderón de la Barca, Pedro180Camoens, Luis de81Campoamor y Campoosorio, Ramón312Caro, Rodrigo156Carpio, Lope Félix de Vega147Cartagena57Carvajal (óCarvajales)40Casa, José Iglesias de la221Castillejo, Cristóbal de75Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de133Cetina, Gutierre de73Chaide, Malón de107Cienfuegos, Nicasio Álvarez de223Coronado, Carolina294Cota, Rodrigo32Encina, Juan del63Escribá, el Comendador59Espinel, Vicente145Espinosa, Pedro de155Espronceda, José de268Esquilache, el Príncipe de167Estúñiga, Lope de37Fernández de Moratín, Leandro228Fernández de Moratín, Nicolás196Figueroa, Francisco de109Furtado de Mendoza, el Almirante Diego23Gallego, Juan Nicasio244García de la Huerta, Vicente Antonio192Garcilaso de la Vega70Gato, Juan Álvarez59Gerardo de Hervás, José193Gómez de Avellaneda, Gertrudis296Gómez de Quevedo y Villegas, Francisco159Góngora, Luis de Argote y141González, Fray Diego215Guzmán, Fernán Pérez de29Hartzenbusch, Juan Eugenio287Heredia, José María289Herrera, Fernando de86Herreros, Manuel Bretón de los288Hervás, José Gerardo de193Hita, Arcipreste de9Huerta, Vicente Antonio García de la192Hurtado de Mendoza, Diego74Iglesias de la Casa, José221Imperial, Micer Francisco25Inés de la Cruz, Sor Juana185Iriarte, Tomás de226Jáuregui, Juan de157Jovellanos, Gaspar Melchor de208Juan de la Cruz, San105Lando, Ferrant Manuel de39León, Fray Luis de95Leonardo de Argensola, Bartolomé140Leonardo de Argensola, Lupercio137Lista y Aragón, Alberto251López de Ayala, Adelardo300López de Ayala, el Canciller Pero14López de Mendoza, Íñigo34Luna, el Condestable Álvaro de28liLuzán, Ignacio de191Malón de Chaide107Manrique, Gómez40Manrique, Jorge42Manuel, Juan13Manuel de Lando, Ferrant39Manuel de Urrea, Pedro65Manuel de Villegas, Esteban175Martínez de la Rosa, Francisco257Medina, Salvador Jacinto Polo de178Meléndez Valdés, Juan211Mena, Juan de31Mendoza, el Almirante Diego Furtado de23Mendoza, Diego Hurtado de74Mendoza, Íñigo López de34Menéndez y Pelayo, Marcelino330Mingo Revulgo, Coplas de32Montano, Benito Arias111Montemayor, Jorge de80Moratín, Leandro Fernández de228Moratín, Nicolás Fernández de196Núñez de Arce, Gaspar323Padrón, Rodríguez del58Páez de Ribera, Ruy26Pérez de Guzmán, Fernán29Pitillas, Jorge193Plácido293Polo de Medina, Salvador Jacinto178Quevedo y Villegas, Francisco Gómez de159Quintana, Manuel José235Quiñones, Suero de38Ribera, Ruy Páez de26Rioja, Francisco de170Rivas, el Duque de258Rodríguez del Padrón58Rojas, Pedro Soto de175Ruiz, Juan9Saavedra, Ángel de258Saavedra, Miguel de Cervantes133Salazar Torres, Agustín de185Samaniego, Félix María de225Santillana, Marqués de34Selgas y Carrasco, José300Silvestre, Gregorio de78Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz185Soto, Luis Barahona de110Soto de Rojas, Pedro175Tallante, Mossén Juan58Tassis, Juan de144Teresa de Jesús, Santa82Timoneda, Juan108Torre, el Bachiller de la165Torres, Agustín Salazar de185Trueba, Antonio de307Urrea, Pedro Manuel de65Valdés, Gabriel de la Concepción293Valdés, Juan Meléndez211Valdivielso, José de154Valera y Alcalá Galiano, Juan319Vega, Garcilaso de la70Vega, Ventura de la309Vega Carpio, Lope Félix de147Vicente, Gil67Villamediana, Conde de144Villasandino, Alfonso Álvarez de24Villegas, Esteban Manuel de175Zorrilla, José2801

El que inocenteLa vìda pàsaNo necesìtaMorìsca lànza,. . . . . .Arcos ni aljàbaLlèna de flèchas.

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:

Tòdo os adòra en silèncio.

On the dactylic pentasyllable or adonic verse, see below.

Amphibrachs.—Of a single foot are these verses of Espronceda:

SuspìraLa lìraQue hirióEn blàndoConcènto,etc.

Suspìra

La lìra

Que hirió

En blàndo

Concènto,etc.

But Bello objects to considering these short lines as individual verses.

Twelve-syllabled (dodecasyllabic) amphibrachs werexxxviiformerly of much use and were calledversos de arte mayor; e.g., Mena:

El cònde y| los sùyos | tomàron | la tièrra

Que estàba en|tre el àgua |y el 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 gènte | en 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 làgoGuiarse la flota.

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’sEstudiante de Salamanca:

Y luègo el estrépito crèceConfùso y cambiàdo en un sòn,etc.

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 sutìlesAdòrno le sòn,Y en èllos duplìcaSus lùces el sòl.

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 rìzosJamás en su adòrnoFueron admitìdos.

Plumas, sombrerètes,

Lunàres y rìzos

Jamás en su adòrno

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 tròncode un 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 tuvièraTu piquìto agradàble,Te diría mis pènas.

Yo también soy cautìvo;

También yò, si tuvièra

Tu piquìto agradàble,

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 el sòn tremèndo al 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 | de oloròso 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.

Requirements1,4and5must 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.

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). Inconsonantal rhymeboth the consonants and the vowels should agree exactly:sabio—labio,orgánica—botánica. Still, asbandvrepresent 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 inmenteshould not rhyme together. Words similar in sound and form, but distinct in sense, may rhyme:ama(“mistress”) andama(“he loves”).

A series of assonances is offensive in verses having consonantal rhyme, as that ine—oin these four verses of Garcilaso:

El más seguro tema con receloPerder lo que estuviere poseyendo.Salid fuera sin duelo,Salid sin duelo, lágrimas, corriendo.

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. Occasionallyxliinner rhyme is found (cf. the Latin leonine hexameter), as in Tirso’sEl pretendiente:

Ya sabes que el objeto deseadoSuele hacer al cuidado sabio Apeles,Que con varios pinceles, con distintaColor, esmalta y pinta,etc.

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,assonanceexcludes 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 goodassonanceinà—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 inè—ain the second, fourth, sixth and eighth lines of this passage from a poem of Moratín’s:

¡Que desgracia!—La mayorQue sucederme pudièra.Si me quieras despachar.—¿La pobre doña Vicènta,Cómo está?—¿Cómo ha de estar?Traspasada. Si quisièraisDespacharme...—Sí, al momentoIré, si me dais licència.

¡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 inZorrilla:

Abierto tiene delanteAquel cajón singulàrHábilmente preparado,xliiQue, mitad cuna y mitàdBarco, condujo en su senoAl desdichado rapàz.

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 inù—oinmùstio—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,iandu, if not in diphthongs, assonate aseandorespectively, e.g.,cáliz—vàlle,débil—vèrde,Vènus—cièlo,espíritu—efímero. Possible assonances are, then, those iná,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 calledversos sueltos(blank verse). Into compositions inverso sueltoconsonantal 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 theromancestrophe. 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. onp. 258theCastellano lealof Rivas, and onp. 148theRomanceof Lope de Vega.

The heroicromancestrophe is that consisting of iambic hendecasyllables; Rivas:

Brilla la luz del apacible cielo,Tregua logrando breve de la crudaEstación invernal, y el aura mansaCelajes rotos al oriente empuja.

Brilla la luz del apacible cielo,

Tregua logrando breve de la cruda

Estación invernal, y el aura mansa

Celajes rotos al oriente empuja.

TheAnacreonticis aromancein seven-syllabled verses, dealing with matter of light import; cf., onp. 211, Meléndez Valdés’sÁ un ruiseñor.Romancesin short lines of less thaneightsyllables are calledromancillos; e.g.:

Blanca y bella ninfaDe los ojos negros,Huye los peligrosDel hijo de Venus.

Blanca y bella ninfa

De los ojos negros,

Huye los peligros

Del hijo de Venus.

The distinguishing features of theromanceare, then, (1) the assonance of the alternating lines, and (2) the greater or less pause occurring at the end of every fourth verse. Anestribillo, or refrain, may occur at regular intervals in aromance; cf.p. 124,La Conquista de Alhama, andp. 184, Calderón’sLágrimas. In older Spanish, theromancedid 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 calledendechas; and if the last line of each quatrain is a hendecasyllable, they are calledendechas reales; e.g.:

¡Ay! presuroso el tiempoPóstumo, se desliza:Ni á la piedad respetanLa rugosa vejez, la muerte impía.

¡Ay! presuroso el tiempo

Póstumo, se desliza:

Ni á la piedad respetan

La rugosa vejez, la muerte impía.

Theseguidillais 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 puebloDe la montaña,Dos caballeros mozosBuscan posada.De dos vecinosReciben mil ofertasLos dos amigos.

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 theendechas. 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 theCoplasof 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 seriesa 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 isxlvprefixed to the short lines, making them iambic in character; cf.p. 43, l. 28,p. 46, l. 8.

Theletrillais 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.

Theredondillastanza 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.

Thequintillais 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’sVida del campo. The verses may be all of eight syllables, cf.p. 196, Moratín’sFiesta de toros, or of mingled hendecasyllables and seven-syllabled lines, cf.p. 195.

Thedécima(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.

Thetercetos(borrowed from Italy and called in Italianterza 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. 163andp. 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. Axlvishortenvoi—usually addressed to the composition itself—may end the poem. Cf.p. 70, ll. 7 ff.,p. 87, ll. 4 ff.

Theoctava rima, or octave, is an eight-lined stanza, generally of hendecasyllables, with consonantal rhyme according to the schemea 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’sOctava rima. Examples of octaves in eight-syllabled trochaics and seven-syllabled iambics are also found. An older form of the octave was the so-calledCopla(“stanza”)de arte mayor, a stanza containing eight lines of four amphibrachs (or twelve syllables) each, and rhyming according to the schemea b b a a c c a;[2]cf.p. 31.

2: As opposed to the termarte mayor, there was used that ofarte menor, applied in general to any verse of not more than eight syllables in length.

Thesonnet—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’sÁ la nueva lengua,p. 153, and hisMañana,p. 152.

To the composition calledversos 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’sTirsi.

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 thesilva, composed of iambic hendecasyllables intermingled with seven-syllabled lines. Every verse is made to rhyme by the bestxlviiversifiers; but occasionally some lines are left unrhymed; cf.p. 157, Jáuregui’sAcaecimiento amoroso, andp. 170, Rioja’sÁ la rosa. There are alsosilvaswith lines of eight syllables or less, having rhyme throughout, but no fixed order of verses; cf. theCantilenasof Villegas onpp. 175–6.

Many other and quite artificial forms exist, of which space forbids a description. Thus, there are theglosa, cf.p. 82andp. 135, beginning with a text, a line of which enters into each of the stanzas expounding it; theletra, a poem with short verses and also of the nature of a gloss, cf.p. 59; themadrigal, 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 thevillancicoand theserranilla; cf.pp. 35and81. 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.

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