INTRODUCTION (continued 2)

Two words rime with one another when there is identity of sound between the last stressed vowels and between any letters which may follow these vowels. Rime is masculine (in Spanish rima aguda) when the last syllables bear the stress: mal—cristal; or feminine when an unstressed vowel follows the stressed one (in Spanish rima llana): hermosura—locura. Inasmuch as b and v represent the same sound, they rime. The weak vowel of a diphthong is ignored for riming purposes; thus vuelo rimes with cielo. Good poets avoid obvious or easy rimes such as those yielded by flexional endings and suffixes. It is permissible to rime two identically-spelled words if they are in fact different words in meaning: ven (they see) rimes with vén (come).

Assonance is the identity of sound of two or more stressed vowels and the final following vowels, if there are any. In case consonants stand after the stressed vowel they are disregarded.

Assonance is of two sorts: single assonance (asonante agudo), están—va—parar—jamás, etc.; and double assonance (asonante llano), cuentan—tierra—dejan or coronada—gasa—baña. In assonanced verse the assonanced words end the even lines. The odd are usually blank, though sometimes rimed. A voz aguda cannot assonate with a voz llana, but there is no objection to the introduction of voces esdrújulas into asonante llano. In this case only the stressed and the final vowels of the esdrújula are counted; for example, América assonances with crea. When diphthongs enter into assonance, the weak vowel is ignored: pleita assonances with pliega.

Assonance is not unknown in English, especially in popular or folk verse; but we generally regard it as a faulty rime. Thus in the British national anthem we read:

"Over us" plainly assonates, rather than rimes, with "glorious," but this is dangerously close to doggerel. Assonance is unsuited to the genius of any language possessed of a rich vowel-system. This is evident to any one who has read Archbishop Trench's attempt to render Calderon's verse into English assonance.

STROPHES

I shall not attempt to list the innumerable verse-forms to be found in Spanish poetry, but shall only indicate the forms used by Espronceda in the selections contained in this volume. Some of these are fixed and conventional, and others are of his own contrivance. Spanish uses the terms estrofa and copla to designate an arrangement of verses in a stanza. Copla must not be confused with English "couplet." These are general terms; most verse-forms are designated by special names. The following verse-forms are found in the selections contained in this book:

"EL ESTUDIANTE DE SALAMANCA"

Lines 1-40. Ballad meter or verso de romance (8 syllables) with assonance in é-a.

Lines 41-48. Verso de romance with assonance in ó.

Lines 49-63. Irregular 3-syllable meter with assonance in ó occurring irregularly; lines 53 and 55 rime, and 59 and 61 assonate in é-a.

Lines 64-75. Verso de romance with assonance in ó.

Lines 76-99. Quatrains or cuartetas of 12-syllable verse; rime-scheme abab (this arrangement of the rime is called rima cruzada); alternation of masculine and feminine rime.

Lines 100-139. Octavillas italianas (8-syllable verse); lines 2 and 3, 6 and 7, 4 and 8 rime; lines 1 and 5 either assonate or are blank (sueltos).

Lines 140-179. Octavas reales (11-syllable verse); rime-scheme abababcc; the rimes must be feminine.

Lines 180-257. Verso de romance, printed in the form of cuartetas; assonance in á-a.

Lines 258-302. Quintillas (8-syllable verse); the rime-scheme varies; the rule is that there shall be two rimes to a quintilla, and the same rime must not occur in three consecutive verses.

Lines 303-330. Cuartetas (11-syllable verse); rime-scheme abab; occasionally assonance replaces rime in the even verses.

Lines 331-338. Octava real.

Lines 339-370. Cuartetas (11-syllable verse).

Lines 371-418. Octavas reales.

Lines 419-434. Cuartetas (11-syllable verse).

Lines 435-454. Verso de romance, printed as cuartetas; assonance in á.

Lines 455-558. Redondillas (8-syllable verse); rime-scheme abba; this arrangement of rimes is called versos pareados en el centro.

Lines 559-578. Cuartetas (11-syllable verse); rima cruzada.

Lines 579-590. Redondillas.

Lines 591-600. Décima (8-syllable verse); rime-scheme abbaaccddc.

Lines 601-692. Redondillas.

Lines 693-792. Cuartetas (12-syllable verse); odd verses rime; the even either form a masculine rime or are in assonance.

Lines 793-820. Cuartetas (8-syllable verse); the rime-scheme varies: some coplas are redondillas; others have the crossed rime.

Lines 821-884. Cuartetas of 12-syllable verse resumed; same rime-scheme as above.

Lines 885-894. Quintillas (8-syllable verse); rime-scheme abaab.

Lines 895-910. Cuartetas (11-syllable verse); rime-scheme either abba or abab.

Lines 911-938. Cuartetas of 12-syllable verse; rime-scheme abab; even verses form either a masculine rime or assonance.

Lines 939-942. Cuarteta (11-syllable verse); even verses in assonance; the odd verses rime.

Lines 943-961. Irregular meter (6-syllable verse); a mixture of rime, assonance, and blank verse.

Lines 962-1033. Verso de romance; assonance in á.

Lines 1034-1063. Quintillas.

Lines 1064-1115. Cuartetas (12-syllable verse); rime in the odd verses; assonance or masculine rime in the even.

Lines 1116-1145. Quintillas.

Lines 1146-1149. Cuarteta (11-syllable verse); rime-scheme abab.

Lines 1150-1164. Quintillas.

Lines 1165-1196. Cuartetas (11-syllable verse); rime-scheme abab; feminine rime.

Lines 1197-1364. Octavas reales.

Lines 1365-1384. Quintillas.

Lines 1385-1390. Irregular blending of 2-and 3-syllable meter; assonance and rime; the crescendo effect begins here.

Lines 1391-1399. Irregular 4-syllable meter; assonance and rime.

Lines 1400-1412. Irregular 5-syllable meter; assonance, rime, and blank verse.

Lines 1413-1439. Irregular 6-syllable meter; assonance, rime, blank verse.

Lines 1440-1447. Irregular 7-syllable meter; assonance, rime, blank verse.

Lines 1448-1469. Verso de romance; assonance in é-o.

Lines 1470-1485. Irregular 9-syllable meter; assonance in ó.

Lines 1486-1501. Cuartetas (10-syllable verse); rime-scheme abab; even verses assonate or form a masculine rime.

Lines 1502-1521. Cuartetas (11-syllable verse); rime-scheme abab; even verses assonate or form a masculine rime.

Lines 1522-1553. Cuartetas (12-syllable verse); rime-scheme abab; even verses assonate or form a masculine rime; the crescendo is now at its height.

Lines 1554-1569. Octavillas italianas (11-syllable verse); see above for description of this verse form.

Lines 1570-1585. Octavillas italianas (10-syllable verse).

Lines 1586-1601. Octavillas italianas (9-syllable verse).

Lines 1602-1617. Octavillas italianas (8-syllable verse).

Lines 1618-1633. Octavillas italianas (7-syllable verse).

Lines 1634-1649. Octavillas italianas (6-syllable verse).

Lines 1650-1661. An irregular 12-verse stanza of 5-syllable verse in which verses 3 and 4, 8 and 9 rime as couplets; 6 and 12 also rime; the other verses are blank.

Lines 1662-1669. Variant of the octavilla italiana; 4-syllable verse; verse 6 is blank instead of 5.

Lines 1670-1677. Octavilla italiana; 3-syllable verse; rime-scheme normal.

Lines 1678-1680. Irregular meter of 2-syllable verse; rime and blank; the diminuendo effect ends here.

Lines 1681-1704. Octavas reales.

"CANCIÓN DEL PIRATA"

Lines 1-16. Octavillas italianas (8-syllable verse).

Lines 17-22. Sextina (8-syllable verse, except that verse 2 is a verso quebrado or "broken verse" of 4 syllables). The sextina admits of the greatest variety of form; those in this poem are all of the same pattern; rime-scheme abaccb.

Lines 23-30. Octavilla italiana (4-syllable verse).

Lines 31-34. Cuarteta (8-syllable verse); verses 1 and 3 are blank; 2 and 4 assonate.

Lines 35-40. Sextina.

Lines 41-48. Octavilla italiana, same as above.

Lines 50-55. Sextina.

Lines 56-63. Octavilla italiana.

Lines 65-70. Sextina.

Lines 71-78. Octavilla italiana.

Lines 80-85. Sextina.

Lines 86-93. Octavilla italiana.

Lines 94-97. Cuarteta.

"EL CANTO DEL COSACO"

This poem is written in cuartetas of 11-syllable verse with rima cruzada. Verses 1 and 3 rime and 2 and 4 assonate, except in the refrain, where 1 and 3 are blank.

"EL MENDIGO"

Lines 1-4. Cuarteta (11-syllable verse); verses 1 and 3 are blank; 2 and 4 assonate.

Lines 5-10. Sextina (8-syllable verse, except 2, the verso quebrado, which has 4 syllables); rime-scheme abcaac; the verso quebrado is blank.

Lines 11-28. Irregular 4-syllable meter; a wholly irregular arrangement of rime, assonance, and blank verse.

Lines 29-32. Irregular cuarteta of two 8-syllable verses followed by two of 11; verses 1 and 3 are blank; 2 and 4 assonate.

Lines 34-39. Sextina, same as above.

Lines 40-57. Irregular 4-syllable meter, same as above.

Lines 58-61. Cuarteta, same as the irregular one above.

Lines 63-68. Sextina, same as above.

Lines 69-88. Irregular 4-syllable meter, same as above.

Lines 89-92. Cuarteta, same as the irregular ones above.

Lines 94-99. Sextina, same as above.

Lines 100-117. Irregular 4-syllable meter, same as above.

Lines 118-121. Cuarteta, same as the irregular ones above.

Lines 122-125. Cuarteta, like the normal one above.

"SONETO"

Lines 1-14. Sonnet. 11-syllable verse. Rime-scheme abba, abba, cde, cde.

"A TERESA. DESCANSA EN PAZ"

Written throughout in octavas reales (11-syllable verse); rime-scheme abababcc.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

For a fuller treatment of Spanish prosody the student may profitably consult the following works:

BENOT. "Prosodía Castellana y Versificación," 3 vols., Madrid, no date.

ROBLES DÉGANO. "Ortología Clásica de la Lengua Castellana," Madrid, 1905.

BELLO. "Ortología y Arte Métrica" (Vol. 4 of "Obras Completas"), Madrid, 1890.

For more or less summary treatments of the subject the American student may profitably consult:

OLMSTED. "Legends, Tales, and Poems by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer" (Ginn and Company).

FORD. "A Spanish Anthology" (Silver, Burdett and Company).

HILLS and MORLEY. "Modern Spanish Lyrics" (Henry Holt and Company).