Legends, Tales and Poems. Bécquer Gustavo Adolfo
is the middle vowel; or when o or e is the middle vowel, except in the following combinations, aoa, aoo, ooo, aea, aeo, oea, oeo.
Ex. Silenciosa á expirar, p. 178, XXXVII, l. 20.
b. There is never triphthongal synalepha when an accented weak vowel stands between two strong vowels. Therefore the conjunctions y and ú prevent triphthongal synalepha.
Ex. Y de purpura y oro la matiza, p. 168, IX, l. 4.
c. There may be triphthongal synalepha when í (y) is the middle vowel, if u precedes it, or i follows it.
Ex. Fuí diestro, fuí valiente, fuí arrogante. Cervantes.
d. When u is the middle vowel there may be synalepha if i follows it. The construction is very rare.
e. There is no synalepha with a word beginning with hue.
Ex. Mucho nuestro huesped tarda. Tirso de Molina.
f. In the following cases the groups of vowels which would usually make triphthongal synalepha are pronounced in two syllables:
(1) When the first word of the group ends in two vowels which do not form a diphthong.
Ex. Que aún tení|a^abiertos, p. 187, LXXIII, l. 2.
(2) When the two initial vowels of the second word do not form a diphthong.
Ex. Tú, sombra^a|érea que, cuantas veces, p. 170, XV, l. 7.
(3) When the first word ends in a diphthong and the second begins with a vowel in a constituent syllable (i.e. a syllable on which the rhythmical accent falls).
Ex. Tan gran designio honra tus audacias.
If the accented vowel is not in a constituent syllable synalepha may occur.
Ex. Mientras la cencia á descubrir no alcance, p. 165, IV, l. 13.
(4) When the first word ends in a single vowel, and the second word begins with a diphthong in a constituent syllable.
Ex. Tú, proceloso austro que derribas.
(3) and (4) might well be considered as cases of hiatus.
3. SYNALEPHA BETWEEN FOUR OR MORE VOWELS
This is less common, yet it exists.
Ex. No^h^a^y^amor donde no hay celos. Lope de Vega.
4. HIATUS
Hiatus is most frequently found between words having a close syntactical relation, particularly if the initial vowel of the second word is in a constituent syllable. It may occur between the article and its substantive, the possessive adjective and its substantive, a preposition and its object, the negatives no and ni and a following vowel; and after the conjunctions y, que, si, and other words having a weak accent such as desde, coma, todo, otro, cuando, etc.
Hiatus is most likely to occur when the accented vowel is the initial vowel of the final word in a phrase or verse, or of a word that has a strongly accented position in the verse; as, for example, when the syllable is the next to the last syllable in a verse, or is the fourth or eighth syllable of a hendecasyllabic verse of the second class.
Ex. Rumor de besos y batir de alas, p. 168, X, l. 6.
Ex. Como la ola que á la playa viene, p. 178, XXXVII, l. 19.
In the above-mentioned case, the phrase de^oro is usually joined by synalepha.
Ex. Mi frente es pálida, mis trenzas de^oro. Becquer.
Hiatus is, however, sometimes observed in this phrase.
Ex. De plumas y de oro, p. 180, XL, l. 28.
When both vowels are accented hiatus is more common than synalepha, even though there is no close syntactical relation, although the vowels may be joined by synalepha if they do not come in a constituent syllable.
Ex. ¡Oh yá isla católica patente! Herrera. [Hiatus.]
Ex. ¿Sabes tú^á dónde va? p. 178, XXXVIII, l. 4. [Synalepha.]
II. RHYTHMIC ACCENT
The second essential element of Spanish verse is a rhythmic distribution of accents within a line. Words have an accent of their own and another stronger accent on account of their position in a verse.
This extraordinary accentual stress, which strengthens periodically certain naturally accented syllables of a verse, is known as rhythmic accent. It plays somewhat the same rôle as did quantity in Latin verse. All other accents and pauses in the verse are subservient to the rhythmic accent.
Spanish verse being accentual, however, and not quantitative, the terms used to determine the regular recurrence of long and short syllables in Latin verse are not very applicable to it, and few compositions are regular in the arrangement of the stress.
As Latin terms of versification are sometimes applied to Spanish verse, the following rules may be helpful.
1. A trochaic octosyllabic line, for example, substituting stress for quantity, would be scanned
/ – | / – | / – | / —,
with the stress on the first, third, fifth, and seventh syllables.
2. Iambic verse would have a regular alternation of unaccented and accented syllables, – / – /, etc.
3. Dactylic verse would have a regular recurrence of an accented syllable followed by two unaccented syllables, etc.
/ – — | / – — |, etc.
4. Amphibrachic verse would be formed by a regular recurrence of three syllables of which the middle one would be stressed, – / —. This construction is sometimes followed in lines of twelve syllables (p. 164, I, 1. 2), and also in lines of six syllables (p. 167, VII, 1.-4).
5. Anapestic verse consists of a regular recurrence of two unstressed syllables preceding a stressed syllable, – — /. This is sometimes found in ten-syllable lines (p. 164, I, 1. i).
An accented word is called aguda when it has the accent on the last syllable, e.g. verdad, luz, yo; llana (or grave) when it has the accent on the penult, e.g. trabajo, fruto; esdrújula when it has the accent on the antepenult, e.g. límpido, pájaro, pórtico.
A verse is called agudo, llano (or grave), or esdrújulo according to whether its final word is aguda, llana (or grave), or esdrújula.
1. In a verso agudo the last syllable counts for two syllables. Therefore, Ni tu ni yo jamás, p. 177, XXXIII, l. 2, is a heptasyllable.
2. In a verso llano (grave) the number of syllables does not change. Therefore, Detrás del abanico, p. 180, XL, l. 27, is a heptasyllable.
3. In a verso esdrújulo, the intermediate syllable between the accented syllable and the final syllable does not count, either in enumerating the syllables in the verse or for the rhyme (assonance). Therefore, Umbrales de su pórtico, p. 180, XL, l. 32, is a heptasyllable.
In verses of different length there are different rules with regard to the distribution of accents, but the following general rules should be observed.
1. Every verse must be accented upon the syllable nominally preceding the final syllable.
NOTE: It should be borne in mind that the actual final syllable in a versa agudo counts as two syllables, and that the next to the last actual syllable in a verso esdrújulo does not count.
2. Besides the necessary accent on the next to the last syllable, all verses of seven syllables or more must have other necessary accents, which are determined by the number of syllables in the line.
3. The syllable directly preceding the one that has the rhythmical accent should never be accented, for it obstructs the proper