Legends, Tales and Poems. Bécquer Gustavo Adolfo

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СКАЧАТЬ 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.

A. LATIN TERMS OF VERSIFICATION APPLIED TO SPANISH VERSE

      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).

B. SPANISH VERSE ENDINGS

      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.

C. THE DISTRIBUTION OF RHYTHMIC ACCENTS

      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 accentuation of the constituent syllable. A syllable so accented is called obstruccionista.

D. THE NUMBER OF SYLLABLES IN SPANISH VERSE

      Spanish verse may consist of any number of syllables from two up to sixteen. All must have an accent on the next to the last syllable.

      1. Dissyllabic Verse: A dissyllabic verse may be composed of a single word (either aguda, llana, or esdrújula).

      Ex. ¡Duerme! p. 173, XXVII, l. 13.

      There can be no supernumerary accents.

      2. Trisyllabic Verse: A verse of three syllables can have no supernumerary accent, for the accent would be obstruccionista.

      Ex. Suspira.

      3. Tetrasyllable Verse: A verse of four syllables must have an accent on the third syllable. There may or may not be a supernumerary accent on the first.

      Ex. De ese brío.

      4. Pentasyllabic Verse: A verse of five syllables must have an accent on the fourth. It may or may not have a supernumerary accent on the first or second syllable.

      Ex. Rumor sonóro, p. I 70, XV, l. 3.

      5. Adonic verse is a pentasyllable with necessary accents on the first and fourth syllables.

      Ex. Céfiro СКАЧАТЬ