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The metrical syllables, which allow us to "measure" a verse, are based on the "word strokes" in poetry, therefore, we have two new concepts: the tonic syllables and the unstressed syllables. As we know, the tonic syllable is the one that sustains the most intense stroke or accent within the word and the accent always falls on one of its vowels. While the unstressed syllables group the rest of the syllables that do not have the stress. Before continuing, it is good to point out that our language has strong vowels (a, e, o) and weak vowels (i, u). Knowing this is fundamental to successfully deal with poetic licenses. In another order of ideas, it is convenient to know that in our poetry the endings of the verses are much more refined using the rhythmic clause of tonic syllable and unstressed syllable, this is known as troqueo.
Knowing how to use poetic licenses is one of the advantages that a poetry writer has, since he has the permission to break some established rules in favor of the rhythm of his composition. Consequently, poetic licenses are a privilege granted to the poet to try to fit, in a particular metric, a verse and are part of the considerations about the metric syllables of a verse. As I mentioned in a previous post; the synalepha is nothing more than the union that occurs between the final syllable of a word and the initial syllable of another word, as long as there is a vowel between them. Example: “with its wild spirit” = 8 metrical syllables. This is because the syllables "su" and "es" are joined in synalephas and are counted as one syllable.
Another important detail is that the "y" acts as a vowel for these cases and does not prevent the synalefying, it is also valid for the "h". It is important to note that there are some cases in which the synalefa can be broken when the second vowel belongs to a tonic syllable, for example: “The golden butterfly" = 8 metrical syllables. As can be seen, the synalepha is broken in “of gold ", because the vowel "o" carries the stress and is the second vowel of the quoted set. On the other hand, hiatus occurs when the diphthong (two vowels together in a single syllable) or the triptone (three vowels together in a single syllable), are separated in different syllables. It can also be the case of not allowing a synalephas to occur. Examples: you will fall, chaos, pawn, Mary, trunk, theorem, oil.
Also, we find syneresis is a poetic license that consists of joining two vowels that naturally form a hiatus or are counted in separate syllables. The poet can decide, according to his interest, to make, for example, of the word poetry, which has 4 syllables, a word of three syllables. It would be like this: "The poetry of the sad sea" = 8 metric syllables. In addition, umlaut is the opposite of syneresis. The diaeresis appears when the diphthong is broken to convert a single syllable into two. The diaeresis serves to avoid falling into synalephasia and thus achieve a certain metric. The law of final accents or syllable compensation consists of subtracting or adding syllables to the verses taking into account the last word of each one of them.
Verse examples:
"How would I know how to love you, woman, how would I know" - Pablo Neruda.
"Margarita, the sea is beautiful," - Rubén Darío
"This voracious vulture with a baleful frown" - Miguel de Unamuno
"The destructive time does not pass in vain" - Amado Nervo
"I see another route, the route of the instant, the route of attention, awake, incisive, shrewd!" - Rafael Cadenas
"Never beyond the chimneys that collapse" - Rafael Alberti
Love verses
example:
"Two bodies facing each other
are sometimes two waves
and the night is ocean."
Octavio Paz.
"Do not ask peace from my arms
that have imprisoned yours:
my embraces are of war
and my kisses are of fire"
Rubén Darío.
"I do not ask you to sign
ten gray papers to love
I only ask you to love
the doves that I usually look at."
Mario Benedetti.
In conclusion, the purpose of reaching this harmony of syllables is due to the intention of giving musicality and rhythm to each poem. But poems do not always have a uniform external structure, as we have seen. Sometimes the metrical syllables will be different in each verse; we call this free verse because it has no defined rhythm or rhyme. A verse is a combination of words arranged rhythmically. The verses are separated by metrical pauses. The set of verses that conform to certain rules is called a stanza, and the set of stanzas that make up a whole is called a poem. The verses have metrical syllables that sometimes do not coincide with the grammatical syllables, because licenses and rules apply, some are obligatory and others optional.
Do you find it difficult or easy to make the metric measurements in the syllables?
Disclaimer: I would like to let you know that English is not my mother tongue, I may even make some mistakes in the elaboration of sentences in my posts. Feel free to correct me attentively. It will help me in my learning process.
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