(1) the pausa mayor, or chief pause, ending the strophe;
(2) the pausa media, or pause of moderate duration, separating the larger symmetrical parts of a strophe;
(3) the pausa menor, or slight pause, separating one verse from another.
The pausa mayor generally coincides with the end of a sentence, or at least (as in sonnets, octaves, etc.) with that of the larger members or clauses of a sentence. The pausa media is more varied in its distribution, since perfect symmetry and continual uniformity would make the metre monotonous. The pausa menor should generally coincide with a break in the thought, but enjambement, or the violent carrying over of the thought from one line to another, is not unknown; cf. [p. 97], l. 14.
II. Accents and Rhythm.—The regular recurrence of accents in a verse gives it its rhythmical character. The rhythmical divisions of a Spanish verse are, as a rule, either dissyllabic or trisyllabic. When dissyllabic and accented on the first syllable, they are called trochaic:
Dìme | puès, pas|tòr ga|rrìdo.
When dissyllabic and accented on the second syllable, they are iambic:
¿A dón|de vàs, | perdì|da?
When trisyllabic and accented on the first syllable, they are dactylic; Moratín:
Sùban al|cèrco de Olimpo lu|ciènte.