Blanca y bella ninfa
De los ojos negros,
Huye los peligros
Del hijo de Venus.
The distinguishing features of the romance are, then, (1) the assonance of the alternating lines, and (2) the greater or less pause occurring at the end of every fourth verse. An estribillo, or refrain, may occur at regular intervals in a romance; cf. [p. 124], La Conquista de Alhama, and [p. 184], Calderón’s Lágrimas. In older Spanish, the romance did not necessarily consist of strophes of four lines, but rather of shorter strophes having two lines only; cf. [p. 116], A caza va Don Rodrigo.
Compositions in seven-syllabled quatrains, dealing with matter of serious or mournful content, are called endechas; and if the last line of each quatrain is a hendecasyllable, they are called endechas reales; e.g.:
¡Ay! presuroso el tiempo
Póstumo, se desliza:
Ni á la piedad respetan
La rugosa vejez, la muerte impía.