Footnote 6:[ (return) ] By stress is meant secondary as well as primary syllabic stress. Thus, en nuestra vida has primary stress on vi-, and secondary stress on nues-.
(2) Verse must be divided into phrases, each of which can be uttered easily as one breath-group. The phrases are normally of not less than four nor more than eight syllables, with a rhythmic accent on the next to the last syllable of each phrase.[7] Phrases of a fixed number of syllables must recur at regular intervals. There may or may not be a pause at the end of the phrase.
Footnote 7:[ (return) ] The unstressed syllable may be lacking, or there may be two unstressed syllables, after the rhythmic accent. See under Syllabication.
(a) In the n-syllable binary line the phrases may recur at irregular intervals. In lines with regular ternary movement phrasing is largely replaced by rhythmic pulsation (cf. p. lxx).
(3) There must be rime of final syllables, or final vowels, recurring at regular intervals.
(a) In some metrical arrangements of foreign origin the rimes recur at irregular intervals, or there is no rime at all. See the silva and versos sueltos under Strophes.
Whether normal Spanish verse has, or ever had, binary movement, with the occasional substitution of a "troche" for an "iambic," or vice-versa, is in dispute.[8] That is, whether in Spanish verse, with the usual movement, (1) the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables is essential, or whether (2) the mere balancing of certain larger blocks of syllables is sufficient. For instance, in this line of Luis de León:
ya muestra en esperanza el fruto cierto,
is there regular rhythmic pulsation, much less marked than in English verse, doubtless,—but still an easily discernible alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables? If so, there must be secondary stress on es-. Or is ya muestra en esperanza one block, and el fruto cierto another, with no rhythmic stresses except those on -anza and cierto?
Footnote 8:[ (return) ] There are in Spanish certain types of verses in which there is regular ternary movement throughout. These are treated separately. [Cf. p. lxx.]