Ni su erótica didascalia,
Para que alumbres sin mayores ironías,
Al polígloto elogio de las Guías,
Noches sentimentales de mises en Italia.
(Himno á la luna)
This is largely a harking back to primitive conditions, for in the oldest Castilian narrative verse the rule of "counted syllables" apparently did not prevail. Cf. the Cantar de mío Cid, where there is great irregularity in the number of syllables. And, although in the old romances the half-lines of eight syllables largely predominate, many are found with seven or nine syllables, and some with even fewer or more. The adoption of the rule of "counted syllables" in Spanish may have been due to one or more of several causes: to the influence of medieval Latin rhythmic songs;[10] to French influence; or merely to the development in the Spanish people of a feeling for artistic symmetry.
Footnote 10:[ (return) ] Such as:
Stabat Mater dolorosa
Juxta crucem lachrymosa
Dum pendebat filius.
Other poets of to-day write verses in which the line contains a fixed number of syllables or any multiple of that number. Thus, Julio Sesto (Blanco y Negro, Nov. 5, 1911):
¡Cómo desembarcan..., cómo desembarcan
esas pobres gentes...!