¡Cuánta nota dormía en sus cuerdas,
Como el pájaro duerme en las ramas,
Esperando la mano de nieve
Qué sabe arrancarlas!
Here the assonance is á-a.
The following rules for assonance should be noted:
(a) In modern Spanish a word stressed on the final syllable may not assonate with one stressed on a syllable preceding the final.[24]
Footnote 24:[ (return) ] In the old romances and in the medieval epic, á could assonate with á-a. In singing these old verses every line was probably made to end in an unstressed vowel by adding paragogic e to a final stressed syllable. Thus, son was sung as sone, dar as dare, temí as temíe, etc. Cf. Men. Pel., Ant. V, 65; XI, 86, 92; and Men. Pid., Cantar de mío Cid, I, 65 f.
(b) A word stressed on the penult may assonate with one stressed on the antepenult. Vowels between the stressed syllable and the final syllable are disregarded, as in cruza, cúpula (ú-a), bañe, márgenes, árabes (á-e).