Of the many verse-forms, i.e., definite combinations of line and rime, to be found in Spanish poetry, we find the following in this play: romance, romance heroico, redondilla, quintilla, décima, copla de arte mayor, and silva.
The romance, or ballad meter, is the most thoroughly national of all Spanish meters and has always been very popular with the dramatists. It has, regularly, eight syllables to the line, with a regular rhythmic accent on the seventh, and has assonance in the alternate lines. The seventh syllable may or may not be followed by one or two unstressed syllables, but the line is called octosyllabic; one unstressed syllable is counted whether it be present or not. The first 110 lines of Act I, for example, are in romance. Note that the regular rhythmic stress of each line is on the seventh syllable; that the odd lines have seven or eight syllables; that all the even lines have seven metrical syllables each, and have assonance in e. In the first 148 lines of Act IV, all of the even lines have eight syllables each, for the reason that each seventh syllable is followed by an unaccented syllable, the assonance being é-o. This is the normal romance line, eight-syllabled and in assonance.
The romance heroico or real differs from the ordinary romance in that the lines are hendecasyllabic (eleven-syllabled). Lines 269-474, Act IV, are in romance heroico, with assonance in á-a.
The redondilla consists of four octosyllabic lines, with consonantal rime, usually arranged thus: abba. In Act I, for example, lines 111-458 consist of 87 redondillas.
The quintilla consists of five octosyllabic lines, with two consonantal rimes, arranged so that no more than two may come together: ababa, abbab, abaab, etc. In Act III lines 62-226 consist of 33 quintillas. The last one has a very unusual combination of rimes: abbba.
The décima consists of ten octosyllabic lines, with four consonantal rimes usually arranged as in lines 761-770, or 771-780, Act II: abbaaccddc. The décima is not properly considered as two quintillas, since there should be a pause at the end of the fourth line of a décima.
The copla (stanza) de arte mayor contains eight lines with three consonantal rimes arranged thus: abbaacca. Each line is divided into two hemistitches, with rhythmic stress on the fifth syllable of each hemistich. The sixth syllable of either hemistich or of both may be lacking, so that there may be a total of 10, 11, or 12 syllables in a line. Lines 179-282, Act II, are made up of thirteen coplas de arte mayor. Most of the lines have 11 or 12 syllables; note that verses 187, 200, 215, etc., have only ten each.
The silva is usually composed of eleven-syllabled lines, intermingled with lines of seven syllables. There is consonantal rime, but without regularity; and many lines are left unrimed. An example of the silva may be found in lines 309-437, Act III.