fifteenth century. The _copla
(metro, versos) de arte mayor_ consists of mingled 12-and
11-syllable lines arranged in strophes of eight lines,
each with consonantal rime according to some definite
scheme. The _arte mayor_ verse attained to its most
perfect form and its greatest popularity in page lxxvi
_El laberinto de la fortuna_ (1444?), by Juan de Mena, of
which the following is a strophe:

Amores me dieron corona de amores
porque mi nombre por mas bocas ande;
entonces no era mi mal menos grande,
quando me dauan plazer sus dolores;
vencen el seso sus dulces errores,
mas non duran sienpre, segund luego plazen;
pues me fizieron del mal que vos fazen,
sabed al amor desamar, amadores.

(Strophe 106)

The old _arte mayor_ verse has these distinguishing
characteristics:

The line is divided into hemistichs, each of which may
have four, five or six syllables, thus:

(1) (-) - - - [/-] (-) | (-) - - - [/-] (-),

except that the final syllable of the first hemistich
and the initial syllable of the second may not both be
lacking. These arrangements may also occur (the third is
rare):

(2) (-) - - - [/-] - - | - - - [/-] (-)

(3) (-) - - - [/-] | - - - - - [/-] (-).

Examples of types:

(1) Las grandes fazanas | de nuestros mayores... (Str. 4)
Vayan de gente | sabidos en gente... (Str. 3)
Reconoceran | maguer que feroce... (Str. 274)
Assi que qualquiera | cuerpo ya muerto... (Str. 244)
Cuya virtud | maguer que reclama...
Sufren que passen | males e vicios... (Str. 232)

(2) E vi a Pitagoras | que defendia... (Str. 118)
Bien como medico | mucho famoso... (Str. 178)

(3) Quando el senor | es en necessidad... (Str. 258)
page lxxvii
The initial unstressed syllable of the first hemistich is
lacking in approximately one-third of the lines of the
_Laberinto_. These lines resemble the 11-syllable _gaita
gallega_ verse, and the others resemble the popular
Galician 12-syllable ternary line, for in both the final
unstressed syllable of the first hemistich may fall,[40]
which seems to indicate that the appearance of the _arte
mayor_ verse in Castilian was due to Galician influence.

[Footnote 40: Cf. these Galician _muineiras_, cited by Mila
y Fontanals (_Romania_, VI, p. 47 f.):

Cando te vexo | na beira do rio,
Queda o meu corpo | tembrando de frio;
Cando te v