exo | d'o monte n'altura,
A todo o mon corpo | lle da calentura.
Isca d'ahi | galina maldita,
Isca d'ahi | non me mate la pita;
Isca d'ahi | galina ladrona,
Isca d'ahi | pra cas de tua dona.]

Again, as in many Galician songs of this type, the ternary
movement of the old _arte mayor_ verse is not strictly
regular. Approximately nine-tenths of the lines in the
_Laberinto_ may be read with regular ternary movement:

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

by giving a rhythmic accent to a syllable with secondary
stress or to a middle syllable in a group of atonics, in a
not inconsiderable number of lines, as in:

Por las alturas, | collados y cerros...
Assi que tu eres | la governadora...

In the remaining lines the commonest movement is:

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

as in:

Aquel claro padre, aquel dulce fuente... page lxxviii

In the second half of the sixteenth century and in the
seventeenth century, the _arte mayor_ verse was out of
fashion, although it appeared occasionally, as in these
lines of Lope de Vega (a variety of the Sapphic strophe),
with inner rime:

Amor poderoso en cielo y en tierra,
dulcisima guerra de nuestros sentidos,
ioh, cuantos perdidos con vida inquieta
tu imperio sujeta!

(From first act of _Dorotea_)

In the nineteenth century it was restored to favor by
the romanticists.[41] Good examples are: Espronceda,
_El templario_; Avellaneda, _Las siete palabras_; and
Zorrilla, _A un torreon_ (part). Some writers used it even
in the drama (cf. Gil y Zarate, _Guzman el bueno_). The
modern _arte mayor_ verse is written in 12-syllable lines,
usually with regular ternary movement. Thus:

iOh Antilla dichosa! | ?que magicos sones,
Que luz inefable, | que extrana alegria,
Del cielo destierran los negros crespones,
Prestando a esta noche | la pompa del dia?

?Por que tan ufana, | tan bella la luna
Con faz refulgente | comienza su giro,
Y no hay leve sombra | que cruce importuna
Su trono esmaltado | de plata y zafiro?

(Avellaneda, _Serenata de Cuba_)

[Footnote 41: Iriarte, of course, had written a fable or
two in _arte mayor_ verse. Cf. _Fabula_ XXXIX.]
page lxxix
Soldados, la Patria | nos llama a la lid;
Juremos por ella | vencer o morir;
Serenos, alegres, | valientes, osados,
Cantemos, soldados, | el himno a l