is form have eight-syllable verses or less, they
are called _octavillas_.

_Octavas_ and _Octavillas Italianas_:

There are four variants, but all must have the fourth and eighth
verses _agudos_.

_First variant_: There is no _verso libre_, and the rhyme-scheme is a
b b c a d d c.

_Second variant_: The first and fifth verses are _libres_ and the
others rhyme 1 b b c 5 d d c. This form is the most used of all.

_Third variant_: All the verses are _libres_ except the fourth and
eighth.

_Fourth variant_: The rhymes have some other arrangement than those
mentioned in the three preceding cases.

_Decimas_ are strophes of ten octosyllabic verses with the
rhyme-scheme a b b a a c c d d c.

Thus far all the compositions treated have been strophes, of which all
the lines have the same number of syllables.

The most common strophes having an unequal number of syllables in the
component verses are as follows:

_Endechas reales_ are _cuartetas_ in which three heptasyllables are
followed by a hendecasyllable. The even verses are usually in
assonance, although the verses may have the rhyme-scheme a b a b.

The _Lira_ is a strophe of five verses, of which the first, third, and
fourth are heptasyllables, and the second and fifth are
hendecasyllables. The rhyme-scheme is a b a b b.

_Seguidillas_ are strophes composed of seven verses, three of which
are heptasyllables and four pentasyllables. The first, third, and
sixth verses are _libres_, the second and fourth have the same
assonance, and the fifth and seventh another distinct assonance.

_Silvas_ are series of strophes composed of hendecasyllables and
heptasyllables of unequal number and unevenly distributed with a free
arrangement of rhymes. Every verse should rhyme with another, yet
sometimes a verse is left unrhymed in long compositions.

The _Sonnet_ is taken from the Italian and has the same general forms.
It is written in hendecasyllables, and is always divided into four
parts--two quatrains and two tercets.

_Versos sueltos_ (blank verse) are verses which do not assonate with
the other contiguous verses, or with the nearest words in which the
sense demands a pause.

There are many other and very artificial forms that exist, but their
treatment would be irrelevant here. During the nineteenth century the
caprice of the poet invented many new forms of which the arrangement
is evident at a glance.

In closing, it should be said that this study of Spanish p