Editing Metre (poetry) (section)

===Spanish===
In [[Spanish poetry]] the metre is determined by the number of syllables the verse has. Still it is the phonetic accent in the last word of the verse that decides the final count of the line. If the accent of the final word is at the last syllable, then the poetic rule states that one syllable shall be added to the actual count of syllables in the said line, thus having a higher number of poetic syllables than the number of grammatical syllables. If the accent lies on the second to last syllable of the last word in the verse, then the final count of poetic syllables will be the same as the grammatical number of syllables. Furthermore, if the accent lies on the third to last syllable, then one syllable is subtracted from the actual count, having then less poetic syllables than grammatical syllables.

Spanish poetry uses poetic licenses, unique to Romance languages, to change the number of syllables by manipulating mainly the vowels in the line.

Regarding these poetic licenses one must consider three kinds of phenomena: (1) syneresis, (2) dieresis and (3) hiatus

{{ordered list|Syneresis. A diphthong is made from two consecutive vowels in a word which do not normally form one: ''poe-ta'', ''leal-tad'' instead of the standard ''po-e-ta'' ('poet'), ''le-al-tad'' ('loyalty').|Dieresis. The opposite of syneresis. A syllable break is inserted between two vowels which usually make a diphthong, thus eliminating it: ''ru-i-do'', ''ci-e-lo'' for the standard ''rui-do'' ('noise'), ''cie-lo'' ('sky' or 'heaven'). This is sometimes marked by placing a dieresis sign over the vowel which would otherwise be the weak one in the diphthong: ''rüido'', ''cïelo''.|[[Synalepha]] (Spanish ''[[:es:sinalefa|sinalefa]]''). The final vowel of a word and the initial one of the next are pronounced in one syllable. For example:

{{blockquote|<poem>{{lang|es|Cuando salí de [[Collores, Juana Díaz, Puerto Rico|Collores]],
fue en una jaquita baya,
por un sendero entre mayas,
arropás de cundiamores...}}</poem>}}

This stanza from Valle de Collores by [[Luis Lloréns Torres]], uses eight poetic syllables. Given that all words at the end of each line have their phonetic accent on the second to last syllables, no syllables in the final count are added or subtracted. Still, in the second and third verse the grammatical count of syllables is nine. Poetic licenses permit the union of two vowels that are next to each other but in different syllables and count them as one. "Fue en..." has actually two syllables, but applying this license both vowels unite and form only one, giving the final count of eight syllables. "Sendero entre..." has five grammatical syllables, but uniting the "o" from "sendero" and the first "e" from "entre", gives only four syllables, permitting it to have eight syllables in the verse as well.|Hiatus. It is the opposite phenomenon to synalepha. Two neighboring vowels in different words are kept in separate syllables: ''ca-be-llo - de - án-gel'', with six poetic syllables, instead of the more common ''ca-be-llo - de ͜ án-gel'', with five.
}}

There are many types of licenses, used either to add or subtract syllables, that may be applied when needed after taking in consideration the poetic rules of the last word. Yet all have in common that they only manipulate vowels that are close to each other and not interrupted by consonants.

Some common metres in Spanish verse are:
* [[Septenary (meter)|Septenary]]: A line with seven poetic syllables
* [[Octosyllable]]: A line with eight poetic syllables. This metre is commonly used in ''romances'', narrative poems similar to English ballads, and in most proverbs.
* [[Hendecasyllable]]: A line with eleven poetic syllables. This metre plays a similar role to pentameter in English verse.  It is commonly used in sonnets, among other things.
* [[Alexandrine]]: A line consisting of fourteen syllables, commonly separated into two hemistichs of seven syllables each (In most languages, this term denotes a line of twelve or sometimes thirteen syllables, but not in Spanish).