Romance (meter)

The romance (the term is Spanish, and is pronounced accordingly: ) is a metrical form used in Spanish poetry. It consists of an indefinite series (tirada) of verses, in which the even-numbered lines have a near-rhyme (assonance) and the odd lines are unrhymed. The lines are octosyllabic (eight syllables to a line); a similar but far less common form is hexasyllabic (six syllables to a line) and is known in Spanish as romancillo (a diminutive of romance); that, or any other form of less than eight syllables may also be referred to as romance corto ("short romance"). A similar form in alexandrines (12 syllables) also exists, but was traditionally used in Spanish only for learned poetry (mester de clerecía).