New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-12-06
SPANISH TROCHAICS.

To he Editor Of The n. \. TrfosHs
SIR: One of your correspondents tiisd 10 spco ~
Thanksgiving by sencing you no'e upon criuosa
Of Lopgieilows "S,pg of Hswstha,' fursishsd -
me 10 the cuIen. number of Patsqrs's Magasise.
But Thanksgiving Day. q you know, as,s wesk
in New En- glsnc and it not till to day that hep
pered to see your correspondent note of Nov. ~.
In which he exuts o7er my ignorance Of tho fsse
"thst Spanish Tragedies are uniformly written In he
"trocbaic meter" am ignorant Of that fact l owe.
and never expect to learn it. Spanish trsgsdies'
go far as | know, are uniformly" vrtea In evtry
Kind 2f mater Lope was particularly food OF sue
measure of the old rcdOadMds, tercfds snpas, es6
the Ike. He used other me'ers Classical auo NsnM:
but can wish your correspondent no,hing wcrce toam
II lie msy be condemned to 90 without MS dinner
till he fines pure troctaic pass 'ge Al Lopes Haxe-
dies. The tIcctaic u et Of Hisva ha is an easy ene
10 write in and Lope, who was always writing hall
dezen things at once, would have been very sare 70
use it, bad be ever stumbled upon 1t Here 10 spsca-
men Of a metre which he used very frequentiy, Ana
which, ss YOU will see, the trochee ra ey ocouf@ ~
il from ri Dugue &c viseo," tragedy of the ns:t
oeme ndous cslib.r, and is au excisna7oD whico q
ways reminds me Of King Henry's cool remark "a
hearing Ct the death Of Percy At Chevy Chase.
"v,ii-nts sscudero noble
yasne Dio, ii Don Es.,
Fue, Dios e o..'is. aaa" rI aa
As for CsldtroD, Of whose " Principe Conslsn6r
your correspondents tuly says that was never sso
sdeTed jooose proc uction because written IN 10
cbaics Caceron form. himself spon the olsssissf
models, and bic versos ion, thong Irregular, fsisvV
mainl, the Latin rules lie Is foad Of the sasp0sa4
eteT as SCI was, aat the aaepes. Of osuns
pro6ouinates In his verse;. s..
MisntIss 20 tn snpsrc usjs
En- escsrsmpzss ;ierTss
IL oeepss porqss tan presta
No ton IN tisira" &C.
Or tbis line: F
"Un Ptrtususs Csysuors"
All these lines are from the "PriDeipe CsDstAofs"
But In he same play other meters occur for instance;
"rus. ',oIftut. .1ul mi ,nsr iot.nts
But why need 90 with illustrations OF Q fe01
With which everybody Who hno W amp thing Of SPsnidh
literature Of meters 10 familiar? Too assertion q
your correspondent 10 SIMPLY preposterous, and leaf6
one to believe that be suPposea the word "tro,hei6~
TO be syropy nous with oo.osyllsbc," or that whsr
ever be frds long syllable preceding short oae, 10
locks neither before nor after but forthwith coacudO
be has caught ' irochee" As 20 my general props-
.rion in reg,rc the intrinsic qualities Of tas t-ccsee
meter tba, il smother affair. No msste'a~ vii -
lksly to dispute IT, and do sbt whether aoy ono Wis
bss ever moaned over "hunk's Meters will quaro
with spy booy for assef ting anything about motors ed
their me sning. II 10 certainly fact wor coas19-
ing hat The antique meters, ito shich the trocnee
en'ers largely are all OF gay or hsive nature -
rsced By the ismbicus pre- ponder ties Ia the chsfA
bic verse in Tie PhslGcian, (shica 10 the fsvestse
we're Of that Sad dog Martial AID cobfinu sy use4
by Pe'ronps sEd Catullus and In the SsPpdic, -
which cou muncases It's character OF easy cad Tsse
full movement. SO true is this that wnea Hsrese
ushes to use the sappbc verse for graver poems b
substitutes .pondee 10 toe second foo for the schss
of Ssppbo sno Ca ullus. For instance:
"Inteier viie soelersqus pu'ua"
Oddly enough, too, the only Spaai1 verses hH.
pen 10 femerl Der In which the trochee predonns va
arc soue lines quoted by the grenma1an Luisn q
suited 20 musical airs which require Prerequisites
vclubhda0:" .
Fepsuno eueres - sus ol1s
La b.I qunls de Ads W q eis
EIatss, dada Auzahs vosott~"
But enough Of this discussion, tor which not oas y
6ye bupored Of your readers sil care button.
should not have written word on the subject hst
tia ia seem ed to me right 70 vndicsts the cri M ~.
spectabIity Of Putndms Magazine from hassy ~
ircopsiderate slur. Fai .hfully yours, L