"E no strench res, e tot lo mon abras, vol sovel cel, e nom movi de terra." And both Italian and Provençal bear the same translation. I nothing grasp--and yet the world embrace: I fly o'er highest heaven, though bound to earth. As also-- "Hoy he de mi, e vull altra gran he." I hate myself--others are dear to me. And "E no he pace--e no tench gium ganeig." I'm not at peace, but cannot war declare. Petrarch's poem describes a lover's struggles; Sant Jordi's, the combats of an inquisitive, troubled mind--something of a Faustus spirit, though he sums up all, not by selling himself to the devil, but concluding piously,-- But right oft flows from darkness-covered wrong, And good may spring from seeming evil here.] [Footnote 6: "All verses consisting of four trochaic feet appear to have been originally comprehended under the name of _redondilla_, which, however, came at length to be in preference usually applied to one particular species of this description of verse. It is difficult to suppose that the redondillas have been formed in imitation of bisected hexameters, as some Spanish authors have imagined; they may with more probability be considered a relic of the songs of the Roman soldiers. In such verses every individual could, without restraint, pour forth the feelings which love or gallantry dictated, accompanied by his guitar, as little attention was paid to correctness in the distinction of long or short syllables, as in the rhyme. When one of the poetic narratives, distinguished by the name of romances was sung, line followed line without constraint, the expression flowing with careless freedom, as feeling gave it birth. When, however, romantic sentiments were to be clothed in a popular lyric dress, to exhibit the playful turns of ideas under still more pleasing forms, it was found advantageous to introduce divisions and periods, which gave rise to regular strophes (_estancias_ and _coplas_). Lines, for the sake of variety, were shortened by halving them; and thus the tender and impressive melody of the rhythm was sometimes considerably heightened. Seduced by the example of the Arabs, something excellent was supposed to be accomplished when a single sonorous and unvarying rhyme was rendered prominent throughout all the verses of a long romance. Through other romances, however, pairs of rhymeless verses were allowed to glide amidst a variety of rhymed ones. At length, at a later period, it was observed that, in point of elegance, the _redondilla_ was improved by the change, when, instead of perfect rhymes, imperfect ones, or sounds echoing vowels but not consonants, were heard in the terminating syllables. Hence arose the distinction between consonant and assonant verses, which has been converted into a rhythmical beauty unknown to other nations. The period of the invention of the redondillas was also nearly that of the dactylic stanzas called _versos de arte mayor_, because their composition was considered an art of a superior order.