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(1) Synalœpha is necessary where two or more unaccented vowels come together (unless a weak unaccented vowel, or the conjunctions ó, é, intervene); Meléndez Valdés:

Yo vi correr la asoladora guerra

Por la Europa infeliz.

Quintana:

El odio á un tiempo y el amor unirse.

Calderón:

Aunque el negocio he ignorado.

The synalœpha of five vowels is very rare.

(2) When the vowel at the end of the first word is accented, synalœpha is natural; Quintana:

Se heló la risa y se tornó en gemido.

(3) When the accent is on the last word, synalœpha is the general rule, especially when e is the first vowel; grande hombre, esta alma. Upon occasion hiatus sounds better, and especially so under a strong accent.

(a) Hiatus is preferable when there is a close syntactical connection between the vowel before the accent and the accented vowel, as, e.g., between the definite xxx article or the possessive adjective and its substantive, between the preposition and its object, etc.; Calderón:

Es sù àmo un caballero

De mucho valor y brío.

Lupercio de Argensola:

A èstos muerdas y á los otros ladres.

(b) The hiatus is most likely when the accented word is at the end of the phrase or verse, or occupies a strongly accented position in the verse; Meléndez Valdés:

¡Oh gran naturaleza!

¡Cuán magníficà ères!

Maury:

Tal de lò àlto tempestad deshecha.

(c) When the syntactical relation mentioned in (a) exists, but the accented word is not in the position stated in (b), synalœpha may occur; Martínez de la Rosa:

La oda sublime entusiasmada canta.

(d) The feeling expressed is sometimes rendered best by synalœpha and again by hiatus; thus, the action is accelerated and the energy increased by synalœpha in:

Habla, habla: ¿por qué callas? ¿qué recelas?

while in Garcilaso’s line (p. 72, l. 1)

Casi los paso y cuento unò á ùno

the hiatus marks the deliberation with which the act is performed.

(4) When two accented vowels come together, the hiatus is much more pleasing than the synalœpha; Herrera:

¡Oh yà ìsla católica potente!

But synalœpha is tolerable when the second accent does not coincide with the end of the clause or with a necessary rhythmical accent; Herrera:

¿Qué áspera condición de fiero pecho?

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Quintana:

Será alma sin amor ni sentimiento.

N.B.—In Old Spanish poetry hiatus prevailed and synalœpha was less common. Cf. F. Hanssen, Notas á la prosodia castellana (cited above).