Bécquer, Romanticism, and Spanish Poetic Structures

Fundamental Literary Features

1. The Poetic Function

   The author uses language not merely to convey information, but to convert the message into an artistic object.

2. The Artistic Innovator

   The writer is forced to continually explore the expressive possibilities of language.

3. The Process of Derealization

   Although often very realistic, the literary work never reflects the external world exactly. Instead, it decomposes and rebuilds reality in its own way.

4. Connotation and Plurisignification

   Terms do not denote objective reality but become carriers of affective and volitional elements. Plurisignification is the acquisition of new meanings for words within a given context.

5. Recurrent Structure

   The literary work tends to be organized according to structures that are repeated periodically and are related to different degrees of meaning.

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer: The Modern Spanish Poet

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer is considered the first modern poet of Spanish literature. Born in Seville, he initially attempted to pursue painting, following his family's tradition.

Biography and Career

Installed in Madrid, he lived in squalor while writing for the press. He contracted tuberculosis at 20 years old. Later, he held the office of novel censor. He married and separated due to his wife's infidelity, though they reconciled shortly before his death at the age of 34.

The Rimas and Thematic Classification

All of Bécquer's poetry is grouped in the Rimas, consisting of approximately 80 short compositions. The thematic arc moves from initial loving happiness to the anguish revealed in later texts.

A thematic classification of the Rimas is established in four successive series:

1. Poetry (Reflections on the nature of poetry)
2. Love (Initial happiness and passion)
3. Loving Disillusionment (Desengaño)
4. Anguish and Death

Bécquer's Style

Bécquer's style stands out within nineteenth-century Romantic poetry due to its ability to overcome the rhetorical, bombastic, and declamatory style of the early Romantics. He achieved a simple, emotional, and inspiring expression that is close to the reader.

Spanish Poetic Forms and Stanzas

Pareado (Couplet)

Two detached lines (AA, aa).

Terceto (Tercet)

Three lines, typically hendecasyllables (11 syllables), rhyming ABA.

Tercetilla

A tercet of minor art (lines of fewer than 8 syllables).

Cuarteto (Quartet)

Four hendecasyllable lines (11 syllables) with consonant rhyme ABBA.

Redondilla

Four octosyllable lines (8 syllables) with consonant rhyme abba (minor art).

Serventesio

Four hendecasyllable lines (11 syllables) with consonant rhyme ABAB.

Cuarteta (Quatrain)

Four octosyllable lines (8 syllables) with consonant rhyme abab.

Copla

Minor art (usually octosyllable). Assonance rhyme in the even lines; odd lines are loose.

Seguidilla

A four-line stanza: two heptasyllables (7 syllables, first and third) and two pentasyllables (5 syllables, second and fourth). Rhyme scheme: -a-a.

Quinteto (Quintet)

Five lines of major art (usually hendecasyllables) with consonant rhyme.

Quintilla

Five lines of minor art (usually octosyllables).

Lira

A five-line stanza: 1st, 3rd, and 4th lines are heptasyllables (7a); 2nd and 5th lines are hendecasyllables (11B). Rhyme scheme: 7a-11B-7a-7b-11B.

Copla de pie quebrado (Broken-foot Copla)

A six-line stanza, often 8a-8b-4c, 8a-8b-4c.

Sextina (Sistine)

Six hendecasyllable lines (11 syllables).

Sexteto-Lira

Six lines: 7a-11B-7a-7c-11B-11C.

Sextilla (Sextuplet)

Six lines of minor art (usually octosyllables).

Octava Real (Royal Octave)

Eight hendecasyllable lines (11 syllables) with consonant rhyme ABABABCC.

Folio

A stanza composed of two quatrains.

Copla de arte mayor

Stanza using lines of 12 syllables. (The original text lists ABBAACCA, which is often associated with the Octava de arte mayor).

Décima or Espinela

Ten octosyllable verses (8 syllables). Rhyme scheme: abbaaccddc.

Copla Real

A ten-line stanza, often composed of two quintillas.

Ovillejo

A ten-line stanza combining short and long lines (e.g., 8a, 4b, 8b, 4c, 8c, 4d, 8d, 8c).

Zejel

A stanza form, typically octosyllable, rhyming aabbba.

Soneto (Sonnet)

Fourteen hendecasyllable lines: two quartets and two tercets.

Madrigal

A short poem on the theme of love, combining hendecasyllables (11) and heptasyllables (7).

Romance (Ballad)

An indefinite series of octosyllable lines (8 syllables) with assonance rhyme in the even lines.

Silva

A poem combining hendecasyllables (11) and heptasyllables (7) with loose rhyme and verse (irregular structure).