Jorge Manrique's Couplets and Old Ballads: Spanish Literature

Jorge Manrique's Couplets: An Analysis

Metrics:

The *copla manriqueña*, or Manriquean stanza, uses a twelve-verse structure, divided into two sextuplets. These lines are *pie quebrado*, meaning broken-foot. The verses are octosyllabic, except for the third and sixth, which are tetrasyllabic. The rhyme scheme is *abcabc / defdef*.

Structure:

The poem is divided into three parts:

1. Exposition: A debate on human life and the destructive power of fortune, death, and time.
2. Examples: Citations of past personalities who were victims of the aforementioned agents.
3. Eulogy: A tribute to the deceased and his encounter with death.

Themes:

The poem expresses universally accepted truths in the Middle Ages:

• World: The world is a place of transit. Through good deeds, one can achieve salvation. Staying in the earthly world is only a step; one should not cling to it. Therefore, there is a renunciation of worldly goods, which are misleading.
• Fortune: Fortune is not an accident that triggers human tragedies. It is represented as a hasty conference.
• Time: Time is fleeting and relentless. Everything is lost to it.
• Death: Death is an equalizing power that does not distinguish between people. Its occurrence is unpredictable and inopportune.
• Ubi Sunt: This theme questions the whereabouts of famous people close to the village, known by the people. The response is silence because, no matter how powerful, they end up like everyone else.
• Fame: Human beings seek to be remembered after death. The only way to achieve this is through reputation. This is why it is so important for Jorge Manrique.

Old Ballads: A Deep Dive into Spanish Tradition

The *romances* are short lyrical-epic compositions arising from the fragmentation of ancient epic poems.

Evolution and Tradition:

They were transmitted orally in the 15th century. Throughout the 16th century, cultured authors collected them and included them in songbooks and *romanceros*. During the 17th century, renowned authors (Góngora, Cervantes, etc.) imitated the traditional *romances* and created new ones, known as *romances nuevos*.

Themes:

1. Historical-National: These come from ancient epic poems and exalt Castilian heroes.
2. Romantic and Lyrical: These were created by popular imagination.
3. Carolingian: These focus on the figure of Charlemagne and related events.
4. Border: These recount events taking place on the border between Moorish and Christian kingdoms (the fight between them).
5. Britons: These are inspired by the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

Metrics:

The structure of the epic poems was composed of 16-syllable verses divided into two hemistiches of eight syllables, rhyming in assonance. The *romances* are compositions consisting of a series of eight-syllable verses that rhyme in assonance, with the odd verses being unrhymed.

Style:

1. Tendency to Repeat: Repetition of phonemes, structures, syntagmas, etc.
2. Tendency to the Fragmentary: It enters directly into the dramatic moment without introduction, and the ending is abrupt.
3. Free Use of Tenses: Certain verbal tenses are highlighted:
   • Imperfect subjunctive (e.g., *respondiera*)
   • Occurrence of the conditional instead of the future and the imperfect indicative instead of the present (e.g., *brillara*)