Medieval Lyric Poetry: Types, Features, and Key Authors

Medieval Lyric Poetry

Medieval lyric poetry, written during the Middle Ages (11th-15th centuries), primarily expresses emotions, often love, rather than narrating stories.

Types of Lyric Poetry

Popular Lyrics

• Features: Created by the people and transmitted orally; authorship is anonymous.
• Short poems, often expressing a woman's perspective on love.
• Three Manifestations:
  • Jarchas: Written in Mozarabic (the oldest form).
  • Friend Ballads: Written in Galician-Portuguese.
  • Carol: Written in later Castilian.

Cultured Lyrics

• Features: Written by known authors in palaces or castles and transmitted in writing. Love is a central theme, and compositions tend to be more extensive.
• Three Manifestations:
  • Troubadour Poetry: Written in Catalan.
  • Love Ballads: Written in Galician-Portuguese.
  • Cancionero Poetry: Written in Castilian.

Jorge Manrique

Jorge Manrique, a nobleman of the 15th century, participated in the military and political conflicts of his time. He died in battle defending the interests of Isabella the Catholic. His work includes love poetry, satirical pieces, and burlesca. He is best known for his poem written in memory of his father, Don Rodrigo Manrique: "Verses on the Death of his Father," a set of forty couplets reflecting on the passage of time and eulogizing his deceased father.

Structure of "Verses on the Death of his Father"

1. Verses 1 to 24: Reflection on the universal value of time (tempus fugit), the equalizing power of death, life as a journey (homo viator), and the question of "where are they?" (ubi sunt?).
2. Verses 25 to 40: Praise of the life of his father, discussing his earthly life, his fame, and his eternal life.

Literary Description

Description, in literature, is a form of expression or text type used to depict a person, landscape, place, or environment.

Characteristics of Literary Description

• Predominantly uses verbs that express states or situations rather than actions, including attributive verbs.
• Frequent use of imperfect and present indicative tenses.
• Abundance of nouns and adjectives.
• Use of literary figures such as simile and metaphor.

Types of Description

• Based on Intent:
  • Scientific: Objective descriptions.
  • Literary: Subjective descriptions.
• Based on Subject Matter:
  • Prosopography: Physical description of a person.
  • Etopeyas: Psychological description of a person.
  • Descriptions of landscapes, places, or objects.