Medieval Spanish Poetry: Epics, Lyrics and Narrative Elements

Medieval Spanish Poetry

The cantares de gesta are medieval epic poems that represent the heroic deeds of historical or legendary figures. They were recited by juglares (minstrel artists) who traveled from village to village, and their songs spread orally among the people. The cantares de gesta belong to the mester de juglaria (minstrelsy).

Characteristics of the Cantares de Gesta

• Popular, irregular meter
• Assonant rhyme
• An indeterminate number of verses per laisse
• Heroic themes
• Oral transmission, with the minstrel's intention to inform the audience about heroes

Cantar de mio Cid

The Cantar de mio Cid is an epic poem sung by an anonymous juglar in the 12th century. It recounts the adventures of the Castilian hero Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, known as the Cid Campeador. The work is signed by a Per Abbat, who is considered its author, although this is uncertain.

General Structure

The poem is generally divided into three cantares:

• Cantar del destierro: the Cid is exiled and leaves Castile unjustly.
• Cantar de las bodas: the Cid's daughters are married to the Infantes de Carrion, who abuse and abandon them.
• Cantar de la afrenta de Corpes: the Infantes are challenged and defeated in a judicial duel.

Metrics

The poem of about 3,000 irregular verses is grouped into laisses with monorhyme. Its style is realistic and verisimilar, and it employs many formulas typical of the juglares.

Traditional Lyric

Traditional lyric poetry is the oldest form of poetry, anonymous and sung orally by the people. Among its forms are the jarchas, short songs written in the 10th and 11th centuries at the end of Arabic-Andalusian muwashshahat (mozarabic songs), and the villancicos, songs of the people sung during festivities.

Cantigas de amigo

The cantigas de amigo are love poems in Galician-Portuguese, in which a woman expresses her love for her absent friend. They are characterized by parallelism and the use of verses in direct speech.

Narrative Elements

• Structure: presentation, nudo (knot) and desenlace (resolution).
• Creation and characterization of characters.
• Point of view: the narrator's account may be told in first or third person.
• Treatment of time: the narrator's voice also introduces characters' speech and thoughts.

Types of Speech

• Direct style: the narrator accurately reproduces the character's words.
• Indirect style: the narrator reports what the character said using verbs of saying.
• Free indirect style: the narrator introduces the character's words and reproduces their feelings.

Argument, Theme and Main Idea

Argument: a summary of the main content. Theme: the first phrase that summarizes the text. Main idea: what the author wants to transmit in the story.

Clerecia Poetry

The mester de clerecia is a 13th-century poetic movement created by clérigos (clerics), who wrote lives of saints and legends. Its characteristics include a treatise on the lives of saints, a didactic purpose ("divertir y enseñar", to entertain and teach), and poems written in cuaderna vía, stanzas of four Alexandrine verses.

• Mester de clerecia: theme religious and exemplary; purpose moralizing and educational; versification Alexandrine verse with consonant or assonant rhyme. Known authors who signed their works, 12th century.
• Mester de juglaria: theme warrior and military; purpose entertainment and warrior spirit; versification irregular verse with assonant rhyme. Anonymous authors who never signed, popular, 11th and 12th centuries.