Moral Reflection in Jorge Manrique's Masterpiece
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Moral Reflection: The Poems of Jorge Manrique
His most representative work is the Coplas por la muerte de su padre (Stanzas on the Death of his Father).
Metrics
Manrique uses the so-called Manriqueña couplet (copla de pie quebrado), a stanza variety of 12 lines grouped into two sextets with a broken foot. The lines are octosyllabic (8 syllables), except for the 3rd and 6th lines of each sextet, which are tetrasyllabic (4 syllables). The rhyme scheme is typically abcabcdefdef.
Structure
The work is generally divided into three parts:
- A doctrinal exposition of a philosophical nature, focusing on the destructive and relentless power of fortune, time, and death.
- Reinforcement of the doctrinal exposition, citing examples of prominent figures from the past, all victims of these three agents (fortune, time, death).
- Contains the eulogy of the deceased father and his encounter with death.
Themes
The themes are commonplaces or topoi, expressing universal truths:
- Contemptus mundi (Contempt of the world): The world is seen as a place of transit where man has the opportunity to achieve the salvation of his soul. This is a topic with deep roots in medieval Christian tradition.
- Fortune: Depicted as a blind, random force that triggers human tragedies.
- Time: Time is fleeting (tempus fugit). It is impossible to hold onto the present; the successive future will become elusive, and everything is reduced to the past.
- Death: Manrique presents death following a tradition that repeatedly stressed its equalizing power (democratic sense), its unpredictable appearance, its destructive force, its inescapable character, and its macabre imagery.
- Ubi sunt? (Where are they?): To illustrate the transience of worldly goods, Manrique recurs to the rhetorical convention of the Ubi sunt.
- Fame: This theme has classical roots. For Manrique, fame is:
- a) The result of a life of honor.
- b) The only defense man can wield against the attack of fortune, time, and death.
- c) A consolation for those who remain in this world.
- d) A means towards eternal salvation.
Style
Manrique moves away from the artificial language and concepts of his earlier amatory poetry. He purifies his language, avoiding excessive cultisms, hyperbatons, and adjectives, aiming for clarity and naturalness.
Related Authors and Works
- The Marqués de Santillana is the author of the Comedieta de Ponza and the Diálogo de Bías contra Fortuna, works with doctrinal themes.
- Juan de Mena wrote El Laberinto de Fortuna (The Labyrinth of Fortune), also known as Las Trescientos (The Three Hundred), a work in which he presents a vision of fortune that fluctuates between pagan and Christian interpretations.