Understanding Renaissance Metrics and Spanish Epic Poetry

Renaissance Metrics: The lyric of the early Renaissance is characterized by natural expression and good taste. The poet pursues a simple and elegant style. Poets imitate the Italian forms. The Renaissance marks an important metric renewal. Front octosyllabic verse, typical of traditional Spanish poetry during the Renaissance, used the seven-syllable pentameter. The most common verses are those composed of heroic verse, which includes endecasílabos and seven-syllable combinations.

Hendecasyllabic Terceto: Estrofas of three verses that often take the form of chains. Octava Real: Composed usually of eight verses, typically heroic verse, rhyming asonante. Hendecasyllabic Sonnet: Consists of 14 verses divided into two quartets and two triplets with rhyme. The sonnet is the most commonly used verse.

Characteristics of the Spanish Epic: Historicidad: The realism of the Spanish epic is characterized as fundamentally historical. Everything mentioned in the songs was known by those who listened to the minstrel. Tradicionalidad: While other cultures left behind epic themes, in Spain, these issues have been revisited at different times and have survived with special force. Essential Features: The metric is irregular. It consists of a long series of verses with asonantados. The monorhythmic verses usually have 12 to 16 syllables, divided into two by a caesura (hemistich) at the center. The assonance and rhyme are monorrhima. The irregular meter and rhyme using assonance demonstrate the archaic and traditional character of the Spanish epic. The epic is characterized by the use of epithets and epic formulas. The epithets applied to the characters and the use of formulas facilitate memorization and help maintain the audience's attention.

Features of Singing: In relation to the metric: The number of syllables ranges between 10 and 20. They are grouped into runs that maintain the same rhyme. They are split in two by a well-defined caesura (hemistich) at the center. The rhyme is assonance in all verses. In relation to style: historical value, realism, epic tone, character, and simplicity of minstrel style.