Medieval Spanish Poetry: Romances and Learned Verse
The Romance: Medieval Poetry in the 14th Century
Medieval poetry continued into the 14th century with the emergence of the romance. These compositions, of variable extent, were written in eight-syllable lines with rhyming assonance in pairs. The earliest romances are known as the old romances.
The origin of this genre appears to be in the fragmentation of medieval epic poems, where each hemistich became a caesura in verse.
The oldest romances date back to the 15th century. While poetry was part of an oral tradition, it began to spread through print at the end of the 15th century.
Characteristics of the Romance
- Structure: There are two types: the romance with a complete story, action, and outcome, and the romance that reflects a particular moment of the action.
- Fragmentary Nature: It begins and concludes abruptly.
- Dialogue: It features direct dialogue.
- Resources: Parallels, antitheses, comparisons, hyperbole, and enumerations are common.
- Verb Tenses: Past, present, and even future tenses are used.
- Language: The language is archaic.
Subject Classification of Romances
- Epic Romance: Narrates historical events and heroes.
- Border Romance: Recounts events between Moors and Christians.
- Lyrical and Romantic: Covers miscellaneous themes such as mythological, biblical, and love.
Learned Poetry
Learned poetry shared common characteristics:
- Influences from Portuguese, Galician, and Provençal lyric poetry.
- Love as a core thematic element.
- An allegorical tendency towards philosophical and moral themes, influenced by Dante.
- The most common types of compositions were the song, the saying, and the serranilla.
- The verses used were Castilian, with the octosyllable being the predominant meter.
- Common resources included paradoxes and parallels.
Poetic Collections: Cancioneros
Cancioneros were sometimes extensive poetic collections compiled or gathered under the patronage of nobles or kings, such as the Cancionero de Baena by Alfonso de Baena.
Santillana and Marqués de Santillana
The poetry of the Marqués de Santillana reflects varied influences. He attempted to introduce the Italian sonnet stanza into Spanish poetry. His greatest achievements are found in his allegorical poetry, influenced by Dante’s Divine Comedy. He also authored serranillas and compositions on amorous encounters.
The major work of Juan de Mena is El Laberinto de Fortuna, characterized by a significant Romanization of lexicon and syntax.
Jorge Manrique and the Coplas
Manrique’s literary output is scarce. His most famous work consists of familiar songs mourning his father’s death.
Themes and Topics in Manrique’s Work
- Death: Personified and often depicted as terrifyingly featureless, yet accepted with a Christian attitude towards eternal life.
- Transience of Life: The rapid passage of time leads inexorably to death, often employing the ubi sunt rhetorical question.
- Contempt for Earthly Riches: Earthly pleasures and beauty have no value as they do not ensure eternal life.
- Fame: A life of honor allows one to be remembered by the living after death, thus achieving three lives: earthly life, life of fame, and eternal life.
Structure of Manrique’s Coplas
The first part offers a general reflection on life, the passage of time, and the power of death. The second part uses specific examples, citing the author and contemporary characters, employing the ubi sunt motif. The third part focuses on the figure of his father, praising his trajectory as a Christian gentleman and recounting his brush with death.
Meter
The work is composed of forty stanzas called coplas de pie quebrado, each consisting of 12 verses. These are subdivided into two sextets that combine eight-syllable and four-syllable tetrasílabos with consonant rhyme.
Transcendence
A significant feature is the transition from medieval to Renaissance aspects. Notable elements include the medieval Christian vision of death as an equalizer and the exaltation of the figure of Don Rodrigo as a man of arms.