Manrique’s Couplets on Father’s Death: Structure, Style, Themes
Structure of *Couplets on the Death of His Father*
The *Couplets on the Death of His Father*, consisting of forty stanzas called *manriqueñas* couplets, are broken into two parts. The *manriqueñas* couplets consist of 12 lines that follow the outline 8a8b4c8a8b4c8d8e4f8d8e4f. The first 24 stanzas have a general nature. The remaining stanzas exalt the figure of the father, Don Rodrigo Manrique.
Style
The style employed by Jorge Manrique is highly innovative in relation to any previous literary tradition. The poet replaces the high style, typical of the great poetry of the fifteenth century, with a more humble style. He utilizes images, abundant metaphors, and rhetorical questions.
Themes
The main themes of the book are:
- The transience of life
- Contempt of earthly goods
- The equalizing power of death
- Ubi sunt? (What about? Where is?)
- Fame
Bibliographic Citation Format
Author
Begin with the last name in capital letters to facilitate identification, followed by a comma and then the full name. If there are two authors, they are united with “and”. For more than three authors, list the first author followed by *et al.* or “and others”. If the author is an institution, follow the same rule. When necessary, add the country from which the institution originates.
Book Title
The book’s title should be underlined, in bold, or italics, followed by the subtitle, separated by a colon.
Edition
Record the edition number (from the second) followed by the abbreviation “ed.” in lowercase and add any notes, such as “revised” or “expanded” if necessary.
Imprint
Place of publication, colon, publisher name, comma, and year of publication.
Verb Conjugation: Indicative and Subjunctive Moods
Indicative
- Present: I love
- Past Imperfect: I loved
- Simple Past: I loved
- Future Imperfect: I will love
- Past Perfect: I have loved
- Pretérito Anterior: I had loved
- Pluperfect: I had loved
- Future Perfect: I will have loved
- Conditional: I would love
- Conditional Perfect: I would have loved
Subjunctive
- Present: I love, (that) I love
- Past Imperfect: I loved or (that) I loved
- Future Imperfect: I will love, (that) I will love
- Past Perfect: I have loved, (that) I have loved
- Pluperfect: I had or had loved, (that) I had or had loved
- Future Perfect: I will have loved, (that) I will have loved
Subordinate Clauses
Substantive Subordinate Clauses
Substantive subordinate clauses perform the function of a noun (subject, direct object, etc.). For example, “I do not like football” is a simple sentence where the subject is “football”. To make it a complex sentence: “I do not like to kick a ball”, where the subordinate noun clause acting as the subject is “to kick a ball”. It is a complex sentence because “to kick a ball” contains another verb different from the main clause’s verb, which is “to like”. It is like saying, “I do not like that”, functioning as a noun and acting as the subject.
Adjectival or Relative Subordinate Clauses
In a complex sentence, an adjectival or relative subordinate clause replaces an adjective, performing its functions. For example, consider a sentence with a noun complement: “The handsome boy is named Michael.” This is a simple sentence.