Traditional Castilian Lyric Poetry and Its Evolution
Oral Popular Lyric
All people are born to literature through a manifestation of feelings and emotions; they were in song, expressed in verse. It is a primitive lyric to which our first samples of literature belong. Oral tradition is a key characteristic of this type of poetry. Highlighting its anonymity, it already belongs to the community as a traditional piece. Productions are anonymous and transmitted orally, not reduced to writing. They belong to the people and traditions, making this type of poetry subject to multiple variations of form. Its favorite subjects are love and agriculture, and it underlines its feminine character.
Traditional Castilian Lyric
In Castilla, nothing remains of the popular lyric of the 12th century. Of oral transmission and popular character, from the 15th century, poets began to rescue it from the people. We highlight the following types of lyric poetry:
- Villancicos
- Lays
- Lyrics
- Sailing Songs
- May Songs
- Labor Songs
- Serranillas
- Albas and Serenades
Educated Medieval Lyric
Educated medieval lyric poetry has a known author, was passed down through writing, is later than the traditional, and its forms are more elaborate. The first is due to the troubadours of Provence; its glory was in the 12th century. Also belonging to this genre are songs of love and scorn.
The Songbooks (Lyric Poetry Cancionero)
The aristocratic life of the 15th century led to a flowering of educated lyric poetry. It occurs in a type of Castilian copyright lyrics; its base is the Provençal troubadour poetry and Galician-Portuguese. This poetry is called “cancionero.” Highlights include “Cancionero General,” “Cancionero of Baena,” and “Estuniga Songbook.”
Topics
- a) The theme of the songs is love, expressed according to the theory of courtly love: exaggerated passion for the lady with supplications and groans.
- b) Court poetry also shows, in the “cancioneros,” moral or social themes, such as the Dance of Death, etc.
- c) Sometimes, the themes of songs lean toward religious themes, such as poems in praise of the Virgin.
Metrics and Styles
Preferences for dodecasyllable and octosyllable. Poems are usually not very long, as they are sung. The style is elaborate and artificial, lacking sincerity in the expression of feeling.
The Ballads (Origin)
Ballads are a collection of poetic compositions, highlighted in the early 15th century. Their origin is difficult to determine.
- 1) Méndez-Pidal: The romance derives from epic poems because there is a commonality of procedures and materials, like rhyme in assonance or the themes of the compositions.
- 2) Other authors, such as Colin Smith: Thought that romance and the epic poem have a historical relationship but not a literary one.
Jorge Manrique
Jorge Manrique died in the assault on a castle at the age of 39. He was a court poet, but became famous thanks to “Verses on the Death of His Father.”
Verses on the Death of His Father
- Theme: It’s a sincere meditation, full of melancholy, about the passage of time, fading glories and worldly goods, the instability of fortune, and the equalizing power of death. The three lives in which Manrique believes are earthly, eternal, and fame.
- Structure and Language: They are composed of 40 stanzas. They are couplets or “manriqueñas” stanzas of broken foot; each is a double sextuplet, consisting of 12 lines. The expression is simple.