couplet

Language

2022

We explain what verses are, their characteristics and what types exist. In addition, his use of rhymes, children's and popular songs.

The verses are usually declaimed in meetings and can be accompanied by music.

What are verses?

The copla is a very common type of poetic composition in the popular Hispanic tradition, widely cultivated by anonymous authors and by artists from the language like the Spaniards Rafael Alberti (1902-1999) or Federico García Lorca (1898-1936), to name a couple of examples.

The couplet consists of a type of stanza three or four verses, commonly of minor art (eight syllables or less). It uses a colloquial, direct language, in which there are usually double meanings and comic effects.

The verses have a notorious rhythmic closeness to the song and the music. For that reason, they are often recited on special occasions or as part of entertainments at gatherings, or they may simply be part of the lore, Like the sayings.

Thus, the couplet is strongly associated with the tradition oral of rural communities, and may or may not be performed with musical accompaniment. It is estimated that it originated in Spain in the seventeenth century, although in Latin America They are part of the tradition of almost all countries, reflecting their idiosyncrasy and their particular Spanish heritage, so that they are usually part of regional folklore.

Characteristics of the verses

  • They belong to the oral culture of the peoples, so there is usually more than one version of them, rarely written, and their authorship is generally anonymous.
  • They generally consist of four eight-syllable verses, endowed with rhyme assonant or consonant. Its arrangement within the stanza tends to be in different ways, known as “romance” or “tirana” (8- 8a 8- 8a), “Seguidilla” (7- 5a 7- 5a) or round (8a 8b 8b 8a) .
  • They are performed with or without accompanying musical instruments and generally contain simple stories endowed with morals and funny anecdotes, or just fun.

Types of couplet

From a formal point of view, the couplet can be classified into two:

  • Coplas de arte mayor. Those that consist of verses of more than eight syllables each, generally twelve syllables. These types of verses are usually author verses, that is, cultivated by writers. The popular tradition prefers instead to those of minor art.
  • Minor art couplets.Those that consist of verses of eight syllables or less each, generally eight syllables. As we explained before, they can be of three recognized types: romance quatrains, Seguidillas or Redondillas.

Verses and rhymes

Like many forms of popular poetic expression, the copla depends on the rhyme, which is the sonorous coincidence of the last syllable of two or more verses. Thus a repetition is generated that, in its ancient origins, consisted of a form of mnemonic rule, that is, of strategy to memorize the words of the verse. That is why the stories of the oral tradition (ancient and modern) tend to a rhymed structure.

It is also possible to speak of "rhymes" to refer to popular poetic forms that do not have or do not respect recognizable forms, but rather obey the free expression of the peoples. There are many types of rhymes and games with language of this nature, especially dedicated to children.

Children's songs

The couplet has been used on numerous occasions to cultivate the literature child, thanks to its structure that makes it simple to memorize and prone to games and fun content. Many tend to make up entire children's songs. A couple of examples are as follows:

  • Couplet to break a piñata (fragment):

Give, give, give
Do not loose the focus
because if you lose it
you lose your way.

You already gave him one
you already gave him two,
you already gave him three
And your time is up

  • Couplet of Mr. Don Gato (fragment):

There was Mr. Don Gato
sitting on his roof
marramiau, meow, meow
sitting on his roof.

Have received a letter
in case you want to be married,
marramiau, meow, meow
in case you want to be married.

With a white kitten
niece of a brown cat
marramiau, meow, meow
niece of a brown cat.

Examples of popular verses

Here are some examples of popular verses:

  • Carnival song (Argentina):

My beloved box,
we must both sing:
you with your soft harmony
me with my uneven voice.

This year for carnival
my implement has no girth;
however I want to pass,
like vinchuca in the quincha.

I go to work during the day
at night I go out to sing,
singing like the coyuyo
announcing the carnival.

When the carnival arrives
I do not have lunch or dinner at all;
I stay with the verses,
I fall asleep to the tune.

Nine days to enjoy them
to the carnival. Achalay!
From Saturday night
until Sunday i ’Pujllay.

  • Popular Mexican song:

The woman who loves two
is discreet and understood:
if a candle goes out
the other remains on.

The woman who loves two
He loves them like little brothers:
he cheats on one,
to the other the pythons.

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