Coplas are a very popular type of poem in the Hispanic tradition. They are short poetic compositions generally intended to be sung. They are usually composed of short verses (usually eight syllables or less) and use colloquial language to address everyday themes. For example:
My dear friend,
sing along, let’s sing,
and if you don’t know the verses,
I’ll write them down for you.
It is estimated that coplas emerged in Spain in the 17th century as a form of popular expression. Although the authors of traditional coplas are often unknown, there have also been some renowned copleros, such as Rafael de León, Manuel López Quiroga, Antonio Quintero, and Federico García Lorca. For example:
Butterfly of the air,
how beautiful you are,
butterfly of the
golden and green air.
(Excerpt from “Butterfly of the Air,”
by Federico García Lorca)
Couplets often have rhyme , that is, the repetition of sounds at the end of the lines. Rhymes can be assonant (only the vowels coincide starting with the stressed vowel) or consonant (vowels and consonants coincide starting with the stressed vowel). For example:
When you see me sad next to you, do
n’t ask me what’s wrong ; I
‘d have to answer you,
and I don’t want to accuse you .
(Excerpt from “Within a Crowd
of Sorrows,” by Augusto Ferrán)
- You may find this useful: Short verses
Themes of the verses
Coplas can address a variety of themes. Thus, you can find coplas about love, heartbreak, death, religion, and everyday life, among many other topics. For example:
Love is such,
and its effects are such,
that the eyes declare it,
even if the mouth keeps silent.
In addition, coplas often feature double entendres to generate comic effects for the audience. For example:
When I get sick, my children
run to help me
, and around my bedside
they argue about the inheritance..
Children’s rhymes are also very popular, as they are simple and rhyme, making them ideal for singing along to music and being easy to remember. For example:
At the top of that hill,
a lame toad sighed,
and in his sigh he said:
I have no desire to run.
( Excerpt from “Coplitas” by
Mariana Carrizo)
Examples of short couplets
For me everything is beautiful,
for me everything is the same,
I am a lucky man
who always sings when he wakes up.
On the top of that hill
I have planted my knife,
thus you have planted your eyes
within my heart.
Verses come, verses go,
verses will never be lacking.
Verses come from my chest
like sheep from a corral.
I don’t know what the wind says,
I don’t know what the sea says,
but when I look at the horizon
I always start to cry.
My dear friend,
do you know what I’m saying?
He who can’t read,
why does he want books?
Let the horse run,
don’t pull on the reins,
because one day you might
want to run it but you can’t.
I have never lost my desires,
but my path has changed
because the trails diverge
but my soul still continues waiting.
The four most necessary
needs of man are,
in my humble opinion:
hunger, sleep, thirst and love.
One said yes,
another said no;
the one who said yes was hers,
the one who said no was mine.
At dusk I sing
a praise to heaven,
but I don’t have my rhyme
and then I lament.
My whole being has loved
him who saw me with contempt,
although I have forgotten my sorrows,
my pain never ceased.
All I ask is one wish:
that you hold me at night,
and that when I wake up, my dream
may remain so that my laughter may endure
beyond mere memory.
That summer love
that I have never forgotten,
I would like to find again today
for our long-delayed love.
The more I think about what I have lost,
the more I live in the present,
because what I have lost is gone
and the present beats constantly in my being.
Thirty days bring September
with April, June and November,
of twenty-eight there is only one
and the rest, thirty-one.
My hopeful love
has already vanished,
for with time I have learned
that the past is gone.
When my heart feels
my mouth is silent,
when my mind thinks
my lips speak.
I’m tired of waiting
for your love to choose me like before,
but I prefer to forget
all your wandering contempt.
Your eyes, brunette,
look like you,
because they blink
like a hummingbird.
Don’t rush into the story
unless you think carefully,
because sometimes we discuss
what has not been and is not.
Give your hand to the fallen
and help him get up.
Look, you are in the world
and one day you will fall.
Time and disappointment
are two loyal friends,
who awaken those who sleep
and teach those who do not know.
Suffer if you want to enjoy;
go down if you want to rise;
lose if you want to win;
die if you want to live.
“Copla esparça” by Rubén Darío
(In his own style)
The white cat! On the
Mayan bed, she crouches, she stretches.
A ruby red glows
over the globes of her chest.
Her untied hair
perfumes her divine back.
From beneath her shirt,
two swans with black necks peek out.
TORNADA
Princess of my madness,
you who untie your hair,
tell me, why do white cats
like dark silks?
“The Copla,” by Manuel Machado
Until the people sing them,
the verses are not verses,
and when the people sing them,
no one knows the author.
Such is the glory, Guillén,
of those who write songs:
to hear people say
that no one wrote them.
Make sure that your verses
reach the people,
even if they cease to be yours
and become someone else’s.
That, by melting the heart
into the popular soul,
what is lost in name
is gained in eternity.
Short verses for boys and girls
A cat passed meowing
across the grey roof,
the bird passed screeching
like a partridge.
Flowers are spring,
summer is eternal,
in autumn the leaves fall,
and then comes winter.
Today the moon told me
that the dog and the mouse
met up tonight
with the panda and the lion.
My mother brought oranges,
her brother plums;
we can eat them together
on the way to school.
The girl sleeps in her crib,
the dog sleeps on the pillow;
at night I’m grateful
that everyone is finally asleep.
- More in: Animal verses
Types of couplets
Generally, the couplets contain verses of minor art and usually present the following metric forms:
- Romance quatrain. They have octosyllabic verses, and the rhymes occur between the second and fourth verses, while the first and third are free.
- Redondilla. They have octosyllabic verses, where the first verse rhymes with the fourth, and the second verse with the third.
- Seguidilla. Odd-numbered verses have seven syllables and free rhyme, while even-numbered verses have five syllables and assonant rhyme.
Please note:There is a type of major art couplet, cultivated during the 15th century and part of the 16th century, whose stanzas are composed of eight verses of twelve syllables each, the first rhyming with the fourth, fifth and eighth; the second with the third, and the sixth with the seventh.
