I imagine many of my friends in GR would have never heard of Jorge Manrique de Figueroa. He was foremost a military man but I am writing about him because he was also a poet. Manrique was born around 1440 in the Iberian Peninsula (either in Castile or in northern Andalusia) and came from a well-established and wealthy clan, the Manrique de Lara family. In his military career he stood out and participated in the succession wars when the King of Castile Enrique IV died in 1474. Manrique fought in support of Isabel against her rival Juana in the Succession wars that ensued. Isabel triumphed and became Queen acquiring later, with her husband Fernando, the epithet of the Catholic Queen and King.Manrique’s valiant motto was Ni miento ni me arrepiento, or Neither Do I lie, Nor do I regret.This work is an Elegy in honor to his father, Rodrigo Manrique, Maestre of the Order of Santiago killed in battle in 1476 during those succession wars. The poem is formed by a series of 41 stanzas of the type Double Sextillas having therefore 12 verses each. The Sextillas follow the 8+8+4 syllable structure, known as Copla de pie quebrado, repeated four times. The poem is better known as Coplas a la muerte de su padre (Stanzas Abouth the Death of His Father) but it can also be encountered by the longer title Coplas a la muerte del Maestre de Santiago don Rodrigo Manrique.The composition has its place in the body of Spanish Literature as a compelling legacy of an era that was changing its political, social and cultural structures from what we now identify as the Middle Ages to the Early Renaissance period.Following long established literary traditions, the son praises the qualities of his dead father invoking the memories of Classical heroes such as Julius Caesar, Trajan and Marc Aurelian. But he also makes references to his contemporary times, including more or less veiled attacks to the enemies of his family. And these are more interesting to us now.The themes are the eternal human preoccupation with the ephemeral quality of life and the transience of worldly goods and enjoyments and whether goodness, valor, and honorability bring an alternative eternity in posterity.The beginning is particularly captivating and has acquired iconic value as many learn it by heart. Recuerde el alma dormida, avive el seso y despiertecontemplandocómo se pasa la vida,cómo se viene la muerte tan callando,or Let from its dream the soul awaken, And reason mark with open eyes The scene unfolding,— How lightly life away is taken, How cometh Death in stealthy guise,— At last beholding;Jorge died three years after his father, in 1479 and also in batlle. And this is where he is buried, Monasterio de Uclés in the province of Cuenca.Stanzas Abouth the Death of His Father in English.http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/poesia/CO...
Hermoso poema. ❤️
Do You like book Coplas A La Muerte De Su Padre (2002)?
