Definition of
redondilla
In poetry they are classified within the genre of art minor those poems that have a particular structure whose verses are eight sound syllables or less. In turn, within this classification there are many types of possible structures; the most popular is eight syllable verses.
Within the eight-syllable verses is located the roundelthat has stanzas composed of four verses of eight syllables each with rhyme of type ABBA (The first verse rhymes with the fourth and the second with the third).
- Differences between the redondilla and the quatrain
- Authors who created this type of stanza
- history of the redondilla
- The term in typography
- Related Topics Tree
Differences between the redondilla and the quatrain
It is worth mentioning that a verse of eight syllables is not necessarily made up of the same number of grammatical syllables (the number that it literally has). This is because the metrics of a verse is measured by the number of definite sounds in a sentence and not by the number of orthographic syllables.
It often happens that some people confuse the round with the quartet but both are clearly differentiated. Although the quartet also has a consonant rhyme in the ABBA format, the number of syllables in each of its verses is greater than eight, generally hendecasyllable; in this case we will be facing a poem of greater art.
It can help you: Assonance rhyme
Authors who created this type of stanza
One of the authors who made the term more popular was Sor Juana Ines De La Cruz whose most famous poem is titled “Rounds” and, as is to be expected, it consists of a long poem with this structure. Saying poem begins with the verse “Foolish men you accuse…” and, due to this beginning, it is also usually titled “Foolish men who accuse women without reason” Or simply, “foolish men”.
Among the best-known examples of redondillas, it is also worth mentioning, in addition to the aforementioned poem by Juana Ines de la Cruz, “The Cup of the Fairies”a well-known poem by Ruben Dario that went around the world and that is still recited in poetic circles.
See also: Anadiplosis
history of the redondilla
The redondilla arose in the Spanish letters of the XII century in a type of poetic construction known as jarchas. It should be noted that it is believed that the first redondillas were written by the clerics of the religious poetry of the Middle Ages and they were characterized by being works generally written in Latin that were recited in religious acts.
It is considered that it was their great facility to be pronounced in public spaces that made them so popular. This made it an ideal structure for compositions such as minstrels. The great facility of our language to adapt to this type of rhyme made them extremely effective for popular creations and a new genre was even created that received the name of unholy circlesextremely popular also in the Golden Age. However, its true popularity reached it during the so-called Spanish Golden Agein which important referents of Castilian poetry emerged that made use of this type of poems.
At this time it was used for the creation of couplets and Christmas carols and also in the theater, where numerous works composed in verse arose. Later, during the neoclassical period, it began to lose popularity, due to the insertion of the eleven-syllable verse taken from Italian poetry, which gained unusual importance.
Finally, the romantic poets returned to the basics of eight-syllable verse, using the redondilla to explore all the possibilities of this structure. The modernist poetry it also rests on the redondilla; such is the case that there are numerous authors in this period who cultivate it.
Continue on: Letrilla
The term in typography
Lastly, in the context of typography, the redondilla is a round shape letterwhich stands out for its circular and vertical strokes.
It could be a letter printing or made by hand. In general, it can be said that the redondilla is a letter with a more rounded appearance and a wider size than ordinary letters.
See also: Stroke