Hi everyone! Happy Thanksgiving to our friends in the USA.   Wishing you all a day filled with gratitude, love and more blessings.

Today, we are learning about a stanza form, called the Spanish Lira.

History & Origins

The lira is a stanza form of Italian origin, later adopted into Spanish poetry.
It was introduced to Spanish literature by Garcilaso de la Vega during his time in Naples in the early 1500s.

                                                      Photo Credit

Later, it was used and refined by major Spanish Golden Age figures such as Fray Luis de León and San Juan de la Cruz.

The name comes from the final word of the first line of a poem by the 16th-century Spanish poet Garcilaso de la Vega.

Spanish version

Oda a la flor de Gnido

Si de mi baja lira                                       7a
tanto pudiese el son que en un momento   11B
aplacase la ira                                           7a
del animoso viento                                    7b
y la furia del mar y el movimiento…          11B

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Translated English version (closest in meaning translation only as English end-rhymes are not matching)

Ode to the Flower of Gnido

If from my humble lyre
its sound could be so strong that in a moment
it might calm the ire
of the bold, spirited wind
and the fury of the sea and all its motion…
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Structure: A five-line stanza

Syllable count: The 5 lines have a specific pattern: 7, 11, 7, 7, and 11  syllables.

Rhyme scheme: Rhymed often using only consonant rhyme (when two words end with the same consonant sounds, even if the vowels are different). The most common rhyme scheme is aBabB.  Source

You can read Spanish Lira poems by San Juan dela Cruz here.  

Here is my poem:

November morning
by Grace Guevara

November morning unfolds
heavy fog, drizzled grey sky, strewn apple seeds-
northern wind grows bleak and old
as maple trees stand bare, beads
of light knuckled by darkness, stalk-thin as reeds

Winter season turns the field
to ice; rose shrubs to broken sticks, fluff to stone-
the weeping willow, half-keeled,
waits out the cold, still alone
we stumble in thick socks, knitting warmth from bone

The writing challenge is to write a Spanish lira poem (1 or more stanza) following the syllable and rhyming pattern as described. Theme is your choice but bonus points for you if your theme is about November season or about Thanksgiving.

New to dVerse? Here’s how to join in:

*Write a lira poem (1 or more stanza) in response to the challenge.
*Enter a link directly to your poem and your name by clicking Mr. Linky below
and remember to check the little box to accept the use/privacy policy.
*You will find links to other poets and more will join so please do check
back later in order to read their poems.
*Read and comment on other poets’ work–we all come here to have our poems read.
*Please link back to dVerse from your site/blog.