What is décima?
The term décima refers to a Spanish poetic form consisting of one or more stanzas each with 10 octosyllabic lines. Most décimas are composed in the style known as espinela, after the Spanish poet, novelist and musician Vicente Espinel (15441644), who in 1591 published 10line verses of octosyllabic lines with a rhyme scheme of abbaaccddc. If virtually unknown to English speakers (Manuel 1991: 87), a substantial body of research and anthologies in Spanish celebrates the décima from a range of cultural, historical, and musical perspectives.
The following original décima illustrates the rhyme scheme An English language companion piece appears at right. The rhyming syllables are emphasized by type style. Rules of Spanish syllabification account for lines that are apparently of seven (line two) or nine (lines nine and 10) syllables. Rhyme occurs according to AfroCuban pronunciation, which, for example, ignores the wordfinal ``s'' and the wordfinal and intervocalic ``d'' and interchanges wordfinal ``r'' and ``l''.
1. |
Hace tiempo que quisiera |
a |
For a long time I've been wanting |
2. |
una décima cantar |
b |
a fine décima to sing |
3. |
en la rumba y gozar |
b |
in the rumba and to bring |
4. |
su cadencia placentera |
a |
its cadence so pure and haunting |
5. |
que proviene de la era |
a |
its structure, complex and daunting |
6. |
de Calderón de la Barca |
c |
from Iberia's golden age |
7. |
y que luego se embarca |
c |
on the farm and on the stage |
8. |
al gran mundo panhispano |
d |
wherever Spanish is spoken |
9. |
donde se hable el castellano |
d |
décima still reigns unbroken |
10. |
la espinela es monarca |
c |
on the tongue and on the page. |
coro: Que la vida es sueño, y los sueños sueños son. |
|
Chorus: Life is but a dream |
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