Copla (poetry) facts for kids

The copla is a special kind of poetic form often found in Spanish folk songs and literature. It's like a short poem with four lines, and you can also find it in many countries in Latin America. The word "copla" comes from the Latin word copula, which means "link" or "union."

Coplas usually have four lines, and each line is quite short, with no more than eight syllables. They often follow popular Spanish rhythms like the romance or seguidilla.

What is a Copla?

A copla is a type of poem that has four lines, called verses. These verses are usually short, with each line having eight syllables or less. Coplas are very popular in Spain and Latin America. They are often sung as part of folk songs.

The Music of Coplas

While coplas are poems, they are also a type of music. The words of a copla are often set to music, making them easy to sing and remember. This is why they are so popular in traditional Spanish music.

Famous Copla Writers

Even though coplas are often seen as simple folk poems, many famous writers have used this form. These include well-known poets like Rafael Alberti, Luis de Góngora, Antonio Machado, and Federico García Lorca. They showed that coplas can be both simple and very artistic.

The People's Song

The poet Manuel Machado wrote his own coplas about how special they are. He believed that a copla truly comes alive only when ordinary people sing it. Once the people sing it, it becomes theirs, and nobody remembers who wrote it first.

Here are the words he wrote:

Machado's poem means that the real magic of coplas is when they become part of the people's culture. When a copla is sung by many, it lives on forever, even if the original writer is forgotten. It becomes a timeless piece of art that belongs to everyone.

See also

In Spanish: Copla para niños