Well, I was not sure what I would end up scribbling about this week. To be honest, I still am not! But as I was sending across a birthday wish to a cousin, I paused over the thought (the same one we have all had in our family so often) that July is definitely a month of birthdays!
I marveled once again at the number of July birthdays in my family (first cousins on both sides for me and my DH included). We begin wishing on the 1st of July and end on the 31st. Don’t worry, we are not wishing dozens and not wishing everyday of the month, but there is definitely lots more traffic on WhatsApp in July on the family highways!!!
What about your family? Any particular month where you are all exchanging lots of birthday greetings? Or maybe even a week or a specific date?
That led to me to look at the most popular months and dates for birthdays; and led me to these fun websites!! Turns out my birthdate of July 2nd is the 30th most common birthday in the US (and in India, where I was born, it would a little less common with most birthdays between April and June per data here).
The heatmap/visualization on this website is from 2016 (so not too old) and you can use it to check how common your birthday is!
Anyway, to all of you who are celebrating a birthday this month, like me, here is wishing you a happy birthday month!
Poetic Sundays
The Forms so Far
- Eintou
- Pregunta
- Kenning
- Gnomic Poem
- Magic 9
- Balassi Stanza
- Alphacouplet
- Limerick
- The Harrisham Rhyme
- Concrete Poetry and the Loop
- ZaniLa
- Slam Poetry
- Triveni
- The Luc Bat
The Copla de Pie Quebrado
This week, I take you to 15th century Spain to talk about the Copla de Pie Quebrado. I picked this form for a couple of reasons; one, I traveled to Spain (virtually) looking for poetic forms; and two, when I chanced upon this, it reminded me of the Triveni that I talked about a couple of weeks ago. Two different countries, two different eras, two different concepts, but there was still a common thread I found.
What is the Copla de Pie Quebrado?
The Spanish term copla simply means stanza; and adding additional information to it specifies the type of stanza it is. In this case, the copla de pie quebrado literally means the broken foot stanza. This form developed during the 14th and 15th centuries from existing forms by reducing lines to half the length or by adding lines of half length.
One definition of this form states: “Octosyllables combined with their quebrado of four/five syllables in stanzas of five to twelve lines.” While there were a few different rhyme schemes for this, one of the more popular ones seem to be the one developed by Jorge Manrique (ABcABcDEfDEf… – capital letters denote the full length lines)
So the copla de die quebrado’s characteristics:
- syllabic: octosyllable lines along with the tetrasyllablic lines; how these lines are put together is at the discretion of the poet. There seems to be no definite limit to the number of quebrado within a stanza or to the number of consecutive quebrado
- stanzaic: stanzas of five to twelve lines (at the discretion of the poet); and any number of stanzas
- rhyme scheme: again, varies at the discretion of the poet; rhymes can be between stanzas too.
- Keeping the above in mind, I decided to use the form I mentioned earlier. Octosyllabic couplets followed by a quebrado with rhyme scheme ABcABcDEfDEf…. (you can also use ABcABcABcABc…)
- Other variations could be AAbCCd… or AAbAAb… or AbAbAb.. ; well, you get the gist! Some poems written in this form have up to eight consecutive quebrado also, so the variations and possibilities are endless within this octosyllabic/tetrasyllabic combination!
One interesting point I read about this form was that it was often used to convey a sense of absence, by deliberately disappointing the reader, when a pattern being set is broken with the quebrado; thus leaving the reader with a feeling that something is missing.
h/t: The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics: Fourth Edition; The Fifteenth Century Copla de pie quebrado; To Painting: Poems
My Example
Here is one first attempt
Meetings – Before and Now
Random stop by at a friend’s place
Hugs, high-fives exchanged earnestly
No second thoughts. …
Planned, socially distanced embrace
Air kisses exchanged over tea
Rules calling shots.
-Vidya (LadyInRead)
On My Blog and Home-front
On the blogging side, I have managed to blog everyday! Though I still am posting at the very end of the day than the preferred beginning (or end of previous) of the day.
Sheltering in place continues and gardening continues, as we also try to include some hammock days in between (but it has been hot this week)!
My Most Recent Posts
My posts from last week:
- 12 Books for Malala Day
- Book Review: Crushing It
- Book Review: The Jane Austen Society
- Lift Every Voice: Sing a Song
- Invite Your Imagination With: If… by Sarah Perry
- Dinosaur Lady: Mary Anning
- Sunday Scribblings #38: Another Year Older and Wiser(?)
Elsewhere
Here are a couple of posts I picked among the many I enjoy reading each week (I keep forgetting to bookmark the posts that I mean to highlight):
- But I remembered this deliceasyious recipe for peach ice cream from LynchburgMama when I saw it was National Peach Ice Cream Day this coming week.
- And Sam’s post on increasing our blog’s domain authority gave me some points to ponder.
MyPhotoADay
Here are a few selections from my insta-feed this past week. Do check the feed for more such pics 🙂
My bookstagram attempts
And then the others
Upcoming
On My Blog and Home-front
I will continue my bookish posts. I hoped to get a different type of post out this last week (other than a review) and since that did not happen, will work towards that this week.
My garden is still blooming (the roses – I am glad! the zucchini and the eggplant – brilliant blossoms) , but not bearing fruit (or rather vegetables). I do see a few tomatoes but it is a measly amount compared to last year. So I wonder what is happening? Not sure if I need to do something more in the form of TLC for my garden 🙂 Any suggestions are welcome.
This Week’s Celebrations
Here are a few celebrations I think I will enjoy celebrating
- First the food related days! Looks like we are in for a whole range of treats from appetizers to desserts this week; starting with National French Fry Day on the 13th; followed by National Mac and Cheese Day on the 14th of July And National Tapioca Pudding Day as well as National Gummi Worm Day on July 15th. Something more savory, then National Corn Fritters Day on the 16th is for you. If you are in the mood for something sweet and cold, then National Peach Ice Cream Day comes your way on the 17th.
- Let us Give Something Away….July 15th is National Give Something Away Day, and I am sure I can easily find things that someone else could really use (and that we don’t use anymore)
- One that we need to celebrate/do more often – Toss Away the “Could Haves” and “Should Haves” Day – is celebrated on the third Saturday every July. What we need to do: let go of the things that have been burdening you and live in the now.
- Today is Malala Day; and we have another person to celebrate who I truly admire and love to read about. It is Nelson Mandela International Day on the 18th of July.
- And you know you have used an emoji or two (or many more!). So here is a day to celebrate that fun part of our daily lives now. July 17th is World Emoji Day. Check out the website for more emojifun!
Wrapping up my Sunday Scribblings
So dear reader, this was it for my Sunday Scribblings. I would love to hear your comments on my post(s), poems, poetic Sunday section, and anything else. And which of these days do you plan to celebrate (or any other)?
Linking this to the Sunday Post over at the Caffeinated Reviewer and the Sunday Salon.
Linking up to the Ultimate Blog Challenge
For previous posts, click on the links below:
Day_1 Day_2 Day_3 Day_4 Day_5 Day_6 Day_7 Day_8 Day_9 Day_10 Day_11
That was an interesting scribbling! July is a special month for celebrating. Our anniversary is July 29, 53 years! Hubby’s birthday is July 31st and one of our grandson’s will turn 22 on July 21.
April, December & Jan are our busy birthday months among extended family, though 2 of my kids have birthdays two weeks apart in May.
The Jane Austen Society looks good.
Wishing you a great reading week
I had no idea that most babies in the US are born in the summer. It makes sense, though, doesn’t it? I purposefully had fall babies. I wanted my children to have to wait before starting school. As a teacher I saw that it gave kids an advantage.
The opla de die quebrado sounds like it is quite variable, though it seems a little complicated for me. Your example is quite nice.
Your photos on Instagram are wonderful. I especially like the pebbles and the fresh look at NYC.
Have a good week.