Cobla (Occitan literary term)

A cobla (Occitan: [ˈkubːlɔ], Catalan: [ˈkobːɫə] or [ˈkobːla]) is a stanza in Occitan lyric poetry, the art form of the troubadours. Though not usually standalone work in itself, in many instances a cobla or two is all that survives of what was once a complete poem. Each cobla of a song was usually played to the same melody, but a few songs were through-composed. A standalone cobla was called a cobla esparsa.^[1]

When stanzas follow the same rhyming pattern but the actual sounds differ, they are called coblas alternadas (lit. "alternated stanzas"). When the last rhyme sound of one cobla becomes the first of the next they are called coblas capcaudadas (lit. "head-tailed"). When the last rhyme word of one stanza appears in the first line of the next they are called coblas capfinidas (lit. "head-finished"). When the rhyming scheme and rhyming sounds are the same each stanza, they are coblas unissonans (lit. "unison"). When the rhyming scheme never changes but the sounds of each stanza are different they are coblas singulars (lit. "singular"). When the rhyming scheme never changes but the sounds do every two stanzas it is called coblas doblas (lit. "double"). When the rhyming scheme never changes but the sounds do every three stanzas it is called coblas ternas. When the rhymes change position in accordance with an algorithm they are called coblas retrogradadas (lit. "retrograded").^[1]

A cobla exchange (or exchange of coblas) is a form of tenso or partimen in which one troubadour writes a single cobla to another, who responds in kind.^[2] Whether such exchanges should be regarded as a "genre" unto themselves, as a type of short tenso, or as cobls esparsas, one of which happens to be written in response to the other, is debated. The Cançoneret de Ripoll distinguishes between the cobles d'acuyndamens, which bonds of vassallage, love, or fidelity, and cobles de qüestions, which posed dilemmas. The acuyndamentum was a special bond of vassallage-fidelity in medieval Catalonia.^[2]

Sources

1. ^ ^{a b} Simon Gaunt and Sarah Kay, edd. (1999), The Troubadours: An Introduction (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0 521 574730).
2. ^ ^{a b} Martín de Riquer (1964), Història de la Literatura Catalana, vol. 1 (Barcelona: Ariel), 509ff.