- Rip Cohen (Johns Hopkins University)
This paper presents a new analysis of the complex strophic forms used by Vidal, Judeu d’Elvas, in his two fragmentary cantigas d’amor. Instead of the strophes with short verses and unique rhyme schemes seen by Stegagno Picchio (1962), this analysis detects known forms, aaaBB and aaabBB, with long verses and internal rhymes. These forms are closely akin to those of the Andalusi Arabic zajal, thus providing further proof of the exotic character of Vidal’s poetics, already highlighted by Stegagno Picchio. Read more