Derived from the Spanish word serrana, referring to a woman from the mountains, a serranilla is a genre of pastoral poetry pioneered by Spanish poets Juan Ruiz and Íñigo López de Mendoza, 1st Marquis of Santillana. It is an evolution of the Provençal pastorela, written in the arte menor (short verse) style, each line having two to eight syllables, with usually only one accent, typically on the penultimate syllable.
Structured around an estribillo (the chorus or refrain), the serranilla is constructed with three opening lines in the rhyme scheme ABA, repeated at the ends of three following stanzas of seven lines: ABA, CDDC-ABA, EFFE-ABA, and GHHG-ABA.
Serranillas have generally been published in anthologies rather than as standalone compositions. The subject of a serial serranilla is usually one of many encounters with mountain-dwelling folk (usually women) of all ages, during the poet's travels through mountainous regions. Serranillas have often been set to music by folk musicians, usually sung to guitar accompaniment.
Here I present what may be the most famous example of the genre, though it deviates from the codified meter (an ABBA opener instead of ABA, and five subsequent stanzas instead of three, appending them with estribillos of ABBA instead of ABA, as in the opening):
Serranilla VI (La vaquera de la Finojosa) by Íñigo López de Mendoza
Moça tan fermosa
non vi en la frontera,
como una vaquera
de la Finojosa.
Faziendo la vía
del Calatraveño
a Sancta María,
vencido del sueño,
por tierra fragosa
perdí la carrera,
do vi la vaquera
de la Finojosa.
En un verde prado
de rosas e flores,
guardando ganado
con otros pastores,
la ví tan graciosa,
que apenas creyera
que fuesse vaquera
de la Finojosa.
Non creo las rosas
de la primavera
sean tan fermosas
nin de tal manera;
fablando sin glosa,
si antes sopiera
de aquella vaquera
de la Finojosa.
Non tanto mirara
su mucha beldad,
porque me dexara
en mi libertad.
Mas dixe: 'Donosa'
(por saber quién era),
'¿Dónde es la vaquera
de la Finojosa?...'
Bien, como riendo,
dixo: -- 'Bien vengades;
que ya bien entiendo
lo que demandades:
non es desseosa
de amar, nin lo espera,
aquessa vaquera
de la Finojosa'
Here it is rendered in English:
A girl of such beauty I never saw in the borderlands as a cowgirl from Hinojosa.
Following the road to Santa Maria from the Calatraveño, overcome by sleeplessness and the harsh terrain, I lost my way and saw the cowgirl from Hinojosa.
Upon a verdant pasture with roses and other flowers, guarding cattle with her fellow herders, I saw her looking so graceful that I could scarcely believe she was just a cowgirl from Hinojosa.
I tell without embellishment, I don’t believe the roses of spring are as beautiful nor as splendid as I previously found them, when they are compared to that cowgirl from Hinojosa.
I couldn't risk continuing to witness such loveliness, for it left me at risk of being spellbound. “Young lady,” I asked (to learn more about her), “Where might I find the cowgirl from Hinojosa?”
Smiling she told me, “Well met; I know whom you are seeking: She has no yearning for love, nor might you hope that will she accept any, that cowgirl from Hinojosa.”
One hopes to be forgiven for errors of nuance in one's handling of the text, and eagerly shall accept suggestions from native speakers.
Iron Noder 2021, 17/30