TEMPER: CHARACTERISTICS, EXAMPLES - LITERATURE - 2024

The temper of mind is defined as the state of mind in which the author or lyrical speaker of a poetic piece is located and is one of the important elements that characterize the lyrical genre. The lyrical speaker is the subject who expresses, feels and sings in the poems.

This can reflect joy, nostalgia, sadness, hope, hatred, optimism, pessimism, passion, love, forgiveness, among others. The temper of mind is not only manifested in poetry, but in poetic prose. In either case, this mental disposition affects the reader emotionally, providing a framework for interpretation.

In general, the temper of mind helps to create the atmosphere or environment in the literary work. Through this, various specific and appropriate emotional responses are achieved in readers; Thus the emotional attachment to the literary piece is ensured. Once readers are emotionally connected, they can fully understand the writer's message.

characteristics

The temper of mind determines the type of poem or poetic prose. When it is sad or expresses equivalent feelings, it may be an elegy. On the other hand, a cheerful temper is more related to an ode.

On the other hand, one of the elements that help the author to transmit certain moods is the environment. For example, the feelings that a gloomy hospital environment arouses are different from those generated by a peaceful landscape.

Also, the tone of the lyric piece is essential to express a temper of mind. Using a distant and withdrawn tone will convey different feelings than producing a witty and jovial tone.

Finally, the choice of words - and, in general, the style of writing - determine the mood of a poem or poetic prose.

Examples

Nostalgic

"Mother: tonight we die a year.

In this big city, everyone is celebrating;

zambombas, serenades, screams, ah, how they scream !;

of course, as everyone has their mother close…

I am so alone, mother,

so alone !; but I'm lying, I wish I was;

I am with your memory, and the memory is a

past year that remains.

If you would see, if you would listen to this uproar: there are men

dressed in madness, with old saucepans, pan

drums,

cowbells and bugles;

the rogue breath

of drunken women;

the devil, with ten cans on his tail,

walks through those streets inventing pirouettes,

and for this balumba in which

the great hysterical city jumps,

my loneliness and your memory, mother,

march like two sorrows.

This is the night when everyone puts

the blindfold on their eyes,

to forget that someone is closing a book,

so as not to see the periodic settlement of accounts, where the games go to the Credit of Death,

for what comes and for what remains,

because we did not suffer it, it has been lost

and what we enjoyed yesterday is a loss…. "

In the poem "The twelve grapes of time" by the Venezuelan Andrés Eloy Blanco, the spirit of the lyrical speaker (an exile in distant lands) is reflected: nostalgia for the absent mother on an important date.

Sad

"I can write the saddest verses tonight.

Write, for example: "The night is starry,

and the blue stars shiver in the distance."

The night wind turns in the sky and sings.

I can write the saddest verses tonight.

I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

On nights like this I held her in my arms.

I kissed her so many times under the infinite sky.

She loved me, sometimes I also loved her.

How not to have loved her great still eyes.

I can write the saddest verses tonight.

To think that I do not have her. Feeling I've lost her.

Hear the inmense night, even more without her.

And the verse falls to the soul like dew to grass.

Does it matter that my love could not keep it.

The night is full of stars and she is not with me.

That's it. In the distance someone sings. In the distance.

My soul is not content with having lost it

As if to bring her closer, my gaze seeks her.

My heart looks for her, and she is not with me…"

The lyrical speaker of "Poem number 20" by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda is clearly sad when evoking a lost love relationship.

Cheerful

“Doña Primavera

saw that it was beautiful,

dressed in lemon

and orange blossom.

He wears

wide leaves for sandals

and

red fuchsia for caravans.

Go out to find her

on those roads.

She goes crazy with suns

and crazy with trills!

Doña Primavera , with a fruitful breath,

laughs at all

the sorrows in the world… She does

not believe anyone who speaks to her

of mean lives.

How will you run into them

among the jasmine?

How will you find them

next to the fountains

of golden mirrors

and fiery edges?

From the sick earth

in the brown crevices, lights rose bushes

with red pirouettes.

She puts her lace,

lights her vegetables,

on the sad stone

of the graves…

Doña Primavera

with glorious hands,

make us

spill roses through life:

Roses of joy,

roses of forgiveness,

roses of affection,

and of exultation ”.

Many phrases in this work by Chilean Gabriela Mistral denote the temper of her poem "Doña Primavera." In general, these phrases show the cheerful state of mind of their author.

Difference between temperament and lyrical motif

The temper of mind is the psychic predisposition of the lyrical speaker. For its part, the lyrical motive is the situation, idea or event (the theme) that leads him to experience that state of mind.

In this way, it can be stated that one is a consequence of the other. However, the characteristics of one do not always reflect the peculiarities of the other.

For example, a poem may convey the lyrical speaker's feelings of satisfaction for an unfortunate situation (he may think that it is a fair payment for actions committed).

In this case, the temper (feelings of the author) and the lyrical motif (the theme that inspires his emotional state) are of different nature.

To illustrate this point, one can see the example of the poem "The twelve grapes of time." Although the lyrical motif is the end of the year celebration, the temper of mind does not correspond to the festive occasion.

References

1. Ramírez Gall, ME (s / f). Lyric genre guide. Taken from resources.salonesvirtuales.com
2. Literary devices. (s / f). Mood. Taken from literarydevices.net.
3. Writing explained. (s / f). What is Mood? Definition, Examples of Mood in Literature & Poetry. Taken from writingexplained.org.
4. Domínguez Hidalgo, A. (2004). New initiation to literary structures and their textual appreciation. Mexico DF: Editorial Progreso.
5. Goić, C. (1992). The degraded myths: comprehension essays of Hispanic American literature. Amsterdam: Rodopi.