The Science of Poetry: Why Our Brain Prefers the Endecasyllable

The Science of Poetry: Why Our Brain Prefers the Endecasyllable

Poetry has always captivated our minds with its rhythmic and melodic verses. There is something about the structure of a poem that appeals to our brains, and scientists have delved into the study of this phenomenon. Francisco Javier Tapiador, the dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Biochemistry in Toledo, explains that poetry follows certain rules and patterns, and it is through science that we can uncover these structures. Whether it's the rhyme or the rhythm, these elements determine whether a poem works or falls flat. Scientists have sought to understand why we are drawn to epic poems like The Odyssey or why a poem by Garcilaso is considered marvelous.

The endecasyllable, a verse composed of eleven syllables, stands out in the Spanish language. According to Tapiador, these verses have a captivating sound and structure that immediately catches our attention. In French, it is the twelve-syllable verse that has a similar effect, while in English, shorter verses are preferred. Within the eleven syllables of the endecasyllable, there are different ways to arrange accents, resulting in solemn, agitated, or even anguished verses. This aspect has been extensively studied by metric theorists since the 1770s.

After extensive research, it has been concluded that the eleven-syllable verse in Spanish achieves a perfect balance. Even when poets write in free verse or blank verse, they still produce sequences of endecasyllables that, although they may not rhyme, possess a rhythm that evokes a special sensation in our sensibilities. As Garcilaso de la Vega, the great poet of the Spanish Golden Age and a native of Toledo, introduced the endecasyllables to Spain after discovering them in Italy, it is no wonder that this verse has become deeply ingrained in the Spanish poetic tradition.

In the poem "Cántico espiritual" (Spiritual Canticle) by San Juan de la Cruz, the endecasyllables are used to convey the complexities of the spiritual journey. Written in 1577 while San Juan was imprisoned in Toledo, the poem begins in medias res. The lovers have had a clandestine encounter, and the beloved curses the lover. The poem's form is complex for its time, consisting of stanzas with five verses of two different measures. The first verse is a heptasyllable, followed by an endecasyllable, then two more heptasyllables, and finally another endecasyllable. This deliberate mixture of meters is not accidental. The heptasyllable, also known as the "Anacreontic verse," was used by Anacreon to sing the pleasures of the flesh. The endecasyllable, which had been introduced to the Spanish language less than fifty years prior to San Juan's writing, had already been established as the appropriate measure for describing impossible love affairs.

The rhyme scheme is just as significant as the meter in the "Cántico espiritual." It connects the first two heptasyllables (A and C) and the two endecasyllables and third heptasyllable (B, D, and E), creating a unique sense of progression at the end of each stanza, as the last two verses function as a rhyming couplet. This effectively reproduces the restlessness of the beloved, who runs in disarray. The speed and despair are showcased in the relentless pursuit through the valley: "Ni cogeré las flores,/ ni temeré las fieras,/ y pasaré los fuertes y fronteras." There is a powerful internal rhyme in the three future actions emphasized on the fourth syllable of each verse – "cogeré," "temeré," "pasaré" – transforming the journey into an act of will. The beloved begins a conversation with herself: "Mas, ¿cómo perseveras,/ oh vida, no viviendo donde vives?" A stanza later, the dialogue becomes an aggressive imprecation towards the lover – which is peculiar because, at this point in the poem, even San Juan's contemporaries (who did not know he would become a saint) would have noticed that the deer represents God. "Why, then, have you wounded this heart, without healing it? And since you have stolen it, why have you left it behind and not taken the stolen goods?" It is evident that San Juan allows himself to succumb to despair, adding a touch of humanity to the poem. He meditates using the tools of Renaissance eroticism, which posited that unrequited lovers fell ill because their souls had abandoned them, having shifted towards the desired object. This shift was understood as a physical phenomenon that occurred through the eyes: one soul became enamored with the other upon locking eyes, and if both souls were equally smitten, they would exchange places. If not, one person would be left with two souls, while the other would be left to wander, inhabited only by the memory of the gaze that left an empty space.

As the huntress becomes more furious and takes flight – the eleventh stanza consists of a single, breathless, enjambed sentence of forty-one syllables – she looks into a pond and sees only her own empty eyes: "¡Oh cristalina fuente, si en esos tus semblantes plateados formases de repente los ojos deseados que tengo en mis entrañas dibujados!" Then, between the eleventh and twelfth stanzas, something indescribable occurs: the radiant gaze of the beloved becomes unbearable. While there is no record of these eyes, as they would exist in the empty space between one quintet and the other, the reaction of the beloved is documented: "¡Apártalos Amado,/ que voy de vuelo!" The brightness is so intense that it even interrupts the second verse of the stanza, splitting it in two hemistichs. The first is spoken by the beloved, and the second by the Lover: "–Vuélvete, Paloma, que el ciervo vulnerado por el otero asoma al aire de tu vuelo, y fresco toma." Intrigued by the gust of wind left in the huntress's wake as she ascends the hill, the deer ventures out to smell the breeze, and their eyes meet. This single moment causes her soul to return to her body, allowing her to once again contemplate the entire world before returning to earth. The two stanzas that describe this return serve as the touchstone of Castilian baroque poetry and present a grammatical impossibility:

Mi amado, las montañas, los valles solitarios nemorosos, las ínsulas extrañas, los ríos sonorosos, el silbo de los aires amorosos,   la noche sosegada, en par de los levantes de la aurora, la música callada, la soledad sonora, la cena que recrea y enamora.

Once again, a single sentence composed of eighty-two syllables, yet without a verb until the final verse, which serves as a landing point. The unusual rhyme between "montañas" (mountains) and "extrañas" (strange), the alliterations with the "s" sound to describe rivers, air, and their sounds; the following stanzas delve into the encounter and wedding of the lovers, combining poetic tropes and structures with humble and transparent language. The allegorical value of the second and third parts of the poem – the latter written several years after San Juan's escape from the prison in Toledo – is immense. The stanza recounts, as San Juan explains, the immeasurable attention with which God reciprocates insignificant human love. The huntress, now a lover and soon to be a wife, describes how the beloved becomes captivated by a single strand of her hair, taking refuge within it. This synecdoche is audacious in its boldness: the absolute whole contained within the tiniest part. The act of merging is reciprocated by her, as she absorbs the image of the beloved in an eye that wounds her:

En solo aquel cabello que en mi cuello volar consideraste, mirástele en mi cuello, y en él preso quedaste, y en uno de mis ojos te llagaste.

Combining these two texts on the science of poetry and the intricacies of San Juan de la Cruz's "Cántico espiritual," we can draw several points of connection. Both focus on the structure and form of poetry, exploring the impact of meter, rhyme, and rhythm on our brains and emotions. The endecasyllable, with its captivating sound and balance, holds a special place in the Spanish language. It is a versatile tool that can evoke different emotions depending on the arrangement of accents within its eleven syllables. San Juan de la Cruz masterfully employs this verse in his poem, using the combination of heptasyllables and endecasyllables to convey the complexities of the spiritual journey and the unattainable love between the soul and God.

From these discussions, we can extract three actionable pieces of advice for poets and lovers of poetry alike:

1. Pay attention to the structure and form of your poems. Meter, rhyme, and rhythm play a crucial role in capturing the reader's attention and evoking specific emotions. Experiment with different verse lengths and patterns to find the perfect balance for your message.

2. Embrace the power of sound.