Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 31.djvu/408

398, as we have done, or on the other hand with the aguinaldos in any poetic form except the décima, the material of the section following them.

The hexasyllabic décimas (or aguinaldos) are for the most part very well composed, and point to learned sources. It has not been possible for us to study carefully the printed poetic material which the popular classes read and sing in Porto Rico. Some of the following compositions, especially those where the religious element is dominant, seem copied from printed sources. They may be the work of monks or priests, who compose them to inspire piety and religious fervor. Their style and general character point not only to learned or semi-learned sources, but also to composers that often had real poetic inspiration. They are popular poetic gems, that could not have been composed by the ordinary poetas or cantadores who compose every day in all Spanish countries the ordinary ungrammatical décimas and popular coplas. The shorter metre, which lends itself more easily for recitation and singing, is one of the reasons for its popularity. This metre, while not so popular in Spanish poetry as the octosyllabic, has nevertheless been very popular since the fifteenth century. It is even the metre of some ballads.

En la noche buena

nació Jesucristo;

los judios malditos

le ofrecen cadenas.

A la media noche,

golpe de la una,

nació Jesucristo

de una Virgen pura

en una columna

dentro de una cueva;

y la Magdalena

se le arrodillaba,

las gracias le daba

en la noche buena.

A la media noche,

golpe de las dos,

dentro de un pesebre

nació el niño Dios;

la Virgen quedó

virgen conio era;

San José se llega

con mucho anhelo

a reconocerlo

para noche buena.

A la media noche,

golpe de las tres,

nació Jesucristo

con buena fe.

El con su poder

buscó la manera,

la Virgen con pena

entonces quedó

en ver que nació

para noche buena.

A la media noche,

golpe de las cuatro,

nació Jesucristo

sin ningún quebranto;

el Espíritu Santo

allí se le acerca,

con palabras buenas

decía: — Ya verán,

lo perseguirán

para noche buena.

A la media noche,

golpe de las cinco,

dentro de un pesebre

nació Jesucristo;

los judios malditos