Students of Dr. Kristine Doll’s literature classes examine Spanish literature through themes that are at once Spanish as they are universal: love, death, the possibility of an afterlife, the role of the individual in society and the experience of patriotism. Following are several poems written by some of the program’s graduate students as part of an assignment in creative writing for SPN706. These poems, selected by the class and published here anonymously, are modeled on the early “jarchas” of Spain. As the last stanzas of much lengthier poems, “jarchas” were written by men in the voice of women lamenting their separation from husbands, fiances, or friends. One of the most salient characteristics is the mixture of Arabic with early Spanish, also known as “romance.”
¡Ay que pena me hace sentir!
De tu belleza no quiero salir
Sueño de tu boquita de habb al-muluk
Te suplico, espérame un poco más.
Por favor, mi habibi,
No salgas de aquí,
Porque si tú vas, no encuentro a otro
Y me muero sola.
¡Ay mi habib morenito!
Haces todo colorido
¿Pero adónde te has ido?
Te esperaré hasta el infinito.
Lingua Franca 
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