Instrucciones para cantar: Julio Cortazar
Complete the poem
This activity is very simple. It is similar to activities where you are supposed to complete the lyrics of a song, except that this is a poem. The words you will need to complete this poem are instructions. It is the imperative form of the verb. It tells you about orders, instructions, or advice. In this poem in particular, the instructions are in a formal register.
To give a formal instruction in Spanish you should:
- Take the verb in infinitive
- Conjugate it for the person “yo”
- Drop the “o” at the end
- For the -AR ending verbs, add – E– (Ud.) HABLE
- For the –ER, _IR, ending verbs add – A– (Ud.) BARRA, PARTA
Some irregular verbs in the imperative form are:
- IR – vaya
- SER – Sea
- SALIR – Salga
- DAR – dé
- SABER – Sepa
- HACER – Haga
INSTRUCCIONES PARA CANTAR
__________ por romper los espejos de su casa,
__________ caer los brazos,
__________ vagamente la pared, olvídese.
__________ una sola nota, escuche por dentro.
Si oye (pero esto ocurrirá mucho después) algo como un paisaje sumido en el miedo, con hogueras entre las piedras, creo que estará bien encaminado, y lo mismo si oye un río por donde bajan barcas pintadas de ___________ y negro, si oye un sabor de pan; un tacto de dedos; una sombra de caballo.
Después _______ solfeos y un frac, y por favor no _______ por la nariz y ________ en paz a Schumann.
¿Quién es Julio Cortazar?
He was an Argentine novelist, short story writer, and essayist. He was known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom. Cortázar influenced an entire generation of Spanish-speaking readers and writers in the Americas and Europe. He was born in 1914 and died in 1984. You can find this poem and many more in his book: “Historias de cronopios y de famas”.
The words you need to complete the poem:
Empiece (Verbo empezar); Deje (Verbo dejar); Mire (Verbo mirar); cante (verbo cantar); amarillo (no es un verbo, solo un color); compre; cante; deje (Verbo dejar)
