Trova (poetry)

Trova is a traditional form of poem in four verses, composed by seven syllables, common in Brazil and Portugal, being a staple of popular literature. According to the poet Luiz Otávio, a "trova" isː

Poetic composition in four verses, seven syllables each one, with at least the second and fourth rhyming.

It's a popular literary creation, that speaks most directly with the people's hearth.

It's through the Trova that the people takes knowledge of the poetry and feel its strength. That's the reason why the Trova and the Trovador are immortals.^[1]

Fernando Pessoa considers "trova is the flower vase that people puts in the window of their soul."^[2]

Example of trova by Luiz Otávio:

Às vezes o mar bravio
dá-nos lição engenhosa:
afunda um grande navio,
deixa boiar uma rosa!

Sometimes the rambunctious sea
give us an ingenious lesson:
it sinks a great vessel

only to float a blossom