La plaza tiene una torre

Por

Antonio Machado (1875-1939)

La plaza tiene una torre,

La torre tiene un balcón,

El balcón tiene una dama,

La dama, una blanca flor.

Ha pasado un caballero

- ¡quién sabe por qué pasó! -

Y se ha llevado la plaza

Con su torre y su balcón

Con su balcón y su dama,

Su dama y su blanca flor.

Some explanatory notes for my students This poem uses the verb <llevarse> with a

play on words. The phrase “…y se ha llevado…” refers to leaving behind the plaza and the tower and the balcony, but also carrying away the lady and the white flower.

Some explanatory notes for my students Besides being a sweet little romantic poem,

this is a great example of <la concordancia> - the agreement of nouns and modifiers in number and gender and of definite and indefinite articles – el/un, la/una.

Some explanatory notes for my students I hope you enjoy learning this poem as much

as I did.

A final note

I learned it when I was in my first year of high school Spanish, and I still remember every word!

El fin