Kubair

a genre of Bashkir folk poetry dating from the 14th century. The kubair is a short lay sung to a metody or as a recitative. The verses consist of rhymed, seven-syllable lines, and the number of lines in a stanza is irregular, ranging from six to 24 or more. The themes include love for the native land and the struggle of the popular masses for freedom (Oh, My Urals, My Urals, and The Death of the Tall Mountain), appeals for good will and justice (The Competition of the Bards Akmurza and Kubagysh), and glorification of heroes (Salavat the Hero). There are also satirical kubairs, in which the greed of the wealthy, laziness, and cowardice are ridiculed, as in The Bey’s Adornment, What Use Is a Coward, and The Bad Man Won’t Become Good.