A WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE IN BALAGTAS – Francisco Balagtas and his poem Florante at Laura

The injustices of the Filipino natives, in the Tagalog language

Born in April 1788, Francisco Balagtas https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/francisco-balagtas/m030402?hl=en was a Tagalog-speaking scholar during the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. Considered the Prince of Tagalog poets because of his masterpiece Florante at Laura, to go to school in exchange for domestic service, when he was young, he went to a distant relative in Manila. In 1835 he fell in love with the daughter of a wealthy Pandacan family, to whom he dedicated the opening poem of his he Florante at Laura. Moving to Orion he married Juana, with whom he had 11 children. Imprisoned in 1856 in relation to the denunciation of a servant, serving his sentence in Tondo, he wrote many theatrical plays, finally, returning to Udyong, he wrote poems and plays until his death in February 1862.

In the Philippines, where he was born, the city of Bigaa was named after Balagtas. On the surface of Mercury there is the Balagtas Crater. Considered one of the greatest Filipino poets, Francisco Balagtas https://www.poemofquotes.com/franciscobalagtas/ was born in the small town near Manila. The son of a blacksmith, he studied at the University of San Juan de Letrán and the University of San José, devoting himself to law and study. At a time when literature was written in Spanish, he preferred to use his mother tongue, thus representing in Talong – as in the poem Florante at Laura – the injustices of the native Filipinos under the Spanish colonizers.

As for the form used by Francisco Balagtas https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Francisco_Balagtas/, his Florante at Laura is written as a poetic format with four lines per verse, twelve syllables per line, a pattern of assonant rhymes, a pause after the sixth syllable, each verse is a sentence complete containing figures of speech. The son of a princess and a royal adviser, Florante grew up happy. At the age of six he was attacked by a vulture and a hawk who entered his mountain cottage. To study astrology, philosophy and mathematics, his parents sent him to Athens, where a fellow student kill him out of jealousy. Florante received a letter from his father who ordered him to return to Albania, where he helped his grandfather in the war against the Persians. Florante was invited to the royal palace, where he met Laura, the king’s daughter. After various vicissitudes, he learned of the tragic fate of his father and grandfather, both beheaded, he was exiled to the forest and tied to the tree.

FLORANTES LAMENT – Vengeful Heaven, where is your wrath? Now my land is overcome, prostrate, and in beloved Albania’s infinite skies, lately the flag of evil flies. Within and without my country of grief, betrayal reigns, is enshrined, esteemed; degraded everywhere, the heart’s goodness is consigned to the lowly pauper’s grave. All manner of good and deed are cast into the sea of mockery and perturbation, each good man is treated without respect, without burial rite entombed. But, oh, the cheat, the traitor, the black of heart, are enthroned in praise, and for each scoundrel incense is burned, and offered up in fragrant smoke. Betrayal, dishonesty hold high their heads, and the righteous is timid, bowed, dismayed, reason itself is on its knees, fatigued, and to weep is all that’s left for it. And each mouth that opens to speak the truth and right is quickly stopped and cut by the arrogant blade of death. O traitorous ambition for honor and riches! O hunger for airy and fleeting praise! You are the reason for all this sinfulness, this misfortune that has befallen me. By the crown of King Linceaeus and the riches of my father, the duke, Count Adolfo was so bold to pour evil upon Albania’s sovereign land. All these, O merciful Heaven you witness, why suffer them persist? O Source of sense and righteousness, why permit them drown in ruthlessness? Lift your right and righteous hand, swing the shining blade of your rage, upon all evil in Albania’s kingdom pour the full vengeance of your justice. Why, O Heaven, do you turn a deaf ear to my suit and honest plea? Why from this poor and luckless being avert your face and shut your ears? And who could ever fathom, O Great God, your sacred mystery? The good will not happen on earth if it is not Your Will. Alas, where now turn for handhold, bring my heart’s lament, if Heaven refuses to listen to my plaintive cry, my faint complaint?

In 2018, Google honored its 230th birthday celebration with a doodle. A museum, a monument and an elementary school have been erected in his hometown. Manila’s former Popular Arts Theater was renamed Tanghalang Francisco Balagtas in honor of him. For his impact on Filipino literature, is considered as the equivalent of William Shakespeare. Known through his nom-de-plume, Francisco Balagtas, Francisco Baltazar was a Filipino poet. Florante at Laura, his famous epic, is regarded as his defining work. It is written as an awit, a type of Filipino poem consisting of 12-syllable quatrains. He wrote the epic during his imprisonment and dedicated it to his former sweetheart María Asuncion Rivera, referenced to as Selya in the dedication. This reproduction https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1848283.Florante_at_Laura, curated for quality, can help your poetic reading experience. If you want to know other writers, you can type https://meetingbenches.com/category/writers/, while for poets from all over the world https://meetingbenches.com/category/poetry/. The sole purpose of this site is to spread the knowledge of these artists and that other people appreciate their works. The ownership of the images that appear in this blog corresponds to their authors.

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