Poetry
Florante at Laura
Francisco Balagtas · 1838
Synopsis
In a forest, Florante, son of Duke Briseo of Albania, is tied to a tree and tells his life story. As a student in Athens he found a rival there, Adolfo, who tried to kill him; having become a war leader, he fought the Persians and loves Laura, daughter of King Linceo. Adolfo, who has seized power, has put his father and the king to death and abandoned him to the forest. A Persian prince, Aladin, himself in love with Flerida, saves him from the lions.
Context
Balagtas composed the poem in prison and published it in 1838. It is an awit, made of quatrains of twelve-syllable lines divided in the middle, on a single rhyme; the dedication "Kay Selya" is addressed to María Asunción Rivera, whom the poet loved in Pandacan. The poem has never ceased to be in print since its publication and remains on the Philippine high school curriculum. Epifanio de los Santos gave a Spanish version of it, Marne Kilates an English translation in 2008.
Who it is for
To read the great classic of Tagalog poetry, which every Philippine high school student studies.
Prizes and reception
Translated into Albanian in 2025, it is presented by the Philippine ministry as the country's only poem never out of print since 1838.