Francisco Balagtas: Encyclopedia II - Francisco Balagtas - Life as a poet

Francisco Balagtas - Life as a poet

Balagtas learned to write poetry from Jose dela Cruz (Huseng Sisiw), one of the most famous poets of Tondo. It was Jose dela Cruz himself who personally challenged Balagtas to improve his writing.

In 1835, Kiko moved to Pandacan, where he met Maria Asuncion Rivera, who would effectively serve as the muse for his future works. She is referenced in Florante at Laura as 'Celia' and 'MAR'.

Balagtas' affections for Celia were challenged by the influential Mariano Capule. Capule won the battle for Celia when he used his wealth to get Balagtas imprisoned. It was here that he wrote Florante at Laura—In fact, the events of this poem were meant to parallel his own situation.

He wrote his poems in Tagalog, during an age when Filipino writing was predominantly written in Spanish. Scholars believe that his poems reflect the abuses of the Spanish colonists.

Balagtas published Florante at Laura upon is release in 1838. He served as a Major Lieutenant after moving to Udyong, Bataan in 1840. It was here that he met Juana Tiambeng of Orion, Bataan, whom he would wed in 1842. Together, they had eleven children—five boys and six girls. However, seven of them would die.

Balagtas is so greatly revered in the Philippines that the term for Filipino poetry in the Filipino language is named for him: balagtasan.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Life as a poet", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki