“One cannot write unless one has known satiety, debauchery, and the intimacy of desire, and can remember them “in moments of tranquility.”
— Luis G. Dato, Philippines Herald Mid-week Magazine in April 6, 1932
Rodolfo Guevara Dato, born in Baao, Camarines Sur (1899-1955), was a lawyer, educator and the first Dean of Liberal Arts of the University of Nueva Caceres. He published the first Filipino Anthology of Poets called “Filipino Poetry” in 1924 .…
by Luis G. Dato I muse sometimes of flowers once perfumingThe halcyon of my yesteryears,And then again, an aureate form assuming,Their memory brings a memory of tears. Here once beneath cool, green acacia branchesHow gilded golden in the glowing dawn,Here…
by Luis G. Dato O lord, in this our crucial timeWhen we on the martial law will vote,Our minds uplift and make sublime,In mercy, Lord, forget us not. Man you created with wills free,O’er all creature gave us the sway,Grant…
In just 20 years after the thomasite Marius John have learned about “I am (Ayam) is a dog” from Baao children, the Baaeños started tuning the lyre. This poem written by Rodolfo Dato, published on the Philippine Collegian (the official…
by Luis G. Dato I would my eyes could seeIf hers were black or gray,Her smiles were all to meSweet roses blown in May;Yet all alone we stray,In vales of love to stayCan hear the melodyOf poetry in song;My heart…
by Luis G. Dato For her voice was the voice of the weird spirits vernalAnd her hair wore the hue of the unexplored night;When I failed to grasp fully the power supernalWho is kinder than mercy and sterner than might,I…
by Luis G. Dato Your majesty, to tune my unused lyreIn praise of your supernal virtues is not meet,Your graces need of rhapsodies more sweetThat mine, which is rich only in desireBut not in poor your loveliness to chant,The charm…
by Luis G. Dato Within their lake-hushed silence the rocks speak,On their reflections in the water pour,Under a spell inscrutable they seekEnchantments of the dead, lost yester-year. What voices long since hushed these rocks could toll,If inarticulate they cease awhile?But…
by Luis G. Dato This rainy day as I essay to writeThis poem brief in memory of you,The words with difficulty see the light,l knew not where to start, the words come fewAnd halting and stumble o’er my rhymes,Well knowing…
by Luis G. Dato I think it is a great honor this evening to proclaimThe queens of Antipolo, the glory of their name,Not gems and precious jewel we’ll place upon their brows,Such as by usual custom an all queens love…
by Luis G. Dato And we now live our lives in fear,And faced with lethal weapons, ManMay see life here no more appear,His future with misgivings scan. Today we need you, Alice soThat Peace its aegis may restore,And plenty smile,…
by Luis G. Dato My fair princess, upon your browTonight a radiant crown we placeOf brightest gems, our love to show,And of your beauty sing our praise; Would that gene were brighter still,And the lyre lighter in our and,With eulogy…
