ILOCANO AND

BICOLANO
LITERATURE
ILOCANO
LITERATURE

most vibrant Filipino literatures

throughout the ages.
DID YOU KNOW?

When the Spaniards arrived in Ilocos Norte in 1572, it took a toll on Ilocano
literature. During the Spanish era, Ilocano poetry was heavily influenced by
Spanish poetry. The earliest known written Ilocano poems were the
romances translated from Spanish by Francisco Lopez. Lopez was an
Augustinian friar who published his Iloko translation of the Doctrina
Cristiana (first book published in the Philippines by Cardinal Bellarmine) in
1621.
Most notable Ilocano
authors and their selected
literary works.
MOLAVE AND THE ORCHID
(Francisco Sionil Jose)

The Molave and the Orchid was a story of love and purpose. Its a story of an old
arrogant, strong and sturdy Molave tree and a beautiful orchid who clings in the
Molave's trunk. The little Orchid taught the Old Molave how to love and what his
purpose.

"Work is the logic of life. And sacrifice is the logic of love. You have not worked for anyone,
nor sacrificed for anyone. Even to someone as fragile and helpless like me you cannot even
be kind. Then was is your purpose? I do not think you know what love is."
SIKSIKA LAENG
(Melvin Banggollay)

SIKSIKA LAENG IKAW LAMANG ONLY YOU

(Ilokano ) (Tagalog) (English)

Siksila laeng Ikaw lamang Aking Only you

Ti ay-ayatek mahal Sa aking My love
Ti biak ko buhay Aking in my life
Ti pagrukbaban sasambahin I’ll adore
Inga’t panungpalan Hanggang until I’ll die
Siksika laeng kamatayan
Ti pagserbiyan only you
Ti ayaten Ikaw lamang ang i’ll serve
Iti ayat paglingkuran at and love
A nasudi mamahalin na pag- with a love
Ken agpayso nga ibig na dalisay at so noble
awanpatinggana totoo ng walang and true
katapusan endlessly
A LOVE THAT ENDURES
(Melvin Banggollay) A love that endures is

L-iving for someone dear

O-ffering unconditonal passion
V-alueing one's right so fair
E-nduring pains and depressions.

T-eaching the heart to be fair

An Acrostic Poem H-ealing with gentle communication
A-cting what your heart declare
T-ouching with prudent conviction.

E-ntwined with forgiveness flare

N-urtured with tender passion
D-evelop with motives so clear
U-nderstanding amidst confusion
R-esolve to be always just and fair
E-ndures to serve even at oblivion
S-acred vow to serve without fear.
BICOLANO
LITERATURE
Bikolano literature has flourished,
providing a lively literary flavor unrivalled
by any other literary tradition.
DID YOU KNOW?
☻ Bikolano literature has its roots in orally transmitted poems and mythical narratives that reflect
the history of the people.
☻ Mariano Perfecto is the first Bikolano writer who published Bikola newspaper, he was also
responsible for the development of the first printing press named “Imprenta de Nuestra Senora de
Penafrancia.”
☻ While the latter development implied that Bikolano literature was dominated by religious writing
at that time.
☻ Protest drama became a form of expressing the people’s growing resentment of the Spanish
rule.
☻“Comedia” writers such as Sabas Armenta, Juan Alvarez Guerra and Juan Miraflor have
protest plays credited to their names.
☻ The dramatic genre of the “corridor,” which was popular among the Tagalog-speaking folk, was
adapted into the local ‘Bikol corrido”, with “Magamang Pobre” being a popular example).
Bicolano Authors and
their Literary Pieces:
Day on the Farm
(Luis G. Dato)
I’ve found you fruits of sweetest taste
and found you Bunches of Duhat
growing by the hill, I’ve bound your
arms and hair with vine and bound you
With rare wildflowers but you are crying
still.

I’ve brought you all the forest ferns and

brought you Wrapped in green leaves
cicadas singing sweet, I’ve caught you in
my arms an hour and taught you Love’s
secret where the mountaion spirits
meet.

Your smiles have died and there is no

replying To all endearment and my gifts
are vain; Come with me, love, you are
too old for crying , The church bells ring
and I hear drops of rain.
A Cloud Named Looking-for-You
(Marne Kilates)
They say that it is the Princess
Nhanzao forever drifting over
the Sea of Er, Looking for her
love who had been turned into
stone and sunk into the depths
– from the song by Shi Zhi –
You about the Yunnan legend.
May heart aches like the heaving sea; My
tears riddle the face of the water; My pain
comes in guests, emptying me.
Cursed with wandering, thin as air,
How can I touch the bottom of this grief?
How can I lift this shroud that covers
My love’s grave?
My heart heaves like the aching sea;
My tears riddle the face of the water;
My pain comes in guest, emptying me.
Ang Duwende
(Damiana Ligon Eugenio)

The characters in the story are the mother and her two daughters living in the town of
Legaspi. The story begin when the mother told her daughters to close the door at night and
started sharing story about the existing of the dwarfs in their town. The siblings forgot to
close the door and their windows. Few seconds before midnight, the siblings hear the noise
of the dwarfs and started remembering the story told by their mother about them. They are
frightened and saw the dwarf enter the door and goes to the direction of the siblings. The
dwarf accidentally hit the gas lamp causing fire. Because of that incident the siblings and
the people of their town carefully closing their doors and windows before going to sleep at
night.