Filipino Poet, Writer and Educator
“A national referendum-plebiscite was held on October 16–17, 1976 in the Philippines in which the majority of the barangay voters approved the continuation of Martial Law and ratified the proposed amendments to the Constitution substituting the Regular Batasang Pambansa with…
by Luis G. Dato For once again we saw them, figured, no requestOf those like us enchanted, their eyes to charm and rest,And those from San Fernando, Ingkoy-Ingkoy danced well,They moved in faultless rhythm, and wove round us a spell.…
by Luis G. Dato Our independence! over all the landOur people proud and jubilant all stand,To see upon the masts with tear-dimmed eyes,The sun and stars reach proudly to the skies. Blessed independence! may it ever beThe radiant symbol of…
Day on the Farm, written by Luis G. Dato in 1934 is among of the familiar texts of his work. It has been anthologized and included in college textbooks all over the country; and one of the most deconstructed and…
by Luis G. Dato This be our anguished prayer this x’mas day —May God our country save in disarray, May the good Lord who made the nations free, Our bondage end, return our liberty! For freedom, Lord, it is a…
By Luis G. Dato The Cross of May, the Cross of May, Time flies and passes, you shall stay, To shed upon the tawdry scene The lustre of your light serene. Month of the flowers, month of prayer, Your mirth…
By Luis G. Dato At Christmas time the nights are dark and chill, But over all the world resplendent sill The Star of Bethlehem we all can see, Rejoicing in the Lord’s Nativity. All to the Church will gather swain…
By Luis G. Dato I The incense hangs on gilded Christmas shrines, Warm tapers bathe the walls in amber glow, In mumbled prayer, bead-counted prayer low, Devouts, deep-veiled, all drowse upon their lines, Anon with peals from drums and tambourines,…
By Luis G. Dato The bells of Christmas let them ring At Jesus’ birth, our Lord, our King, The stars of Heaven let their light Fill all the world this X’mas night. Lo! from the East the Three Wise Men…
By Luis G. Dato And now as gladsome Christmas comes this year, May it, O Lord, bring to us all good cheer, May joy and happiness pervade the heart, And from our homes the cloud of Care depart! By night…
By Luis G. Dato O frosty stars of Christmas night, Like candles in the sky they glow And shed their never-changing light As of two thousand years ago. Two thousand years, two thousand years, What ghastly greed, what bloody wars!…
By Luis G. Dato The Christmas season, it is here The gladsomest of all the year. Two thousand years or so this morn To Virgin Mary Christ was born. Long, long ago, in Bethlehem, In a low manger lay the…
