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Reminiscing: Ballad of a Mother's Heart



Two weeks ago, I happened to be with the "golden ladies". They were called golden ladies because they're already in their golden age: 50-something. I thought I'll feel awkward because of the age gap but in the end I was wrong.

When women at my age had some chit-chats probably it would be about friends, food, fashion, work or even boys (men). On the other hand, these golden ladies were very concerned with their children, grandchildren, and their in-laws (especially). They had some outbursts on how they don't like their in-laws and on how pitiful their children for having the wrong choice of husband/wife.

That's when I remembered a poem during my gradeschool. This poem was written by Jose La Villa Tierra. It speaks on the love of parents for their children, how forgiving and how great the love of a mother is for her son/daughter although he/she has hurt her very much.

Ballad of a Mother's Heart

The night was dark,
For the moon was young,
And the Stars were asleep and rare,
The clouds were thick,
Yet Youth went out,
To see his Maiden fair.

Dear one,
he pleaded as he knelt before her feet in tears.
My love is true,
Why you have kept me waiting all this years?
The maiden looked at him.
Unmoved it seemed,
And whispered low.

Persistent Youth,
You have to prove by deeds,
Your love is true.
"There's not a thing
I would not do for you, Beloved" said he.
"Then, go." said she. "To your mother dear,
And bring her heart to me.

Without another word,
Youth left and went to his mother dear.
He opened her breast and took her heart!
But he did not shed a tear.

Then back to his Maiden fair,
He run unmindful of the rain.
But his feet slipped, And he fell down,
And loud, he groaned with pain!

Still in his hand he held the prize,
That would win his Maiden's hands.
But he thought of his mother dear,
So kind,so sweet,so fond.

And then,
he heard a voice!
Not from his lips,
But all apart!

"Get up" it said.
"Were you hurt,Child?"
It was his mother's heart

Maybe the golden ladies can be considered as "monsters-in-law" but I admire the love they have towards their children. Sometimes we did all things for the glory of love and we tend to forget that on our way of having this glory some people were being "trampled on the ground".

I hope my future in-laws like me..hehehe...SOS, johns!

Comments

ces said…
Hi hannaH thank you!!!
Because you na-memorize ko yung assignment naMin:balllad of a Mothers heart!

GOD BLESS!
judith said…
HaaY!!
i love this poem very much!!!
it touches my heart...
it tells that how much does a mother loves her child............
norps said…
I really appreciate this poem for it portrays the LOVE of the Mother to her children....
norps said…
I also wanted to encourage anybody to Love your not only your mother but to your parents.... they tried to sacrifice all things for us to be here in this wonderful world...
norps said…
I really appreciate this poem because it gives more lesson to us children that the love of our mother cant never be replaced of anything.....
Anonymous said…
i really love this poem...

when i was in college taking up education degree, this poem was given to one of my classmates. SHe made it into a lesson for reading appreciation. It was a great presentation.

I've been looking for this peice for 7 years now.

And now, I'm a teacher. I am planning to give this to my pupils for reading appreciation.... I would like to emphasize that there is no greater love than a mother's love... kakaiyak... huhuhu, just to emotional because im pregnant


also, i would like my sentiments to be out in the open...

i have a brother who is just like the son in the poem though not literally but the woman he married really break the family's relationship. The woman says bad things about my mother. And the "tangang" brother naniwala naman. I hate that woman! I really do! The family with their family is not in speaking terms... and forever will be...

I surely will not do that to my mother in law... we are in good terms... (magpakabait lang naman kc)
Anonymous said…
ammm.....it is such...a very interesting poem when i read it itwas a very amazing,astonishing....i remember my highskul....life when this poem was the one we roled played......
Anonymous said…
thanks for posting this poem ;s i'll be using this for a reading comprehension examination
glenn said…
Well one thing that i can said to the poem it's very touching and wonderful!!! To the maiden she's so barbaric she doesn't mind her future mother-in-law!!!
Lyn said…
The Power of Word plus The Power of Love combine together.

I remember this poem heartily, though, it was given to us by our literature teacher 30 years ago. This only shows how words rooted in our memory because of it's power.
Mel Turao said…
Hear ye, hear ye!

In the tradition of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, you are all invited to come for a Spoken Word gig at Crammers on General Luna Street, November 6 at 6 PM. The legendary author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest won’t be there, but we’ll have some of Iloilo’s shoo-in scenesters present--poets, fictionists, artists, musicians, and people on the fringe.

This gig launches a series of spoken word performances which will culminate with an online site for New Iloilo Writing.

To confirm your attendance, please email archprankster@yahoo.com or drop a note on Sofistoprose.blogspot.com. Since response is overwhelming, we may have to limit reading and performance time to 10 minutes at the most, so you need to confirm with us immediately for a secure spot in the program.

This event is brought to you in part by Alfalfa Media, one of the Bay Area’s leading SEO specialists and Crammers, your official crib notes.
marjell said…
ahahah... project nmin ang i-memorize tuh!!!!
Anonymous said…
wow. itsz a nyc poem, tnx for da copy ..
burn said…
Hello, I was about to post this poem, however, I typed the title of the poem, and I found your website with high traffic with this keyword.
I appreciate how you posted it here.
So, I decided not to post this poem.

Take care..
burn said…
I added you in my friends list.
Anonymous said…
That poem was my piece in a declamation contest way back 1988. I won 3rd place then. simple yet touching poem
Anonymous said…
Hannah?? KirbZ 2... kw ba yn?
Anonymous said…
thanks for posing this poem. I made it a decalmation way back first quarter of 1980 when i was in first year high school.Prose and peotry book.
errol said…
errol crodua like the poem!
filipina said…
I've known this poem when I was in Grade 6 and until now I still memorized it. Really wonderful!
Anonymous said…
thanks for the copy
i wish sana madami makabasa nito...XD
Anonymous said…
i memorized this poem when i was a first year high school... and now i will be graduating in college i still memorize this.
Anonymous said…
this poem is really great.... it reminds me parents sacrifices... im crying
Anonymous said…
thank you hannah. because im going to report ballad of mothers heart. and when i read your blog. i understand well
Anonymous said…
hay naku assignment namin yan,tapos imememorise pa!
Anonymous said…
cutie anonymous-thanks because meron na akong assignment a very inspiring poem...jejeje
thamx geline said…
hay tnx me assignment na meh
Anonymous said…
at first, i was just copying this poem for our homework without understanding the thought... then, i tried reading it just for the sake of doing something and after reading it i was really touched!!!
i can't explain this feeling i had after reading the poem and all i know is that the poem really reached my heart :))
Anonymous said…
its so hard to memorize that story but i understand on what happenened on the story,a man who is so obsess in a maiden for he is so desperate to do things neither to kill his mother only for his love one...........
Anonymous said…
thanxx,.,.,. po sa copy,.,. thank you,.,!!!! po talaga.,., nakakaiyak cya.,., huhuhuhuuh :)
jarden said…
wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its a nice poem and this is my most favorite poem also and our english teacher said that we will be going to recite this tommorow (dec.1,2010);)
jarden said…
wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love it!!!! and this is my most favorite poem and our English teacher said that we will be going to recite this tomorrow (Dec.1,2010)
Anonymous said…
Jose La Villa Tierra is the real author of the poem.
vengiline said…
GREAT!!!!!!!!!
i really love it,,so nice,,
it's been a long time,,how i wish i could read this poem and now i made it,,,ahmmm,,,,,,great
so terrific,,,
vengiline said…
GREAT!!!!!!
i really love this poem,,,
for how many times i wish to read this on my own,and now i made it,,,,so nice,,,great...very terrific!!!!
Anonymous said…
Nice. Thank you So MUCH! This is for my assignment..
Anonymous said…
the poem is so nice!it really shows the undying love of the mother to her child!!!!!!i like it.....
Anonymous said…
i love this poem and i'm going to discuss it with my student. i'm nervous i don't how to discuss it huhuhu...i'm a student teacher and dis is my 1st tym to teach 1st year high school and poetry
paulyn said…
:i love this poem
:it was very amazing poem
:i like this
:this poem it tells that how much does a mother loves her child mother will appreciate her true love to a child
:i wish that all child is we love her mother trueth.
Anonymous said…
th poem is so sweet becouse of that i remember my mother
G as P ar said…
I'm saddened upon reading the poem for it evokes intent emotion, but something bothered me after reading the comments. All the comments we're drawn from a one-angle-view. to be precise, I would want to say that it's only the mother. There are (not is) three characters being conveyed or portrayed in the poem.
THIS POEM SAYS A LOT.
Zyren said…
i realy realy like his poem!
How to sing "ballad of A Mother's HeaRt.."?
Anonymous said…
hi tnnx tapos na assign q tnxx again.....
one_searcher said…
I wonder who actually wrote the first peom with this theme. i am 66 years old and the one i learned is this:
In Brittany there lived a lad and a girl as fair as she was bad
He told her of his constant pain he told her in sorrow he told her in vain
She laughed at his prayers till the lad grew wild, she mocked him and said you are only a child
If you were a man as i have heard you boast you would bring me the thing i cherish the most
If you were in love so passionately your mother's heart you would bring to me
He hurried home, the night was black he slew his mother and hurried back
As he was running with tight clinched hand he fell and the heart rolled over the sand
His mother's heart he heard it call
Are you hurt my son are you hurt at all
grace said…
This poem is reaLLy tOuching..iTs goes beyOnd ouR expEctation...


YOu might thnk thAt you Have sHown da mst tHng 2 ur mOthr bt tell yuo u shld do somethng in her tht u never knw...hehehehe emotional Lng c oka...I just Love my Mom
grace said…
tHis is a very touching poem...this is one of my favorite...

hope my brother wold thnk of reading this..for my mom and for me..so he could thnk of thnking us first b4 his gf...hehehehe emotional lng
marie said…
I love this poem, it really touched my heart and it was so amazing. Jose La Villa Tierra the author of this poem is really great. Ajah!!! (:
Anonymous said…
thank you so much for the author.. I've been searching for this in ages...
Anonymous said…
its so very nice a poem....
Anonymous said…
thank you for this..i really need this for my lesson plan...
Eduardo said…
Mother's Love neVEr FaiLs..

The night was dark,
For the moon was young,
And the Stars were asleep and rare,
The clouds were thick,
Yet Youth went out,
To see his Maiden fair.

Dear one,
he pleaded as he knelt before her feet in tears.
My love is true,
Why you have kept me waiting all this years?
The maiden looked at him.
Unmoved it seemed,
And whispered low.

Persistent Youth,
You have to prove by deeds,
Your love is true.
"There's not a thing
I would not do for you, Beloved" said he.
"Then, go." said she. "To your mother dear,
And bring her heart to me.
james said…
hi, thank you for sharing your poem to us. I really touch with this piece hoping also others can read this and appreciate on how precious is the heart of the mother which willing to give all and to sacrifice her life, even in death...
nku po kakabisaduhin namin yan??????????????????????
d ko na kaya kinakanta ko nanga lang nopara maka bisadokothanks maam diaz we love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 by: rodriguez

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