Poem

Ambahan 210

Panali ma’y marupok

Uway iyan na gapok

Ikaw itong susubok

Magtitibay nang lubos!

Critique

Ambahan is the traditional poetry of the Hanunuo Mangyans of Oriental Mindoro. These are
usually written on a bamboo. As the fact that these poems are written thousands years ago and it
was written on a bamboo, it doesn’t recognize the author or the one who wrote these poetries. But
thanks to the translators we been enjoying reading the works of Mangyans from the past. One
example of that is the “Ambahan 210” it has only one stanza with 4 lines. In Ambahan letters, there
are 7 syllables per line but there are changes when you translate it into the Tagalog language. The
translated version of the poem has deep words of Tagalog; the words are hardly to be understood
by a millennial nowadays. The 4 lines stanza talks about the difficulties in married life and how will
they withstand it. It talks about on how after many years of living together, the husband still
remembers his promise that he gave as an ardent lover.

The first line “Panali ma'y marupok” symbolizes the promises they tied and the worries if
that promises are possibly to break in any time. “Uway iyan na gapok” means that the promises are
becoming weaker and sooner it will break. “Ikaw itong susubok” means that “You” should be the
one to mend and resolve the problem. And the line “Magtitibay nang lubos!” means that even
after those problems and struggles in a marriage life, they will be the one to restore the
love and their strength.