Awit - Characteristics

Characteristics

The following are characteristics observed in the awit, Florante at Laura.

1. 4 lines/stanza;
2. a rhyme scheme of AAAA (in the Tagalog manner of rhyming described by Jose Rizal in Tagalische Verskunst);
3. a slight pause on the sixth syllable;
4. each stanza is usually a complete grammatically-correct sentence;
5. each stanza is full of figures of speech (according to Fernando Monleon, Balagtas used 28 types in 395 instances throughout the poem);
6. the author is usually anonymous;