The Chieftest Mourner is a story or rather a narration by a girl in her college days whose uncle died. Her uncle was given the title “the last of a distinct school of Philippine poets” and was described as “the sweetest lyre that ever throbbed with Malayan chords”. The title of this story is different from the other ones I’ve read before because one of the words which make it up is unfamiliar to me and to my dictionary, which makes it a bit hard to make a connection between it and the story itself. But from the word ‘mourner’ and ‘chief’ I think it means who suffered most.
I believe that the narrator or the girl is the one who fits the description, which makes the title fit for the story and its theme, which is mainly about the death of a great poet. For me, the death of her uncle is indeed a great tragedy. But a part of me is saying he deserves it because he left his wife, he left the girl’s Aunt Sophia alone and heartbroken. Although Aunt Sophia knew that her husband did not really intend to marry her, she was still heartbroken because of the fact that the man she loved did not learn how to love her completely, not just because of her beauty.
The great poet left his wife for another woman. Why did he have to go away and find another woman to be with when he already has somebody who loves him? Couldn’t the dramatic poet accept what was done to him because he got drunk? It was his fault he got drunk. Getting drunk for inspiration is definitely not an excuse. And he could have at least thought about what kind of girl he would be with. He is going to do something wrong at least do that wrong thing properly. (“Did that make sense?
I mean, come on, and talk about a control freak. The next woman he was with never let him have things done his way. Sure, she helped him when he was sick, and when he got broke and all, but if I were that guy, I’d rather go back to my real wife than stay with a devil in disguise. Maybe that terrible woman was the cause of his sickness and failures in life. It is a sad thing that he had to go through such terrible things; he probably had some much talent in poetry and the fine arts.
