The Pine of Formentor

Miquel Costa i Llobera wrote the poem in Catalan language in 1875, during his first period of production.[2]

To compose it, he took inspiration from the majestic landscapes and visions of the pine trees rooted in the cliffs of the Formentor peninsula on Mallorca island. Costa i Llobera frequented those sites from an early age. The landscape of Formentor portrayed by the poet is real, whilst also evolving into a literary category, becoming a symbol of the Mediterranean.[3]

Years later, the poet published a version of the poem in Spanish.

The poem is written entirely in alexandrine verses (6+6 syllables), with caesurae in the middle. It is composed of quintain stanzas, with an ABAAB rhyme. The last line of each quintain contains only 6 syllables.[4]

Its beginning is often quoted in Catalan:

Mon cor estima un arbre! Més vell que l'olivera,
més poderós que el roure, més verd que el taronger,
conserva de ses fulles l'eterna primavera,
i lluita amb les ventades que assalten la ribera,
com un gegant guerrer.

Whilst Costa i Llobera himself would publish a translation years later, in Spanish. The same first stanza reads:

Hay en mi tierra un árbol que el corazón venera:
de cedro es su ramaje, de césped su verdor;
anida entre sus hojas perenne primavera,
y arrostra los turbiones que azotan la ribera,
añoso luchador.

Formentor beach

The poem has been sung, among others, by Spanish singer Maria del Mar Bonet.

Artists such as Joan Miró[5] and Hermen Anglada Camarasa[6] used it as inspiration for their paintings.

• Miquel Costa i Llobera
• Formentor

• Bernat Cifre Forteza. "Costa i Llobera i el món clàssic (1854-1922)," Lleonard Muntaner Editor, 2005.
• Bartolomé Torres Gost. "Miguel Costa y Llobera. 1854 - 1922. Itinerario Espiritual De Un Poeta," Editorial Balmes, Barcelona, 1971.
• Miquel Costa i Llobera, Frank Z. Llobera. "The Pine of Formentor (Annotated)," English Edition, 2023.