Bocage was a former naval officer, a cultured gentleman, a passionate man, and a poet. He lived in the second half of the 18th century and had a series of relationships, writing love poems to his Three Graces: his colleague Márcia, a wild girl, and her two sisters.

Falacha is the captain of a fishing boat, who loses his men in a shipwreck. Among them was the husband of Aurélia, who holds Falacha responsible for the tragedy. Maria, Falacha's daughter, falls in love with Manuel, Aurélia's son, a situation that their mothers refuse to accept.

Based on the novel of the same name, by Júlio Dantas, this is the first Portuguese all-talking sound film, dramatization of the story of the Fado singer Maria Severa Onofriana, known as A Severa.