CRITICAL PAPER 1

Arjie C. Rivera

WHEN I WAS NO BIGGER THAN A HUGE BY JOSE GARCIA VILLA

August 5, 2015

Jose Garcia Villa was awarded as a National Artist for Literature in 1973 because of his prominent
works in Philippine literature. A formalist, post-colonialist, and modernist poet who was known for his
provocative ideas on literature became very popular not just in the country but also in some parts of Europe
and America. He was nominated in and won awards from different award giving bodies in the world.
However, many criticized his works because of the obscenity in some of his works and the presence of
proletarian. One of Villa’s most talked about poems is “When I was No Bigger than a Huge” because of its
unusual form.

“When I was No Bigger than a Huge” is written in FIRST PERSON point of view which implies that
the speaker is experiencing whatever emotion is in the text. It also gives an effect of putting the reader to
the situation of the speaker which may help the readers acquire the sensationalism of the poem. A calm
tone of the poem is very noticeable on these lines (When, I, was, no, bigger, than, a, huge,…Star, in, my,
self, I, began, to, write, …My,…Theology,…Of, rose, and,) which is a plain narration but on the succeeding
lines (Tiger: till, I, burned, with, their…Pure, and, Rage. Then, was, I, Wrath-…Ful,…And, most,…Gentle:
most,) it started to create a melancholic or contrite tone because of the strong words used such as burned,
rage, wrath… The visibility of the speaker’s repentance is in the proceeding lines (I, began, to, Die, and, I,
began, to, Grow).

When, I, was, no, bigger, than, a, huge,

Star, in, my, self, I, began, to, write,

My,

Theology,

Of, rose, and,

The speaker is going back from the time of his youthful years in this stanza. During those times, he started
to live his life by his own prerogative or his own way. The speaker states that he wrote his OWN
THEOLOGY of ROSE which denotes that he lived with his doctrines created by himself. Moreover, since
many poets or authors use the word “rose” to signify a “woman”, it can be concluded that what the speaker
want to say in this stanza is when he was still young he live his life affectionately adoring woman. The
stanza ends with the word “and” which means that the speaker’s story continues.

Tiger: till, I, burned, with, their

Pure, and, Rage. Then, was, I, Wrath-

Ful,

And, most,

Gentle: most,

This stanza is the continuation of the line from the first stanza (My,Theology, Of, rose, and,… Tiger:). The
word “tiger” can be a metaphor of the speaker and he described himself as “burned, with, their…Pure, and,
Rage. Then, was, I, Wrath- …Ful,..And, most,..Gentle: most” which exposes the speaker’s feeling of anger.
But after the speaker ended the stanza he let the reader feel his calmness by the word “gentle”. The
stanza ends with the word “most” which leaves the stanza hanging.

Dark, and, yet, most, Lit: in, me, an,

Eye, there, grew: springing, Vision,

Its,

Gold, and,

Its, wars. Then,

It starts with a paradox of dark and light which may be a disclosure of the speaker’s inconsistent
experiences when he was young. It may show that the speaker’s life was not good and not bad either. On
the proceeding lines, the speaker shows his perception about wealth. It can be concluded that the word
“gold” signifies wealth and “war” is a symbolism of the unending quest or battle of a person for wealth which
is very detectible in reality. The stanza ends with the word “then” which means the speaker’s story doesn’t
end yet.

I, knew, the, Lord, was, not, my, Creator!

--Not, He, the, Unbegotten but, I, saw,

The,

Creator,

Was, I and,

The tone of this stanza is remorseful. It is an exposition of the absence of REAL God to the speaker. He
realizes that it wasn’t the REAL God who’s running his life but the speaker himself. He became the creator
of his own self not the real Creator. The stanza ended with the word “and” which means the speaker’s story
continues.

I, began, to, Die, and, I, began, to, Grow.

This line continues a regretful tone. The speaker ends the poem with an understanding that he started to be
mature when it is too late.

This poem is deliberated as a comma poem which they consider as very similar to pointillism in
painting. The excessive punctuation in the text may add sensationalism and artistry into it. This bizarre style
pushes the reader to pause after every word which slows down the pace and results to an unusual
movement or rhythm of the poem. The speaker can be considered as a sick old man reminiscing and
feeling the remaining moments of his life because of the slow pace of the poem. Villa used other
punctuations such as hyphen in “Wrath-Ful”; colon in “Tiger:”; exclamation point in “Creator!” to add strong
emotion to the poem. Moreover, at the end of the poem Villa used a dot in “Grow.” to signify the ending of
the poem.

Another interesting feature of the poem is the unwarranted use of analogies such as “die and
grow”; “wars and gold”; “dark and light”; “wrath and gentle”; and “rage and pure”… It can be established
that those analogies of the poem suggest that the speaker’s life has full of intricacies. The speaker may
have experienced the best and worst things. Furthermore, the varying length of the lines on each stanza
may also imply the turbulence of the speaker’s life. It is also noticeable that at the end of every stanza are
words such as “and”; “most”; and “then” that leave the poem hanging. Villa’s way of ending every stanza of
the poem suggests that, in the speaker’s life, he committed things to be ashamed of and to be worried
about but his life continued though. The last line emphasizes, however, the end of the speaker’s realization
of what he did in his life and of how late he did begin to grow.

Summarily, the poem is a depiction of the moments of repenting of a dying old man. He starts
remembering his youthful years when he still admired woman and money more than anything. The speaker
regrets that he did not live his life with the presence of God; thus he lived his life by his own way. He did
whatever he wanted to do. However, he ended up realizing that he lived his life imperfectly without the
presence of God and that it is too late for him to mature.

This poem of Villa helps the readers realize that people sometimes forget to ask and to consider
the presence of God in everything they do and they only ask and notice His presence whenever they are in
the worst times of their lives. Perhaps, this poem is a way to wake up people that they have to stop doing
things that are not good in the eyes of the Creator because when people will reach the denouement of their
lives they will realize that the only one who can be with them and who can help them is no one except God.

In addition, the poem can be considered as a modern text because the excessive use of comma,
ungrammatical structure of phrases, improper use of punctuations and capitalization, and the presence of
death and self-preservation instincts are showcase of experimentalism, antinomianism, and eroticism.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Garcia_Villa

http://www.oocities.org/alindahaw_poetry...try/poetry_poets_villa.htm

http://www.slideshare.net/bluejorj/close...eading-analysis-punctuatio