The poem Lyric 17 by Jose Garcia Villa is about what qualities make poetry good.

The author in my opinion is trying to convey the right qualities that are required
in a poem to make it satisfactory. I think the poem feels passionate towards
poem writing as can be seen through how instead of merely writing an
instruction sheet on how to write a good poem, he instead writes a poem about
good poems. What more, the language he uses is fanciful and the metaphors and
rhyming couplets indicates the thought put behind his work.

In the poem, the term “musical as a seagull” may indicate that the poem should
be a rarity and something unheard of, a diamond in the rough, very much alike
how one has never heard of a musical seagull. The poem similarly should also be
fluent. Meanwhile, “brightness moving” may indicate how poems’ should not be
dark, it should be optimistic and pleasant and should not be constant, rather
captivating and intriguing one’s reader. The phrase “hold’s secret a bird’s
flowering” is a metaphor that indicates towards the hatching of a bird’s young
from an egg. This represents showing a new perspective to the reader and how
the poem should inspire its audience to think and not merely be able to find it’s
meaning from merely reading it. “Fire as well” represents wit and brain in a
poem that makes a poem interesting and not dull. “Slender as a bell” refers to
how bells have multiple sizes and alike how a poem’s size is not fixed and it all
depends on the maker’s choice. “Wisdom of bows” has multiple meanings such
as; firstly, the tradition of bowing, secondly, archery and lastly, ribbon tying. All
things that are in different areas and hold symbolisms such as bowing being a
form of respect, archery being a skill that can be used as a form of leisure or
someone’s livelihood and bows something for aesthetic purposes. These differing
forms of arts all indicate how wisdom is not merely restricted to a certain subject
and person. “Kneel like a rose” indicates humility in beauty and strength. While a
rose is beautiful, it has unseen strength in thorns and kneeling indicates
submission thus subsequently referring to humility. Meanwhile, “must be able to
hear” shows that the poem must be sensitive and be able to sense it’s reader
while guiding and appeal to it’s audience with more than visual imagery.
“Luminance of dove and deer” possible gives references to the how a deer
symbolizes gentleness and the dove purity. “Must be able to hide”, and “seeks
like a bride” brings attention how while the poems meaning should not be in
clear vision, it should not be completely obscured to the point it is lost. As well as
indicating that it should draw the audience attention like how the bride seeks
attention on special day. “Hover God smiling from the poem’s cover” shows that
the writer of the poem would be the “God of the poem and has free rule over the
poem instead of something obstructing his ability to create freely. Throughout
the poem, the word “must” is used eight times. This shows the writers
compulsion as to how strongly he feels that all writers should follow the
guidelines above in poem writing. In the poem, he also draws a lot of references
to nature; this possibly indicates that the writer thinks that good poems should
draw inspiration from nature.

The poem uses metaphors, rhyming couplets, the form of a sonnet while using 14
lines and naming the poem “lyric 17” alike how the famous poets of the past all
did not give names to their poems. The above literary uses all help draw
attention to the poem with the exception of the title, which is of little relevance
apart from the poem’s 14 lines form.

I do not think the poem’s title is appropriate as it hold no meaning and depth
apart from superficial purposes such as wanting to bring it’s standard closer to
authors such as Shakespeare. While it draws attention, it holds little or no
relevance for its audience.

I personally do not like the poem. This is because I feel that poem writing should
be about the free expression of emotions instead of following a guideline to make
it interesting. I also feel that poetry does not have to be musical to be beautiful
and that some poetry appeals to certain audience. Also, beauty lies in the eyes of
the beholder, so therefore it is nearly impossible to make a poem appeal to all its
audience. Therefore while the poem draws attention with all its unseen
meanings and rhyming, I feel that it is too restricting and does not encourage
freedom of speech so while it may appeal to certain reader’s it does not reach out
to me.

Q9. Classify questions 1 to 7 under the fist paradigm.

FORM -Q4,5
INTENTION -Q1,2,3,4,5,6,7
SENSE –Q4
TONE -Q2,4,5

Q10. The questions can come from and question any part of poetry.