REFLECTION PAPER ON THE TOPIC: I AM THE WORLD by ALEJADRO ABADILLA

by: Divine Grace Remollo Merina

Poem, as defined by Oxford, is a piece of writing that partakes of the nature of both speech and
song that is nearly always rhythmical, usually metaphorical. Poems in the Philippines used to be uniform in
terms of having such formal elements as meter, rhyme, and stanzaic structure. But Alejandro Abadilla went
the other way by writing the poem “Ako ang Daigdig” also known as “I am the World” which made him the
father of modern Philippine poetry.
According to Pedro Ricarte, Alejandro Abadilla's major breakthrough in Philippine poetry was when
he wrote the poem "Ako ang Daigdig" ("I Am the World") in 1955. Initially, poetry critics rejected the poem
since it does not follow the traditional poetry that uses rhyme and meter. In the poem, the repetition of the
words ako (I), daigdig (world) and tula (poem) leaves an impression that the poet, Abadilla, is not himself.
The speaker of the poem says that he himself, his world of poem and his poems are united as one
(Panitikan ng Pilipinas 1982). Pedro Ricarte pointed out that Abadilla challenged the established forms and
literature's "excessive romanticism and emphasis on rhyme and meter". Certainly Abadilla is not the
pioneer of unconventional type of literature, specifically in poem but he is the most notable person to ever
write in such form. Virgilio Allmario, in his formalist analysis in Taludtod at Talinghaga (1985), critically
discusses Abadilla's kind of deviation from Balagtasista ideology in terms of size and match, beginning with
the use of colloquial or market vocabulary. But there is no explanation for why such a strategy and tactics
of deviation are possible, which is why it was chosen over the alternatives offered by the opportunities
during his times.
Abadilla was born to an average Filipino family on March 10, 1906, in Salinas, Rosario, Cavite. He
finished elementary school at Sapa Barrio School, then continued for high school education in Cavite City.
After graduation, he went abroad and worked for a small printing shop in Seattle, Washington. Contrary to
the old colonial culture of the colonial Philippines, the technological commodities and industries of America
and Europe. Science and pragmatic perspectives are dominant. In addition to the severe crisis of financial
capitalism that saw the collapse of Wall Street in 1929, modern art (futurism, surrealism, cubism) exploded
in Europe and America: in 1922. Perhaps, in his interactions with intellectuals and colleagues in Seattle,
Abadilla has observed and internalized (if not memorized) these developments in the field of art and
science and its manifestations in everyday work and fashion.
The central idea of the poem lies on the poem itself. The word 'I' was present in every stanzas and
it was placed in every first lines. The poem begins with 'I' and ends up in 'I'. In the words of Addenbrooke
et.al., the poem is actually referring to itself alone by repeatedly emphasizing the word 'I'. It seems like the
poem is talking and shouting Hey! See me! yes, it is me, it’s me, the poem you're reading right now", "I am I
which is unending the which is undying the poem of the world'', I am a work of an art that lives forever.’’
Poetry is an example of an art. The theme of the poem was all about the immortality of work of an art. An
art that has a soul, body and mind, an art that has life.
The poem Ako ang Daigdig (I am the World) was unique in structure during the 50’s and it opened
a lot of doors of opportunities to other writers who ought to express their ideas in an unconventional way.
As how the poem goes: the poem, the word, and us (I) are one, even if we scramble these words and form
another context from it, it would still end up with the realization that those three words are forever entangled
with each other. Even in translating the poem, which is originally written in Filipino, the words differ from
one translation to another but the central idea of unity is still there. Personally, I see the poem as an eye
opener. Poem is indeed “I” (a person), because it immortalizes my thoughts, my soul, my essence as a
person from memories to imagination. Poem is indeed the world because it records the history and culture
of those who lives in it. The world and I (a person) are indeed a poem as both gave birth to literature. The
world, the poem, and I should be free, that’s why, I think, the poem “Ako ang Daigdig” was written in a non-
traditional way.

REFERENCES:
Almario, Virgilio. 1985. Taludtod at Talinghaga. MetroManila, Philippines: Aklat Balagtasyana.
Jose, Villa Panganiban; Consuelo Panganiban; Genoveva Matute (1982). "7". Panitikan ng Pilipinas (New ed.).
Quezon City: Bede's Publishing House. pp. 158–160.,.
https://www.lexico.com/definition/poem
http://www.panitikan.com.ph/authors/a/agabadilla.htm
https://www.zsablemanoli.wixsite.com/crithinkrtu2017/single-post/2017/10/12/Readers-Response-Death-of-the-
Author-Rise-of-the-Reader