SUMMARY

At first reading of Edith L. Tiempo’s signature poem is a tad confounding, for the first
lady of Philippine poetry in English deploys the centripetal (or inward – outward – inward)
motion in expressing her profoundest thoughts and deepest feelings about love. The title itself
“BONSAI “is a bit misleading, since nowhere else in the poem are there any further references to
plant life or the ancient Japanese technique of cultivating miniature trees or shrubs through
dwarfing by selective fruning.
However, despite the false lead, even a cursory perusal of the poem reveals to the
sensitive and sensible reader the “BONSAI ‘’ is about love, if only the four-letter word is
mentioned in all four stanzas. In the first stanzas, the persona declare that she folds everything
the she loves and keeps them hidden in secret places: A box, / or a slit in a hollow post, / or in
my shoe, what then are the things she considers imperative enough to keep?
If we are to assume that the speaking voice of ‘’ BONSAI ‘’ closely resembles the poets
own, then the first three objects must represent members of her immediate family: son maldon;
husband Edilberto . The referents of the the last two items are more covert and thereby more
difficult to decipher. At best, we can only speculate on the persons and / or events that make the
two things significant: Blue Indian shawl (Edith’s engagement date with Edilberto, her first
winter in lowa, her last autumn in Denver), Money bill (her initial salary from Silliman
university, cash prize from the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for literateture) .
In the third stanza, the persona explains the rationate behind her action:
It’s utter sublimation
A feat, this hearts control
Moment to moment
To scale all love down
To a cupped hand size,
The keyword here is sublimation, which in psychology is the deflection of sexual energy or
other ataristic biological impulse from its immediate goal to one of a higher social, moral or
aesthetic nature or use. In the chemistry, on the other hand, sublimation is the process of
transforming a solid substance by heat into vapor. For love like unmentionable Hebrew name of
the almighty is also a Tetragammaton.
a four-letter word, which has probably engendered the often – quoted that “God is love, and
Love is God” structurally speaking, her most famous poem can thus be diagrammed in this
manner:

TREE / SHRUB = BONSAI

LOVE = SON’S NOTE, DAD’S ONE GAUDY TIE, etc
GOD = SEASHELLS
MAN / WOMAN = MEREST CHILD
 BONSAI
(EDITH TIEMPO)
THAT I LOVE ALL
I FOLD OVER ONCE
AND ONCE AGAIN
AND KEEP IN A BOX
OR A SLIT IN A HALLOW POST
OR IN MY SHOE.

ALL THAT I LOVE?

WHY, YES, BUT FOR THE MOMENT?
AND FOR ALL TIME, BOTH.
SOMETHING THAT FOLDS AND KEEP EASY,
SON’S NOTE OR DAD’S GAUDY TIE,
A ROTO PICTURE OF A YOUNG QUEEN,
A BLUE INDIAN SHAWL, EVEN
A MONEY BILL.

IT’S UTTER SUBLIMATION

A FEAT, THIS HEART’S CONTROL
MOMENT TO MOMENT
TO SCALE ALL LOVE DOWN
TO A CUPPED HAND SIZE,

TILL SEASHELL ARE BROKEN PIECES

FROM GOD’S OWN BRIGHT TEETH,
AND LIFE AND LOVE ARE REAL
THINGS YOU CAN RUN AND
BREATHELESS HAND OVER
TO THE MEREST CHILD.

ANALYSIS:
 When love is great, when love is profound, it becomes more difficult to
control. And in the hands of people who are unable to control it, love overwhelms
the person. This is the destructive nature of love which is why the award-winning
poet Edith Tiempo, in her poem BONSAI, scaled down love into a “cupped hand
size “

The first stanza of the poem said that everything she loves can be fold or kept
in a box even put in a hollow post or in a shoe. It obviously presents that small
things can be kept easily, even in a complicated kind of area.

Then there came the question in the next line that said, “ALL THAT I
LOVE?”, assured with the lines “WHY, YES, BUT FOR THE MOMENT-/ AND
FOR ALL TIME, BOTH”. The two lines are an oxymoron for love can be both
temporal and eternal. It was like saying often “one remembers a lover but there are
times when he does not”. The second stanza talks about the things that can be keep
in an easy way. She folds it in a moment and for all the moment. The author is
really fond of keeping all things in a smaller form.

The third stanza provides the great feeling having a hand size thing.
It creates a total sublimation for the moment as you cupped a hand size thing. It
gives a comfort feeling presented by the admiration of the authors heart.

“AND LIFE AND LOVE ARE REAL’’ was seen by the fourth stanza,
symbolizes that life and love was existing. Especially to the things that can be kept
hand size and gives a breathless kind of feeling to people who love such things and
even small things can have.

In the line, “TILL SEASHELLS ARE BROKEN PIECES” the mystery

of how something so vast such as the ocean can be heard from something so small
such as a seashell. It is the same with love, that something so vast and huge can be
contained in a small thing is a mystery.

The essence of the poem is that love is simplified and reduced so one
can hold it in one hand and pass it on to another.

QUESTIONS;
1.WHY IS IT ENTITLED BONSAI?
2.WHO IS/WAS THE PERSONA OF THE POEM?
3.IN THE FIRST STANZA, THE PERSONA DECLARES THAT SHE FOLDS
EVERYTHING THAT SHE LOVES AND KEEP THEM HIDDEN, IN
WHAT/WHERE DID THOSE SECRET PLACES?
4.IN THE SECOND STANZA, WHAT DOES “A BLUE INDIAN AND THE
MONEY BILL REPRESENTS?
5.IN THE THIRD STANZA, THE PERSONA EXPLAINS THE RATIONATE
BEHIND HER ACTION:
IT’S UTTER SUBLIMATION
A FEAT, THIS HEARTS CONTROL
MOMENT TO MOMENT
TO SCALE ALL LOVE DOWN
TO A CUPPED HAND SIZE,

THE KEYWORD HERE IS SUBLIMATION, WHICH IN PSYCHOLOGY

MEANS? AND IN CHEMISTRY, ON THE OTHER HAND MEANS?

6. IN THE SECOND STANZA, IT IS ASSURED WITH THE LINES.” WHY,

YES, BUT FOR THE MOMENT, / AND FOR ALL TIME, BOTH?”
WAS IT LIKE SAYING: “OFTEN ONE REMEMBERS A LOVER BUT THERE
ARE TIMES WHEN HE DOES NOT.”
DO YOU AGREE ABOUT THIS SAYING? WHY OR WHY NOT?
7.IN THE LINE, “TILL SEASHELLS ARE BROKEN PIECES “IT HAS A THE
SAME WITH LOVE, WHAT IS IT?
8. “AND LIFE AND LOVE ARE REAL” CAN BE SEEN IN THE FOURTH
STANZA, WHAT DOES IT SYMBOLIZES?
9.WHAT DOES THE “SON’S NOTE OR DAD’S ONE GAUDY TIE”
SYMBOLIZES?
10.WHAT WAS THE ESSENCE OF THE POEM?