SORIANO, SOPHIA VERONICA D.

HUM100-V
SEPTEMBER 04, 2019

A. THE COCKROACH
Halligan’s poem, as its title suggests, is about a certain cockroach. The speaker in the
poem can be a person who is observing in the same room with the cockroach being subjected. It
is a detailed series of actions exhibited by the cockroach. Halligan referred to the cockroach as
someone, rather something; using the personal pronoun “he” in reference to the subject and
describing its actions as something that humans do (skirting, jog)–forming an identity of the
cockroach. There is a certain way in which the author has successfully depicted the image of the
scenario by using certain and descriptive words, in a perspicuous manner. Pattern was also
evident in the poem, words that rhyme repeatedly. There is also a meter. At first, it is odd to
dramatize a cockroach moving across the room. However, just like a picture, Halligan’s work can
be viewed in two lenses: literally and poetically. Personally, the last 5 lines had hit the most. That
it is no longer just talking about a cockroach. That it also reflects human nature. The movement
displayed by the cockroach can signify the life of a human. The journey of pacing, and suddenly
having hurdles to overcome with, then coming to a point where it is already tiring and “too much”,
having a break, and finally being lost in vision of uncertainty. The whole poem appears to take
place just in the mind of the narrator, a scenario that the inner voice is speaking rather hearing
the actual voice.

B. A EULOGY OF ROACHES
A Eulogy of Roaches is also subjected in cockroaches. It has no pattern, but it has meter
that follows through. For every stanza, the manner Lumbera has used in describing, is first telling
what the “cockroaches” are not, cannot, do not–in explaining what they really are. There is always
contradiction present in every stanza. Lumbera also referred the subject as someone, not
something– creating a persona out of cockroaches. Each stanza displays a different topic. The
words used were simple and easy to understand, resulting to getting the message for each stanza
with no difficulty. At first, it will only be a thought that Lumbera is just using a strategy of imagery
to create an identity for the cockroaches by the means of personification. However, as the poem
flows, something will be an affirmation that it is indeed talking about a human, and the cockroach
is the one that is a symbolism. To think deeply about someone being compared to a cockroach;
cockroach lives in the dirt, commonly seen in streets, and majority is a common denominator
among cities. It can be about the less fortunate. Also lives in the dirt, commonly seen in streets,
and is present in majority of the cities across the globe. The first stanza is about how they do not
take competition among themselves. Second, most of them rummage in the garbage of restaurant
chains just to fill in their rumbling belly. Third, they do not take material things like the upper class
do, into their hearts. Fourth, they do not have their own places since they live on the streets. Fifth,
since they did not have equal opportunities to receive in the first place, they must work hard just
to survive. Sixth, they are very fragile and prone to hazards that one can eventually cause them
death easily. Their life might lean to just a short while, but they are still prevalent in the cities. The
less fortunate are indeed the strongest for bearing to survive, the wise to think of ways to manage
life, and the dead who wished they could have lived more, in a better way.

Both of poems have used cockroach as a metaphor for a person. This might be due to the
fact that cockroaches are many, some are seen in the streets; others are also seen inside the
household. Halligan and Lumbera used simple words to depict imagery. However, Halligan used
first person while Lumbera used third person throughout their poems. The first poem is like a
story, it has a plot. The idea it pertains to is only one. On the other hand, the second poem has
an overall idea, but each stanza portrays a different concept that contributes to the idea that wraps
the whole poem together. Use of metaphor is more shown in Lumbera’s work. Both has
successfully created a work that tackles beyond what is stated; amusingly even with the use of
cockroach as a subject they worked on.