Sonnet I 

by Jose Garcia Villa

First, a poem must be magical,

Then musical as sea gull.

It must be a brightness moving

And hold secret a bird’s flowering

It must be slender as bell,

And it must hold fire as well.

It must have the wisdom of bow,

And it must kneel like a rose.

It must be able to hear

The luminance of dove and deer.

It must be able to hide

What it seeks like a bride.

And over all I would like to hover

God, smiling from the poem’s cover.

GROUP MEMBERS:

JE CHIN CASERO

JAMELA LOTINO

JUNE VILLANUEVA

LYKA REPEROGA

LAURENCE JOHN NOPR

Applying Formalism in Analyzing a Literary Text

You need to read the poem carefully to understand well what the message of the poem is and
not just read it but accompany it with feelings to feel what the meaning of the poem is. The
poem Sonnet I by Jose Garcia Villa is written in a stanza. A sonnet is a one stanza, 14-line
poem, written in iambic pentameter. 

First, a poem must be magical,

Then musical as sea gull. Simile
It must be a brightness moving
And hold secret a bird’s flowering Personification
It must be slender as bell, Simile
And it must hold fire as well.
It must have the wisdom of bow, Metaphor
And it must kneel like a rose. Metaphor
It must be able to hear
The luminance of dove and deer. Imagery
It must be able to hide
What it seeks like a bride. Simile
And over all I would like to hover
God, smiling from the poem’s cover.

Symbol:
Dove – peace
Bow – power/authority
Bell – beginnings and endings

Narrator: The Poet

Characters: The poet himself, God, and Poem
How the characters are revealed: First the narrator— the poet himself— describes what a
poem should be. He implies that a poem must have a spirit not just an arrangement of words.
That it must progress and be able to impart the message the poet wishes to share. All with
using different creatures and elements as a metaphor. In the end the poet mentions God smiling
from the poem’s cover suggesting that the poem turned out to be excellent even God was
pleased.
The following excerpt is an interview with the poet Jose Garcia Villa. In this interview, he is
asked to explain, you should find it very interesting to compare your interpretation of each of the
seven couplets to the poet’s personal interpretations. Note how the interview in the poet
expression. Particularly because poems are not explicitly stated the interviewer of one point,
admits. “I have always found the next lines difficult to comprehend’’ one of the most beautiful
ever written. The last line has masterfully dramatic effect. At the same time this couplet is to me
the most mystifying one in the poem.