REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

CITY COLLEGE OF NAGA

2F City Health Office Bldg., Naga City Hall Compound
J. Miranda Ave. Concepcion Pequeña, Naga City

English 4
Philippine Literature

MODULE 2, Lesson 2 & 3

Poetry and Diction

JOY P. CERUJALES
Instructor

LESSON 2: POETRY

- refers to those expressions in verse, with measure and rhyme, line and stanza
and has a more melodious tone.
- Comes from Latin term poema, - which means “something composed and
created”.
- A composition characterized by compact language in which the words are
well chosen for their sound and suggestive power as well as for their meaning.

Poetry is written in a special way. The words in poem are no different from the
words in normal conversation. They are the same words but they are used in different
way, the poetic way.

Anyone who loves beauty in any force is an artist, and, at heart, a poet. Beauty
in nature, in man, or in animals lies all around us continually call our attention. Beauty of
character, and deeds, of thought are wonderful things. But it is always possible to see
these things easily. Often our eyes see only physical things. Then the artist or the poet
come along and shows us how worthwhile life is.

In this lesson, you will be aided how to read and understand a poem. In this
particular lesson, you will learn about the Mangyan’s indigenous poem – the Ambahan.
 Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. Learn about the history and origin of the Ambahan

2. Understand Ambahan as an indigenous poem and as Hanunuo-Mangyan’s
contribution to our cultural heritage
3. Identify the focus of the poem
4. Characterize the persona in Ambahan
5. Identify the tone of the poem
6. Express creatively the message of the text
7. Read the poem with proper pronunciation and phrasing

The Discovery of Ambahan

When Antoon Postma, a Dutch anthropologist, linguist and former missionary priest
from the Society of the Divine Word, was assigned to the island of Mindoro, Philippines,
in 1958, he met the Mangyans a year later; fell in love with their culture, and began
researching and writing about them. Three decades later he left the priesthood to
marry Yam-ay Insik, a Hanunuo Mangyan.

The Surat Mangyan and its importance in preserving the Ambahan:

The Buhid and Hanunuo Mangyan syllabic scripts are two variations of a script
called Surat Mangyan. These survived because these two different Mangyan groups -
with two different languages and cultures - used these to engrave their poems on
bamboos. Thus, apart from Postma’s extensive study on the Surat Mangyan, he also
collected over 20,000 ambahans which are now digitized, transcribed and stored at the
Mangyan Heritage Center’s library. He also compiled the ambahan vocabulary that
serves as a valuable reference in learning the archaic language of the poetry which
has many words not used in daily conversation.

What is Ambahan

The ambahan is a literary product and poetic expression of the Southern Mangyans
of Mindoro, Philippines, popularized by being copied on any piece of bamboo, such as
the container for tobacco or apog (lime), the scabbard or sheath of a bolo, a violin or
guitar, and even on the bamboo beams of a house. When a Mangyan discovers a nice
ambahan, he uses his knife to engrave it on bamboo, in the age-old Indic-derived
script.

Like all poetry, the ambahan is an expression of an idea or feeling in a beautiful and
harmonious language. Unlike other forms of poetry, however, the ambahan is not
poetry for its own sake or for the poet's satisfaction. The ambahan is primarily a poem of
social character; it finds its true existence in society. It is created by the Mangyans to
serve practical purposes within the community. It is used by the parents in educating
their children, by young people in courting each other, by a visitor in asking for
food and by a relative bidding goodbye or farewell.

Postma defined AMBAHAN as:

1. a set of poetic expressions

2. with a measured rhyme of seven-syllable lines

3. having rhyming end syllables

4. vocalized as a chant without a determined melody or too much melodic

variation

5. without the accompaniment of musical instruments

6. recited for the purpose of verbalizing in a metaphorical way certain human

situations or characteristics

7. with the possible challenge of matching answer in dialogue fashion, and

8. in the presence of an interested audience of various size.

As a poem, the ambahan contains 2 to over 100 lines, with each line having 7-
syllables ending in rhyme, containing vivid symbols taken from the Mangyans’
experiential knowledge of plants, animals, nature and man. The metaphor’s purpose is
to reveal something - often deep experiences - to symbolize inner, rich reality. It portrays
the Mangyans’ values of family, relationships, trust in nature, respect for others, and so
forth. Furthermore, the composer of the ambahan will not sign his name because
poetic expression is what’s important, not the author.

Below is an example of Ambahan that speaks about childhood experience. In this

ambahan, the sweet memories of a child in the loving care of his parents are cherished.
 Ako kay bi no naw-an
Una kaybi dilihan
Pagbabawon sa pupwan
Pag uyayihon sud-an
Duyon yi bag-o namhan
Suyong nog paranukan
Sigin uyayi say-an
Babaw di alimahan
Padig balon linyawan
Ak way mamaslakayan
Sa uyayi rinikman
Agod mahimanmanan
Kang maglinyawan banban
Tawo taga baybayan
Tawo tupo dangyahan
Siyon bay madi ginan
Umuman sayan aban
Tinagsik ti baakan
Paghimanglawon yi man
Activity 1-3
Read Activity 1 uploaded in Google Classroom and find out how an unborn and
lifeless child laments towards his parents, then do Activities 2 & 3 as well.
That time, when I was still young,
( I was just a baby still)
when I sat on mother’s lap,
when she rocked me in a crib,
in a cradle newly made.
Mommy lulling me asleep,
did not leave me in a crib.,
in her arms she cradled me.
Oh, how sweet these memories!
wish I could climb once again
in the cradle lovely made!
So I could be showing off
how I grew so beautifully!
You, the people from the shore,
people from the mountains too,
could you just come here this way!
Visit me just once a gain,
the unfolding, blooming tree!
I’ll recall this all my life.
Activity 4

Some think that poems are hard to understand. That’s probably because they
simply dislike reading poetry, or they have not really tried to understand poems. There
are poems for all ages – for young boys and girls and for older people.

When we study a poem, we should consider what the poet is trying to say and
how he says it. Poetry, like art, is communication. The poet has something to tell and he
tries to do this as effectively as he can. If some persons are hard to understand, it is
probably because what the poet is trying to say is inherently difficult, or he has
mastered his medium, or he might be experimenting a style.

The first thing to consider in a poem is focus. Poems usually focus on experience.
It broadens our experience like civil rights movement, women empowerment, etc. It
also deepens experience and understanding of those involved. Poems also focus on
ordinary into an extraordinary way. The ordinary experience of “picking apples”, can
be transformed into extraordinary events. Likewise, poets can transform powerful events
like death or injustice and use sensory description that makes us see, hear, feel, taste, or
smell, the time and place. Sensory languages enable us to correlate the poem and the
experience.

Another thing to consider in a poem is the subject matter. Find out what the
writer wants to discuss in his poem. To get the meaning of the poem, you have to
understand every word in it. Remember that a poem has two levels of meaning – the
literal and the figurative or symbolic level. The literal meaning is the exact meaning of
what the speaker or writer wants to say or they may convey a meaning quite different
from what he says or writes (figurative language).

Consider this:

Read the sentences below and compare how the same ideas can be expressed
literally or figuratively:

1. Nancy walks very slowly. (literal)

2. Nancy walks like a snail. (Figurative: Nancy’s walk is compared to the movement
of a snail. This is simile.)

For maximum effect, a poem should be read imaginatively and compared with your
personal experiences. Even the shortest poem may reveal ideas which, like good music,
will echo in the reader’s mind and heart long after the lines have been read.

A poem usually presents everyday ideals. You have to read it closely to distinguish
the qualities it tells us to cultivate and the qualities to avoid.
 It is also very important to identify the persona when we read a poem. The
persona refers to the poet himself who feels, acts and thinks in the poem but it does
not mean she or he is in the same state of life at present.

Tone in literature may be defined as the writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward the
subject, the audience, or toward herself/himself. Almost all the elements of poetry
go into indicating its tone.

Activity 5

Read the poem “Quietness” by Amador T. Daguio and answer Activity 6.

LESSON 3: DICTION

Poetry is the most condensed and concentrated form of literature. A poet says
most in the fewest number of words. Hence, when you read a poem, you do it more
that once, keep a dictionary handy and use it in order to understand how the poet
describes his experience in words. The poet often uses words that imply several
meanings.

In this lesson, you will find out the importance of distinguishing the denotation
and connotation of a word used by the poet.

Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. Identify the meaning of the word in context

2. Associate the connotative meaning of some words to your experiences
3. Express the value suggested by the poem
4. Identify the images found in the poem
5. Paraphrase the poem

Activity 1

Read the poem below, then do the comprehension check:

A FARMER PAUSING TO DELIVER A SERMON

By Amador T. Daguio

What is the courage! Ask the man,

The wounded fights the better stil
Mabini fought though lame and wan,
Del Pilar wrote, dying on a hill.

Rizal said: Shoot me in the face.

Luna ordered: We shall all fight!
When Bonifacio led his race,
Insurrectos fell at night.

Peace is yours, but you are weak,

Some would drive us from our homes,
And money talks to those you speak,
 You dare not touch the lowly loam.

You dare not speak, oppose or work

You are a lamb, close to the fold,
What duties you should do you shir.
You blindly do what you are told.

What is courage? Asked the man,

To mind my farm, to plant my seeds;
And do no wrong as those who plan
Then justify with words their deeds.

To make our native land again

A land of heroes born in hope,
A land not surely free from pain
But where no able man must grope.

He spat and urged his carabao,

His plow sank deep into the sod’
He left me with farewell bow,
He looked as if he spoke from God.

Activity 2

Do Activity 2. Refer to attached file in Google Classroom

References

Mangyan Heritage Center. Mangyan.org. November 2016.

http://mangyan.org/content/origin-ambahan. Retrieved 13 September 2020

Philippine Literature: Beyond Forgetting

Pateros, MM: Grandbooks Publishing, Inc., 2015. pp. 4-12