Kate D.

Macalingay
Survey of Philippine Literature 10:30-12:00NN,104,TTh

“MANY VOICES”
-By Jose Garcia Villa
First, a poem must be magical
Then musical as a seagull.
It must be a brightness moving
And hold secret a bird’s flowering.
It must be slender as a bell
And it must hold fire as well.
It must have the wisdom of bows
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.

POETRY ANALYSIS:

FORM
Stanza: There is one stanza in this poem, it is composed of 14 lines.
Meter: tetrameter
First, a/ poem must/ be ma/gical
Then mu/sical/ as a/ seagull.
Rhyme
Rhyme scheme
The rhyme scheme followed by the entire poem is “a-a-b-b-c-c-d-d-e-e-f-f-g-g”
End rhyme:
End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious such as:
“magical / seagull”; “moving / flowering”; “bell / well”; “bows / rose”;
“hear / deer”; “hide / bride”; and “hover / cover”.
Language
Literary/Figurative Devices
Alliteration:
First, a poem must be magical
It must be a brightness moving
It must be slender as a bell
The luminance of dove and deer.
Simile:
First, a poem must be magical
Then musical as a seagull

It must be slender as a bell

And it must kneel like a rose.
Personification:
And it must kneel like a rose.
And hold secret a bird’s flowering
Kate D. Macalingay
Survey of Philippine Literature 10:30-12:00NN,104,TTh

It must be able to hear

It must be able to hide.
And over all I would like to hover
Diction: The author used describing words to describe a poem. He also used words such as “must” to
say that a poem should have the characteristics he wrote in the poem.
First, a poem must be magical
Then musical as a seagull.
It must be a brightness moving
And hold secret a bird’s flowering.
Speaker/persona: The speaker in the is the writer who describes the features of a poem.
Theme: The main idea is about the characteristics and features of a poem.
Imagery: The poem used auditory and visual imagery.
It must be able to hear – auditory
The luminance of dove and deer.- visual
Subject: The subject in the poem is about a “poem” which the author describes by saying what it should
have in order to be a poem which can make God smile.