MAPPING OUR POETIC TERRAIN: FILIPINO POETRY IN ENGLISH
FROM 1905 TO THE PRESENT
INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS PHILIPPINE LITERATURE IN ENGLISH?
Philippine Literature in English refers to literary works written by Filipinos in the English
language. It encompasses a diverse range of genres, including poetry, fiction, drama, and
essays, reflecting the cultural and historical experiences of the Philippines. This body of
literature emerged during the American colonial period and has continued to evolve,
contributing to the country’s rich literary tradition.
THREE STAGES:
1. Period of Apprenticeship
– During the Apprenticeship, Filipinos were still “newbies” or learners of the
English language. Filipinos only knows two languages before the American
came, Filipino and Spanish. They taught by the Thomasites in free public
education.
– This period divided into two: the Period of Re-orientation where Filipinos
reintroduce to a new language and Period of Imitation where they learned
by copying Americans.
2. Period of Emergence or Growth
– Filipinos were describe to be the “experts” in speaking and writing in English.
This period can also be called as Period of Self- discovery and Growth for
Filipinos writers experimented on their styles of writing.
– For Filipino journalists or writers are confident and competent in different
genres of literature. They explored into the difficult genres such as novels
and dramas.
3. Period of Maturity
– Philippine writers received a large amount of knowledge in poetry, fiction ,
drama and essay. Filipino writers mastered English and familiarize
themselves with diverse techniques.
– Literary “ giants” appeared.
In 1957, Fr. Miguel A Bernard, S.J, thought that Philippine Literature was “perpetually
inchoate”, why?
• First, the writers couldn’t earn a living from their writing;
• Second, we were torn by several languages or had not mastered English well enough;
• Third, we were actually confused or had not fostered enough our own hybrid culture.
THE ROMANTIC SPIRIT:
From Fernando M. Maramág to Jose Garcia Villa
•This period lies in celebrating individualism, emotion, and the awe-inspiring aspects of
nature. It’s a rebellion against strict rules, favoring creativity, imagination and the
exploration of profound feelings.
• Poets embraced free verse and experimented with new forms to better convey raw emotion
and individual experiences.
 From The Filipino Student’s Magazine (1905) to Jose Garcia Villa’s ‘Have Come, Am
Here, the creative struggle was with both the new language, English, and the poet’s
subject i.e., the native or Filipino matter that is to be expressed in that language.
 What “native or Filipino matter”, what humanity as Filipino, is simply inexpressible,
but precisely that is the occupation of the poetry, its depth and compass, what
American poet Wallace Steven calls “Musing the Obscure”.
 For the poet, the language comes alive, be it English or Tagalog, not from the words
that are already there, and their meanings in daily use, but from their tillage or
furrows,the particular uses to which they are put by which our sense of our own
reality is achieved.
 Our first important poet was Fernando M. Maramag. He wrote “Moonlight in Manila
Bay” (1912) which become his ironic edge.
In 1941, Filipino Romantic poetry had come into full power of Jose Garcia Villa, Luis G. Dato,
Angela Manalang-Gloria, and Trinidad 1. Tarrosa-Subido, even as our poets in Spanish
before the Americans came had already transformed both the sensibility and idiom of the
Spanish Romantic spirit into a vehicle for the expression of our own thought and feeling, not
borrowed nor even adopted, but forged from our own depth in our own native clearing.
• If we compare Maramag’s “Moonlight on Manila Bay” with Dato’s “Malolos” (1939), we might
see how our poets’ tillage of the new language and its poetic tradition provoked a newfound
sense of their own “scene so fair”:
• In 1924 Rodolfo Datos a Filipino poetry. It may be said that in our early verses, such as
those in our first anthology both language and subject were borrowed, almost as though we
had no thought nor feeling of our own.
• In 1938 Dato’s rendition of what is probably a Bikol saying, which he called “Spinster”
(1938). And in 1939 he called it “Malolos”.
• In 1939, Salvador P. Lopez and Arturo Rotor had charged, that the poets were besotted with
roses and sunsets.
• Jose Garcia Villa is known for breaking the taboo on explicit sex, passion, and
homosexuality in our fiction and poetry.
 ✓Examples of his works includes "Man-Songs" (1929), and story "Wings and Blue
Flame" (1938).
• Tarrosa-Subido had such a romantic verses from "Subterfuge" (1937), and "Love Is My
Need" (1945). "Subterfuge" suggest a desire for a love that is not restricted by societal norms
or other obstacles. While "Love Is My Need" seems to express a sentiment where love is
portrayed as a source of inspiration for poetry, rather than a fulfillment of womanhood.
• The flood is the first poem in English by Ponciano Reyes, published in the Filipino Students
Magazine in April 1905 in Berkeley, California.
• Zulueta's Like The Molave and Villa's poems by Doveglion 1941, mark the end of the
Romantic phase in our poetry, With Like The Molave.
THE FORMALISTIC STRAIN:
From Edith L. Tiempo to Cirilo F. Bautista
• This period emphasizing structure, technique, and aesthetics. It places significant
importance on how a work of art is crafted, often prioritizing these formal elements over the
content or meaning. In short, moving away the context and just focuses on the text itself.
•The evolution of Filipino poetry:
-from the 1950s to the 1960s, tracing the shift from romanticism to modernism. Poets like
Fidel de Castro and Amador T. Daguio demonstrated notable control over language and
explored themes of suffering and societal struggles.
•The influence of American New Criticism:
-prioritizing formal perfection and metaphorical language, shaped Filipino poets’ sensibilities.
Works by Maramág and Angeles:
- Illustrate the transformation of language and sensibility, reflecting creative responses
to societal contexts. Despite differing expressions, both poets offer profound insights
into Filipino identity and history, showcasing the richness of Filipino poetry during this
era.
The evolution of poetic styles since the ‘50s emphasizes individuality, as poets like Nick
Joaquin, Bienvenido N. Santos, Edith L. Tiempo, and Cirilo E Bautista undergo
metamorphosis in idiom and subject matter.
•Nick Joaquin’s poetic idiom is Romantic yet modern, rooted in historical consciousness and
Catholicism, with a connection to his native ground. He was particularly influenced by
American New Critics. His literary piece are Prose & Poems (1952) and Collected Verse
(1987)
• Bienvenido N. Santos’ poetry in “The Wounded Stag” serves as a poetic landmark,
addressing colonial subjects, war victims, and the oppressed with pathos and restraint.
• Edith L. Tiempo, considered the finest poet in the New Critical tradition, acknowledges her
kinship with English Romantic poets and emphasizes the importance of women writers in this
tradition. She asserts that women writers inherently align with Romanticism. His works are
The Track of Babylon (1966) and The Charmers Box ( 1993)
• The Romantic spirit/ Romanticism, was all about valuing individual genius and the pursuit of
Truth and Beauty, and it must find inspiration in both inner impulses and the external world.
• New Criticism’s emphasis on rhetorical skill can lead to polished language that might distort
meaning, but it also acknowledges the potential for linguistic breakdown to signal a new
poetic transformation.
A number of poets would seem to show how, since the New Criticism put a premium on the
poet’s rhetorical legerity, language could be so polished or reworked as to disfigure it but also
how, at the same time, a poetic break-up of linguistic usage, or even a breakdown of sense,
might perhaps presage a new poetic transformation.
• Ricaredo Demetillo’s No Certain Weather (1956) is a powerful work that critiques the moral
hypocrisy and sensuality of the bourgeois while invoking against greed and corruption.
However, after La Via: A Spiritual Journey (1958), he seems to have exhausted his moral and
religious themes. His later works, such as Masks and Signature (1968), The Scare-Crow
Christ (1973), The City and the Thread of Light (1974), and Lazarus, Troubadour (1974),
seem to be more straightforward.
• Dominador I. Ilio and Manuel A. Viray, both poets, have a remarkable first collection of
verse, but their later verses suffer from a poetic breakdown. Ilio finds a new mode in poems
like “Prokosch in Tehran” and “Hakim Popolzai on the Road to the Hindu Kush,” but later
reverts to prose and Romantic diction in Madiaas: Tales and Legends.
• Viray’s After This Exile explores themes of sex, aging, disease, sin, and corruption, with a
central motif of oppressed “flesh.” The next three collections, When Blood with Light Collides,
Morning Song, and The Automatic Glass Door, show disintegration of language and
sensibility, with the poet’ this large abstractions whirring through the text.
• Alejandrino G. Hufana’s poetry exemplifies a break from New Criticism, showcasing a
distinctive breakup of sense and imagery. An illustrative instance is found in his verse
introduction to the “13 Kalisud” in “Sickle Season” (1959).
THE OPEN CLEARING: FROM THE ‘70s TO THE PRESENT
By this time, 1970s to the present, we are almost reaching a century of using English. So in
some way, we already had the mastery on the language.
This are the following changes occurred in the 1970s:
• New ways would be found of forging the work called “poem”.
–Learning a skill that came from imitation then at the end became origination.
•The poets needed to free themselves from “ New Criticism”.
Varieties of Different Types of Poetry and its Subtypes
–Moving away from the obsession with rhetoric ( Figure of speech, ambiguity).
–Rejection of the view that the poem is autonomous. As a result, the language and 1. DRAMATIC POETRY
rhythm are more relaxed and more conversational. - It is a type of poetry that is meant to be read or performed aloud in front of an
audience and requires some amount of acting.
Ex. Brave Woman by Grace R. Monte de Ramos

• Our poetry from the 1970s to the present is marked by a heightened consciousness of Types of Dramatic Poetry
language.
● Dramatic monologue
EXAMPLES BY EDITH L. TIEMPO
- It involves a single speaker on stage, and while the speaker may be talking directly to
“Lament for the Littlest Fellow” (1950) another person, we will never directly encounter them during the dramatic
monologue.
–The poem is divided into two stanzas, each with varying line lengths. This irregular structure Example: Tungkol sa pag-ibig ni Juan by Jose Corazon de Jesus
contributes to the poem’s sense of confusion and unpredictability. The line breaks are used
strategically to create pauses and shifts in the poem’s rhythm, further enhancing its ● Soliloquy
incoherent and inconsistent nature. The poem does not follow a traditional rhyme scheme, - A character speaks aloud to themselves about what is going through their mind.
which adds to its sense of incoherence and inconsistency. This lack of rhyme contributes to Example: Rain by Danton Remoton
the poem’s overall sense of unpredictability and confusion.
● Character sketch
"Bonsai" (1972) - The writer gives us a few important details about a character so that we can form an
–The poem consists of three stanzas. Each stanza explores the concept of preserving and image of them.
containing love in various forms. The poem has a free verse structure, lacking a strict rhyme Example: Brave Woman by Grace R. Monte de Ramos
scheme or meter, allowing for a more natural and reflective tone. The lines are concise,
contributing to the contemplative nature of the poem, and the repetition of folding emphasizes ● Dialogue
the act of preserving cherished memories or objects. The poet uses vivid imagery, such as - It is when two or more people speak to each other.
“seashells are broken pieces from God’s own bright teeth,” to convey the fragility and Example: On the Eve of the Execution by JAIME AN LIM
preciousness of life and love.
2. LYRICAL POETRY
- It consists of a short poem that often has musical qualities and conveys the writer’s
personal emotions.
- It explores a wide range of themes, including love, nature, spirituality, beauty, loss,
I. WHAT IS POETRY? longing, and personal growth.
Poetry is a type of literature that conveys a thought, describes a scene, or tells a story in a Example: Sa Ugoy ng Duyan" by Levi Celerio
concentrated, lyrical arrangement of words. Poems can be structured, with rhyming lines
and meter, the rhythm and emphasis of a line based on syllabic beats. Poems can also be SUBTYPES OF POETRY
freeform, which follows no formal structure.
The basic building block of a poem is a verse known as a stanza. A stanza is a grouping of ● Ode
lines related to the same thought or topic, similar to a paragraph in prose. A stanza can be - A type of lyrical poem that celebrates or honors a person, object, or idea. It expresses
subdivided based on the number of lines it contains. For example, a couplet is a stanza with a strong feeling of admiration or praise towards the subject of the poem
two lines. Example: To My Native Land by Trinidad L. Tarrosa-Sabido

Poetry is visibly unique on the page: a narrow column of words with recurring breaks between ● Elegy
stanzas. Lines of a poem may be indented or lengthened with extra spacing between words. - A lyric poem which expresses feelings of grief and melancholy. The theme is death.
The white space that frames a poem is an aesthetic guide for how a poem is read. Example: The Lover's Death by Ricaredo Demetillo
 1. Line: A line is a single row of words in a poem. A line does not have to be a full
● Limerick sentence. There can be any number of lines in a poem, and they do not all need to
- A limerick is a five-line poem that consists of a single stanza, an AABBA rhyme be the same length.
scheme, and whose subject is a short, pithy tale or description.
Example: Hickory Dickory Dock by : Mother Goose 2. Line break: A line break occurs at the end of a poetic line, indicating where the
reader must visually move to the start of the next line. Line breaks may split a
● Villanelle sentence or idea into multiple sections to change the way a poet’s words occupy
- A villanelle is a poem that is nineteen lines long and is made up of five tercets (three- visual space on the page. Another purpose of the line break is to cause the reader to
line stanzas) and a quatrain (four-line stanza). It follows an ABA ABA ABA ABA ABA briefly pause before moving to the next line.
ABAA rhyme scheme and is 19 lines in total.
Example: Do not go gentle into that good night 3. Stanza: A group of lines in a poem is called a stanza. Stanzas visually group a poet’s
by: Dylan Thomas ideas together. Stanzas are similar to paragraphs in traditional writing.

● Free Verse There are not many rules when it comes to stanzas in poetry. A poem can have any number
- A poetry that doesn't use any strict meter or rhyme scheme. of stanzas, and each stanza can consist of any number of lines. The stanzas within a single
Example: Rain by Danton Remoto. poem can be all the same length or many different lengths.

● Blank Verse Stanza Types:

- A poetry with a strict meter but no rhyme scheme. a. Monostich: Single-line poem or stanza
Example: The Land of Mai by Luis G.Dato b. Couplet: Two-lines poem or stanza
c. Tercet: Three-lines poem or stanza
● Haiku d. Quatrain: Four-lines poem or stanza
- A short unrhymed Japanese poetic form that consists of 5, 7, and 5 syllables. e. Quintain: Five-lines poem or stanza
Example: Tutubi by Gonzalo K. Flores f. Sestet: Six-lines poem or stanza
g. Septet: Seven-lines poem or stanza
3. NARRATIVE POETRY h. Octave: Eight-lines poem or stanza
This form describes important events in Life either real or imaginary.
The different varieties are the following: 4. Stanza break: The blank line between stanzas is called a stanza break. This extra
space separates one stanza from another.
● Epic
- This is an extended narrative shout heroic. exploits often under supernatural control 5. Form: The artistic decision-making process that determines the specific rhyme
Example: ALIGUYON translated in THE HARVEST SONG OF English by Amador T. Daguio scheme, meter, and stanza arrangement. It can be restrictive or free-flowing,
depending on your desired effect. Experimenting with form helps poets find their
● Metrical Tale voice and shape the meaning they want to convey.
- This is a narrative which is written in verse and can be classified either as a ballad or
a metrical romance III. SOUND DEVICES
Example: BAYANING BUKID by Al Perez HERO OF THE FIELDS by Al Perez
1. Rhyme Scheme
● Ballads There are many different types of rhymes that poets use in their work: internal rhymes, slant
- Of the narrative poems, this is considered the shortest and simplest. & has a simple rhymes, eye rhymes, identical rhymes, and more. One of the most common ways to write a
structure and tells of a single incident. rhyming poem is to use a rhyme scheme composed of shared vowel sounds or consonants.
Example: FOREVERMORE
A rhyme scheme is a pattern of sounds that repeats at the end of a line or stanza. Rhyme
II. STRUCTURES OF A POEM schemes can change line by line, stanza by stanza, or continue throughout a poem. Poems
with rhyme schemes are generally written in formal verse, which has a strict meter: a
repeating pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
Rhyme scheme patterns are formatted in different ways. The patterns are encoded by letters
of the alphabet. Lines designated with the same letter rhyme with each other. For example,
the rhyme scheme ABAB means the first and third lines of a stanza, or the “A”s, rhyme with
each other, and the second line rhymes with the fourth line, or the “B”s rhyme together.
10 Different Rhyme Schemes
Rhyming poems do not have to follow a particular pattern. Any number of new rhymes can be
added to a poem to create ongoing patterns.
1. Alternate rhyme. In an alternate rhyme, the first and third lines rhyme at the end,
and the second and fourth lines rhyme at the end following the pattern ABAB for each
stanza. This rhyme scheme is used for poems with four-line stanzas.
Example: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “A Psalm of Life”
Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!— For the soul is dead that
slumbers, And things are not what they seem.
2. Ballade. A ballade is a lyric poem that follows the rhyme scheme ABABBCBC.
Ballades typically have three, eight-line stanzas and conclude with a four-line stanza.
The last line of each stanza is the same, which is called a refrain.
Example: Andrew Lang, “Ballade of the Optimist”
And, sometimes on a summer's day To self and every mortal ill We give the slip, we steal
away, To walk beside some sedgy rill: The darkening years, the cares that kill, A little while
are well forgot; When deep in broom upon the hill, We'd rather be alive than not.
3. Coupled rhyme. A coupled rhyme is a two-line stanza that rhymes following the
rhyme scheme AA BB CC, or a similar dual rhyming scheme. The rhymes themselves
are referred to as rhyming couplets. Shakespeare’s sonnets end with rhyming
couplets, such as this one:
Example: William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 18”
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
4. Monorhyme. In a monorhyme, all the lines in a stanza or entire poem end with the
same rhyme.
Example: William Blake, “Silent, Silent Night”
Silent Silent Night Quench the holy light Of thy torches bright
For possess’d of Day Thousand spirits stray That sweet joys betray
Why should joys be sweet Used with deceit Nor with sorrows meet
But an honest joy Does itself destroy For a harlot coy
5. Enclosed rhyme. The first and fourth lines and the second and third lines rhyme with
each other in an enclosed rhyme scheme. The pattern is ABBA, in which A encloses
the B.
Example: Sonnet VII By John Milton
How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, Stol'n on his wing my three-and-twentieth
year! My hasting days fly on with full career, But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th.
6. Simple four-line rhyme. These poems follow a rhyme scheme of ABCB throughout
the entire poem.
Example: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (excerpt)
It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three. 'By thy long grey beard and glittering
eye, Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?
7. Triplet. A triplet is a set of three lines in a stanza—called a tercet—that share the
same end rhyme.
Example: William Shakespeare, “The Phoenix and the Turtle”
Truth may seem, but cannot be Beauty brag, but 'tis not she Truth and beauty buried be
8. Terza rima. An Italian form of poetry that consists of tercets, a terza rima follows a
chain rhyme in which the second line of each stanza rhymes with the first and last
line of the subsequent stanza. It ends with a couplet rhyming with the middle line of
the penultimate stanza. The pattern is ABA BCB CDC DED EE.
Example: Percy Shelley, “Ode to the West Wind”
O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn’s being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the
leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou, Who
chariotest to their dark wintry bed
The wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low, Each like a corpse within its grave, until
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow
Her clarion o’er the dreaming earth, and fill (Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air) With
living hues and odours plain and hill:
Wild Spirit, which is art moving everywhere; Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear!
9. Limerick. A limerick is a five-line poem with the rhyme scheme AABBA.
Example: Mother Goose, “Hickory, Dickory, Dock”
Hickory Dickory Dock. The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one, And down he run.
Hickory Dickory Dock.
10. Villanelle. A type of poem with five three-line stanzas that follow a rhyme scheme of
ABA. The villanelle concludes with a four-line stanza with the pattern ABAA.
2. METER
Meter refers to the rhythmic structure of a verse. It involves the pattern of stressed and
unstressed syllables in each line.
Types of Meter
1. Iambic: Unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
(e.g., "to-DAY")
2. Trochaic:Stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable.
(e.g., "HAP-py")
3. Anapestic: Two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable.
(e.g., "un-der-STAND")
4. Dactylic: Stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables.
(e.g., "MER-ri-ly")
5. Spondaic Meter: Consists of two consecutive stressed syllables. It creates a slow and
deliberate rhythm, often used for emphasis or in moments of gravity.
Example: "HEAVEN and EARTH"
6. Pyrrhic Meter: Involves two consecutive unstressed syllables. It creates a light and quick
rhythm, usually used in combination with other metrical patterns to add variety.
Example: "to the"
In this instance the second line introduces a rhythmic dissonance by breaking away from the
established. patter, creating a sense of suspense and highlighting the creeping silence in the
forest
Consonance - It refers to the repetition of consonant sounds, especially at the end of words,
within close proximity in a line or stanza
Types of Consonance

1.Final Consonance- Repetition of Consonant sounds at the end of words

Elision refers to the omission of one or more sounds or syllables in a word to maintain for ex ample "cat" and "hat"
smooth meter or rhyme scheme. It often occurs when a word ending in a vowel is followed by 2.Initial Consonance- Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words
a word starting with a rowel. For example: th'evening" instead of "the evening" Ex "sing" and "some"
3. Medial Consonance -repetition of consonant sounds in the middle of words
Elision helps maintain the rhythmic flow of a poem. example: "middle" and "bottle"
Types of Elision

1.Synaloepha- the merging of two adjacent vowel across a word boundary for instance,
"he's instead of "he is""
2) Syncope- the omission of sounds or letters with in a word. For example: "ne'er" instead of
"never"
3) Apocope- the removal of sounds or syllables at the end of a word. For example, "lov'd"
instead of "loved"
2. Dissonance- refers to the deliberate use of harsh or discordant sounds, words or phrases
within a poem, It creates a sense of tension, unease, or conflict, serving to evoke specific
emotions or emphasize certain themes.

Types of Dissonance

1. Phonetic Dissonance- It involves the use of harsh or jarring sounds within words to create
discord
for examples. "The sibilant serpent Slithered silently" the repetition of the "s" sound create a
phonetic disonnance

2) Semantic Dissonance- It involves the use of contradictory or conflicting meanings to

generate tension and ambiguity.
For example: The laughter of sorrow echoed through tone celebration." "laughter" and
"sorrow" creates semantic dissonance.
3. Syntactic Dissonance- It involves disruptions in the normal grammatical structure,
creating a sense of discord or unease. For example: "with whispers of the night, the shadows
danced, unseen by all". the enversion of the typical word order placing "unseen by all" at the
end of the sentence instead of the beginning or middle introducer syntactic dissonance.
4) Rhythmic Dissonance- It involves the deliberate interruption of a regular rhythm or meter,
introducing irregularities for effect
Ex: Beneath the moonlit. sky, a forest weeps, A rhythmic pulse, as the silence Creeps."