BIBLIOGRAPY OF

ALEJANDRO G.
ABADILLA
 Alejandro G. Abadilla, commonly known as AGA, was a Filipino poet, essayist, and
fiction writer. Critic Pedro Ricarte referred to Abadilla as the father of modern
Philippine poetry, and was known for challenging established forms and literature’s
excessive romanticism and emphasis on rhyme and meter
 On March 10, 1906, Alejandro G. Abadilla, regarded as “Father of Modern
Tagalog Poetry” was born in Rosario, Cavite. Abadilla, a Filipino poet, finished
his AB Philosophy at the University of Santo Tomas in 1934.

In 1932, he started his regular listing and evaluation of published poems in

“Talaang Bughaw”
 Alejandro G. Abadilla published novels include. “Sing-ganda Ng Buhay” (As
beautiful as Life) in 1947 “Pagkamulat ni Magdalena” (Magdalene’s awakening)
in 1958, co-authored with Elpidio Capulong.

His major breakthrough in Philippine poetry was when he wrote his poem “Ako
ang Daigdig” ( I am the World ) in 1955.

Abadilla’s contributions to Philippine literature, extends to the essay, short fiction

and the novel.
Summary of “ Ako ang Daigdig”

 “Ako ang daigdig” comes in the form of a declaration spoken in the first person
with the persona describing him/herself. The speaker attributes are daigdig (the
world) and tula (the poem or poetry). There are two possibilities that the identity
of the persona is a poem or the persona is a human being.

The poem employs personification (attributing sentience to a poem) not to

mention personification is a self description and the poem can become a
metatextual.
 The Derridan Post- structuralism disagree with the occurrence of the difference. It
declares that the poem describes itself as the world.

Which gave them the idea that the meaning of the poem is “ako ang tula ng
daigdig” (I am the world of the poem). But conversely its reflecting another angle
of how poems work, which is the reflection of the reality of the world.
 In the general sense this latter make the poem ripe for Historical, Marxist and
Socially inclined for theoretical reading. Jose Garcia Villa and the Vaticans
disagree with this latter poetics by demonstrating that the poem itself does not
reflect on any social relevance.

The poem describes itself as “walang maliw na ako” ( The I which is unending)
and “walang kamatang ako” (The I which is undying) hinting that immortality of
words often described by poets of all ages.

A Samoan hyperbolic proverb says “stones rot, but words live forever” while
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 includes “so long as man could breathe or eyes could
see, so long lives this…..” but also continuing to our interpretation of a vain
poem. Then poem descirbes itself as being “matapat sa sarili” (Honest)
 Here are some of the major works of Alejandro G. Abadilla

● Mga Kuwentong Ginto (Golden stories)- he co-edited with Clodualdo del

Mundo
● Mga Piling Katha: Ang Maikling Kathang Tagalog- he co-edited with F.B
Sebastian and A.D.G Mariano.
● Maikling Katha (Short Stories)- together with Commision on the Filipino
Language Head Ponciano B.P Pineda.
● Mga Piling Sanaysay (Several Essays)
● Ako ang daigdig at iba pang mga tula (I am the world and other poems)