Filipino Poetry PDF

SH1903 The Filipino Poetry The lines below from "The Gods We Worship Live Next Door" by Bienvenido Santos follow an A-B-B-A rhyme I. Elements of Poetry...

SH1903 The Filipino Poetry The lines below from "The Gods We Worship Live Next Door" by Bienvenido Santos follow an A-B-B-A rhyme I. Elements of Poetry scheme. 1. Line It is a subdivision of a poem that contains a group of "The gods we worship live next door. They're brown words arranged into a row. Lines could be arranged to have and how easily they catch cold sneezing a certain number of syllables or a certain number of stresses. too late into their sleeves and brandishing It could also be arranged so that it rhymes, whether it is of their arms in air, Fear grips us when they frown…" equal length or not. 4. Rhythm and Meter 2. Stanza Rhythm is the term used to refer to the recurrence of It is the equivalent of the paragraph in prosaic writing. A stressed and unstressed sounds in poetry. Poets rely heavily stanza is a group of lines within a poem. Like lines, there is on rhythm to express meaning and convey feeling. Caesura no set length to a stanza or a rule that all stanzas within a is a strong pause within a line of poetry that contributes to poem need to be the same length. However: the rhythm of the line. When a line has a pause at its end, it  two-line stanzas are couplets is called an end-stopped line. Such pauses reflect normal  three-lines, tercets speech patterns and are often marked by punctuation. A line that ends without a pause and continues into the next line for  four-lines, quatrains its meaning is called a run-on line or enjambment. Whether regular or not, the visual effect and, sometimes, Meter is a system of describing what we can measure the aural effect is one of uniting the sense of the stanza into about the audible features of a poem. In formal poetry, there one group, so poets can either let their sentences fit neatly are systems used to structure meters in terms of the number within these groups, or create flow and tension by enjambing of syllables (syllabic meter), the duration of syllables across the stanza breaks. (quantitative meter), the number of stressed syllables (accentual meter), and combinations of the above. 3. Rhyme and Rhyme Scheme Rhyme refers to the repetition of the end-sounds of 5. Figurative Language words. On the other hand, rhyme scheme is the way a poem's As opposed to literal language, or the use of words and rhymes are arranged. Generally, rhyme schemes are marked phrases to convey their typical meaning, figurative language using the ascending letters of the alphabet. uses the words or phrases to intentionally move away from their standard meaning. There are too many to list, but they can be classified into the following categories: 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 5  SH1903 Category Example of the Americans. During the American Colonial Period, simile Filipinos learned not only the English language but also the metaphor poetic styles of these new sets of colonialists, namely free verse Figures of resemblance personification and new criticism. metonymy Today, old poetic forms are still read and used by many, but synecdoche there are a few that evolved over time. hyperbole 1. Spoken Word Poetry (Alfonso & Fontanilla, 2014) litotes Spoken word poetry is a new trend in the Philippines. It Figures of emphasis or rhetorical question was introduced in 2005 by the FM radio station Jam 88.3 understatement paradox through its show "Bigkas Pilipinas" but was formally oxymoron established in 2013 through the Facebook community irony "Speak! Philippines". alliteration Also known as slam poetry, spoken word poetry is repetition written on a page but is meant for onstage performance. Figures of sound anaphora Because it is performed, spoken word poetry emphasizes the onomatopoeia use of rhythm, improvisation, free association, rhymes, Verbal games and pun wordplay, and slang. gymnastics anagram Its roots can be traced to Ancient Greece in the form of malapropism Greek lyric. However, its function could be likened to the Errors periphrasis form of expression used by the African-American civil rights spoonerism movement for their socio-political discourse. This nature of spoken word poetry implies that this form could not only be II. Filipino Poetry Forms in the 21st Century used as a means of entertainment or self-expression but also Poetry has been part of our culture ever since pre-Hispanic as an avenue for raising awareness about current social times in the forms of awit, bugtong, epiko, and sawikain. issues. However, the arrival of the Spanish affected the growth of these forms as friars deemed them blasphemous because of the 2. Textula/Textanaga presence of supernatural creatures. The Spanish clergy set out to It traces its origins to the traditional Tagalog form of replace the old heroes and gods with Jesus Christ and the saints, poetry called tanaga, which consists of four (4) lines with and this resulted to the religious nature of the poetry in that seven (7) syllables each. period. It could follow the following rhyme schemes: But despite this effort, the traditional Philippine poetry never  Basic (AAAA) truly went away. These same traditions evolved until the arrival  Enclosed or inipit (ABBA) 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 5  SH1903  Alternate or salitan (ABAB) III. Guidelines in Poetry Analysis (Condliffe, 2018)  Sunuran (AABB) Poetry analysis is the process of investigating a poem's form, Textula employs communication technology in sharing, content, and history in an informed way, to heighten one's own and the creation of this poetic form has been largely and others' understanding and appreciation of the work. (- Do; attributed to Frank G. Rivera.  - Don’t) 3. Rap Battle 1. Read the poem aloud Pioneered by the FlipTop Battle League in 2010, this rap Poetry is meant to be read aloud, so reading it quietly battle promotes Filipino hip hop and is heavily influenced by will not give you a complete experience of a poem. When the original rap battle leagues founded in the United States, poets compose poems, they engage in wordplay and utilize Canada, and United Kingdom. rhymes and rhythms that affect the meaning of the poem. A FlipTop battle consists of three (3) rounds with a time  Read the poem aloud several times. Try to figure out the most effective way to perform it, or the one with limit for each contender (emcee) set by the referee. An odd number of judges are selected to judge the battle to prevent the least stumbles. draws. Written or non-written lines are allowed. Both sides  Assume you can understand the rhythm and wordplay by only looking at it. can also bring props for the event. Choking in any rounds increases the chance of losing the battle. The winner is determined by the decision of the judges. The criteria for 2. Unpack what the poem is about judging are the usage of words, audience impact, delivery, Poems generally convey a narrative or describe feelings and rapping style (Yuson, 2015). or objects. There will be exceptions to this rule, but it is Because of FlipTop, the celebration of Linggo ng Wika unlikely that you will be presented with a poem that hard has never been the same, as there were some universities and during an assessment. Your job as a critic is to try and secondary schools in different parts of the country included understand what the poem is about. this rap battle in their roster of competitions (Angeles, 2014). Some academics have compared FlipTop to Balagtasan  Look for pronouns and proper nouns. These will tell you the various characters in the poem. "I' will because the two (2) contain both verbal jousts and employs always represent the persona - the figure whose rhyme and meter in their bars or verses against their perspective is being depicted. opponent, but there are some disputes whether the former can be called as "Modern-day Balagtasan".  Follow the punctuation. Just because poems use enjambment and have unusual forms, doesn't mean they don’t adhere to grammatical rules. Break the stanza/s into sentences. If you're confused, locate the full stops and read the lines as single sentences. 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 5  SH1903  Look for recurring images or symbols, which are called motifs. Motifs are often directly related to the Enjambment gives the appearance of the line flowing onto the next line. When we read it, we hear otherwise as we meaning of a poem and can give important clues as then to pause - even if only for a fraction of a second - to what the poet is trying to convey. between lines. This contradiction is known as the "rejet" - the tension between fragmentation or pause and the 3. Pay attention to the rhythm appearance of flow. This technique is used to draw attention Poems have rhythm. One of the traditional differences to the meaning, object, or person in the lines. This often between regular literature and poetry is the use of rhythm involves contradiction or contrast with the things that follow and meter. Contemporary poetry sometimes moves away or precede it. from the traditional conventions of meter, but largely meter plays an important role in the poetry you will study.  Assume that enjambment is there for appearance only. It is not. It is an aural technique. Listen to what We don't focus on rhythm to check if the poet has it does to the lines of the poem. adhered to the natural rhythm of the English language. Rather, we use it to see when the poet breaks with the rhythm  Discuss what the enjambment draws attention to. Is it foregrounding the object in the first line or the they have set themselves. These deviations from the rhythm second line? Is it contrasting two (2) ideas over two indicate important ideas in the poem. When you find a (2) lines? Or is it representing the relationship change in the rhythm, look at the ideas or images being between people? presented and talk about them.  Feel stressed if you cannot remember the different names for the various rhythms. Don't worry if you 5. Look for techniques You need to be able to discuss how a composer has cannot identify all the rhythms of a poem or even the created meaning in their poem. This requires you to talk rhythms of a line. about the techniques they have used to develop meaning.  Try to discuss the meaning you find in rhythm. An attempt to discuss rhythm, even if you cannot You need to look out for common literary techniques and devices (e.g., simile, metaphor, motifs, repetition, rhyme) remember the terminology, will gain you insights and try to understand what they are representing. about the piece. 6. Consider the poetic form 4. Look for enjambment There are many different poetic forms such as haiku, Enjambment is an oft-cited but regularly misunderstood ballad, and sonnet that often carry an implicit meaning. We technique. When poetry is enjambed, one line seems to spill associate haikus with philosophy, sonnets with love, and over into the next line because it is not capped by ballads with adventure. Knowing a large variety of forms punctuation. will help you recognize the form a poet is using. This will 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 5  SH1903 allow you to discuss how the poet is adhering to the Stanza. (n.d.). Retrieved from conventions of the form or challenging them. https://www.poetryarchive.org/glossary/stanza  Assume that a free-verse poem does not include aspects of different forms. Uychoco, M. (2016). 21st century literature from the Philippines and the world. Manila: Rex Book Store,  Try to identify the poetic form by noting the conventions of the form and discussing how the poet Inc. Yuson, A. (2015, December 11). Pinoy hip-hop poetry. might embrace or challenge these conventions. Retrieved from https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/arts- and-culture/2015/12/11/1531826/pinoy-hip-hop-poetry References: Alfonso, A. & Fontanilla, A. (2014). Spoken word: integrating discourse into contemporary literature (ethnography). Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/attachments/36888567/down load_file?st=MTU1ODkyNjU2NSwxMTkuOTMuMjU wLjE5OSw2NDExODA4Ng%3D%3D&s=profile&ct= MTU1ODkyNjU2NywxNTU4OTI2NTcwLDY0MTE4 MDg2 Angeles, M. (2014, March 1). Is FlipTop the modern-day Balagtasan? Retrieved from https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/artandcult ure/350760/is-fliptop-the-modern-day-balagtasan/story Basic elements of poetry. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://penlighten.com/basic-elements-of-poetry Condliffe, P. (2017). How to analyze a poem in 6 steps. Retrieved from https://www.matrix.edu.au/how-to- analyse-a-poem-in-6-steps Encyclopaedia Britannica (2017, July 31). Figure of speech. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/art/figure- of-speech. Elements of poetry. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms. 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 5 of 5