Philippine Literature during the American Occupation of the Philippines

(1898–1940)
With English as the medium of instruction in public schools, Filipino literary works in English were
produced. In the first decade, poetry and prose in English appeared in student publications like
the UP College Folio and The Coconut of Manila High School. By the 1930s and 1940s, Filipino
writers in English came into their own.

Philippine Literature in the 21st Century (2001 up to the present)

This body of literature includes digital writings, graphic novels, textula, hypertext, and other emerging
literary genres at present.

Poetic Terms
Allusion – Using this literary device, the writer refers to a significant person, place, thing, or idea in
culture, history, literature, or politics briefly and indirectly.

Apostrophe – With this literary device, the writer addresses someone or something that is not
present in his work.

End rhyme – This rhyme occurs in the last syllables of verses.

Lyric poetry – This traditional poetry is characterized by its brevity, emotional intensity, and musical
quality.

Man of Earth
By Amador T. Daguio

Pliant is the bamboo;

I am man of earth.
They say that from the bamboo
We had our first birth.

Am I of the body,
Or of the green leaf?
Do I have to whisper
My every sin and grief?

If the wind passes by,

Must I stoop, and try
To measure fully
My flexibility?

I might have been the bamboo,

But I will be a man.
Bend me then, O Lord,
Bend me if you can.

Explanation:
  The lyric poem has a varied rhythm. It is composed of four stanzas, each one with five to
seven syllables.
 The poem contains end rhymes.
 The poem contains an allusion to a Philippine creation myth that tells that the first man and
woman came from a bamboo. The speaker is aware of his own pagan heritage.
 The poem uses apostrophe. The speaker addresses a spiritual being he calls “Lord” in the
last two lines of the fourth stanza.

 A Textula
By Frank Rivera
 Merong himala, hindi totoong wala
Ituro ma’y mali, alam nati’y tama
Kahit walang sagot itong panalangin
Hindi tumitigil ang ating paghiling.
 Walang nagturo na tayo’y makibaka
Ngunit sulirani’y ating binabata
Kahit may pangakong laging napapako
Sa anumang init, handa ring mapaso.
 Sa ating puso’y may awit ng pag-asa
Kahit titik nito’y hindi makabisa
Ang katotohana’y lalaging totoo
Basta maniwalang mayroong milagro.
 (Reproduced by permission of Frank Rivera)

 The poem is a piece of lyric poetry. It is composed of three stanzas, and each stanza has
four lines. It has a regular meter; each line consists of twelve syllables.

 The poem uses what is called in Tagalog poetry as “tugmang karaniwan,” wherein the last
word of each line has the same sound. Except the last two lines of the first stanza, the rest of
the poem uses “tugmang patinig,” wherein the last words of the lines have the same vowel
sound.

Both Amador T. Daguio’s and Frank Rivera’s poems are lyric poetry, and they show traditional
elements. Both poems use end rhymes. However, Daguio’s poem has no regular meter, while
Rivera’s poem has.