Jose Garcia Villa

NATIONAL ARTIST FOR LITERATURE (1973)

 JOSE GARCIA - VILLA
Singalong, Manila (1908-1997)
National Artist for Literature - 1973
Villa was born in Singalong, Manila, on 05 August 1908.
His parents were Simeon Villa, personal physician of revolutionary general
Emilio Aguinaldo, and Guia Garcia.
He graduated from the UP High School in 1925 and enrolled in the pre-med
course.
His ideas on literature were provocative. He stirred strong feelings. He was
thought too individualistic.
He published his series of erotic poems, "Man Songs" in 1929.
With the P1,000 he won as a prize from the Philippines Free Press for his "Mir-
i-Nisa," adjudged the best short story that year (1929), he migrated to the
United States.
 JOSE GARCIA - VILLA
Singalong, Manila (1908-1997)
National Artist for Literature - 1973
Through the sponsorship of Conrad Aiken, noted American poet and
critic, Villa was granted the Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing.
He was also awarded $1,000 for "outstanding work in American
literature."
He won first prize in poetry at the UP Golden Jubilee Literary Contests
(1958) and was conferred the degree Doctor of Literature, honoris causa,
by FEU (1959); the Pro Patria Award for literature (1961); Heritage Awards
for literature, for poetry and short stories (1962); and National Artist
Award for Literature (1973).
On 07 February 1997, Jose Garcia Villa died at a New York hospital, two
days after he was found unconscious in his apartment. He was 88.
 JOSE GARCIA - VILLA
Singalong, Manila (1908-1997)
National Artist for Literature - 1973
Known as DOVEGLION
Known as the COMMA Poet
He was the finest contemporary poet
regardless of race and language
He introduced the reversal
consonance and comma poems
“First, a poem must be magical,
then musical as a sea gull,
and it must hold as fire as well.”
Lyric 17
POETRY READING
Lyric 17
First, a poem must be magical,
Then musical as a sea-gull.
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.
 EASY STEPS TO READING AND
UNDERSTANDING A POEM
FIRST: SCAN the poem for difficult words and look these up in a dictionary.
Remember, every word in a poem is significant.

SECOND: READ the poem two or three times ALOUD.

THIRD: ASK yourself who is the speaker and what is the occasion.
Do not assume the speaker of the poem is the poet. Often this is not the case.

FOURTH: PARAPHRASE the poem line-by-line or stanza-by-stanza until you get a meaning
that makes sense.
Remember, a paraphrase is a translation into common language.

FIFTH: READ the poem ALOUD a time or two more for new understanding and enjoyment.
 EASY STEPS TO READING AND
UNDERSTANDING A POEM

FIRST: SCAN the poem for difficult

words and look these up in a
dictionary.
Remember, every word in a poem
is significant.
Lyric 17
First, a poem must be magical,
Then musical as a sea-gull.
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.
 EASY STEPS TO READING AND
UNDERSTANDING A POEM

SECOND: READ the poem two or

three times ALOUD.
Lyric 17
First, a poem must be magical,
Then musical as a sea-gull.
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.
 EASY STEPS TO READING AND
UNDERSTANDING A POEM

THIRD: ASK yourself who is the

speaker and what is the occasion.
Do not assume the speaker of the
poem is the poet. Often this is not
the case.
Lyric 17
First, a poem must be magical,
Then musical as a sea-gull.
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.
 EASY STEPS TO READING AND
UNDERSTANDING A POEM

FOURTH: PARAPHRASE the poem line-by-

line or stanza-by-stanza until you
get a meaning that makes sense.
Remember, a paraphrase is a
translation into common language.
Lyric 17
First, a poem must be magical,
Then musical as a sea-gull.
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.
 EASY STEPS TO READING AND
UNDERSTANDING A POEM

FIFTH: READ the poem ALOUD a

time or two more for new
understanding and
enjoyment.
Lyric 17
First, a poem must be magical,
Then musical as a sea-gull.
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.
Activity
To show how well you understood this poem,
summarize each couplet, every two lines, beginning
with the first two lines:
"First, a poem must be magical
then musical as a sea-gull."
By the time you complete this activity, you should have
written seven statements that explain what Villa's
definition of a good poem is.
 activity
"Lyric 17"
First, a poem must be magical,
Then musical as a sea-gull.
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
 EASY STEPS TO READING AND UNDERSTANDING A POEM

Reading, understanding, and enjoying poetry is possible for all of us. It only
requires that we follow a process. Follow these steps for each poem you study.

FIRST: SCAN the poem for difficult words and look these up in a dictionary.
Remember, every word in a poem is significant.

SECOND: READ the poem two or three times ALOUD.

THIRD: ASK yourself who is the speaker and what is the occasion. Do not
assume the speaker of the poem is the poet. Often this is not the
case.

FOURTH: PARAPHRASE the poem line-by-line or stanza-by-stanza until you

get a meaning that makes sense. Remember, a paraphrase is a
translation into common language.

FIFTH: READ the poem ALOUD a time or two more for new understanding
and enjoyment.