The Poem:

The Emperor’s New Sonnet

Background/Analysis:

Just a background on the author, Jose Garcia Villa was a Filipino poet, short-
story writer, painter, and literary critic who was awarded the National Artist of the
Philippines for literature in 1973. He was known for being one of the renowned
“artsakists” of his time who believed that art should be for art’s sake. And
although he advised his students that poems are “written with words, not ideas,”
he released poems such as The Bashful One, which consists only of a comma,
and of course, The Emperor’s New Sonnet, which contains nothing at all, other
than the title.

On normal circumstances, I would go through a poem line per line in analyzing

one, and see how every line would contribute to the overall meaning. However,
the poem to be tackled has no meter, no extended metaphors, no symbolisms,
nor any text whatsoever. All we are banking on is its title, which alludes to the
popular children’s story The Emperor’s New Clothes, which was written by Hans
Christian Anderson.

Hans Christian Anderson / Wikimedia

The story is an attack on snobbery and pretension, and makes fun of people who
do not have their own say on what is beautiful and tend to rely on other people’s
judgments before making their own. It tells its readers that sometimes, we need
to view things as innocent as a child would so that we could plainly see what true
beauty is, free from all social conditioning that often warps their perspective on
things.

With this in mind, let us now tackle the poem by Jose Garcia Villa, which has no
words at all. What we have here is something that tells readers that it is a poem,
although in reality, there really is nothing. There is no beautiful weaving of words,
and it seems like the poet is mocking the reader by telling them to accept the
blankness as poetry, in the same way that the weavers the emperor in the story
hired expects him to accept his invisible suit as one of the most beautiful in the
world.

In all objectivity, there really is no poem in The Emperor’s New Sonnet, although
it calls itself one. Although there are literary critics and intellectuals who can
extract some meaning from the blankness, there would undoubtedly be that child
in us that wants to shout out that this is not a poem, and that it is only a blank
page.

We can probably borrow the moral lesson in the story and put it into the context
of this poem. There are probably times when, like the characters in the story, we
have felt the need to convince ourselves that a work of art is beautiful, just
because some ruling body deemed it so, even though we ourselves did not
genuinely appreciate it. There must have been some time when you came across
some abstract painting and thought that it was something a child could have
done, and yet you just kept mum about it, because it was supposedly created by
a world-class painter. Or a time when an artsy-fartsy friend asked you what you
thought about this foreign film you totally found boring, and answered that it was
nice. Or a time in English class where you were forced to nod and say that you
liked a certain short story, even though you did not understand a single thing
from it.

Oftentimes we are too quick to suppress our own judgments; for fear that other
people may find us “less-cultured” or even downright stupid if we would not agree
with them. In effect, we no longer practice our critical thinking, thinking that
anyway, there are authorities who can decide for us, and we wouldn’t mind being
enslaved to their judgments because we can readily dismiss that they are right.

However, this shouldn’t be the case, and The Emperor’s Sonnet tells us this in its
own eccentric way. It plays on how readers would think of it, on whether the
blank space is a poem or not, while reminding them of the message in the story
The Emperor’s New Clothes.

On why Jose Garcia Villa wrote this (if you would call that writing), I could make a
guess. He was known to be one of the harshest critics of Filipino poetry in
English in his time, and has angered many of those who received his critiques.
And I wouldn’t exactly blame the subjects of his critiques for their reactions. To
one literary collection, for example, he wrote: “The poetry you print is
unforgivable. It stinks. My God, if I had judicial power, I’d throw you in jail for
publishing such rot and exemplifying them before the public as good poetry, thus
submerging the public still more.”
In one essay, he wrote that there wasn’t anyone who was educated enough in
poetry in the Philippines. The country, according to him, was “deluged with poet-
simpletons—triflers in verse, poets without crania—the producers of
featherweight poetry.”

Perhaps it was his frustration with Philippine poetry in English that drove him to
create The Emperor’s New Sonnet. Frustrated, or maybe even disgusted, with
the praise that some of the Filipino poets were getting from the critics, he may
have written the poem to target those who readily accept the so called
“featherweight” poetry of his time, who were, perhaps, reading poetry in the same
way that the emperor’s ministers and the townspeople were looking at the
emperor’s “suit.” Perhaps with this poem of his, he sought to serve as the child in
the story to challenge what he felt was a sorry state of Philippine poetry in his
time.

Whether you’re still debating with yourself if this is a poem or not, it is undeniable
that Villa’s The Emperor’s New Sonnet shall continue to provoke and baffle its
readers for many years to come.

Sources:

http://www.literaryhistory.com/20thC/Groups/Villa.html

http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_New_Clothes

The Critical Villa: Essays in Literary Criticism by Jose Garcia Villa, compiled and
edited by Jonathan Chua

JOSE GARCIA VILLA

"The Emperor's New Sonnet" by Jose Garcia Villa

in SELECTED POEMS AND NEW
(McDowell, Obolensky, New York, 1942-1958 and Bookmark, Inc., Manila, 1993)
"The Emperors New Sonnet" by Jose Garcia Villa is a blank-page poem. It's one of his visual poems
that "forego the words entirely. For example, there is 'Centipede Sonnet,' consisting entirely of
commas; 'Sonnet in Polka Dots,' composed of Capital Os; 'The Emeperor's New Sonnet,' which is
a blank page; and 'The Bashful One,' in which a single comma lurks in the lower left of the
page. It is especially in these caprices that the influence of e.e. cummings and Villa's desire to
take his work to the next level of meaning are evident."

It is also a controversial poem. An analysis by "chololuistro" offers a useful summary of how people
responded to the poem.

José García Villa (August 5, 1908 – February 7, 1997) was a Filipino poet, literary critic, short story
writer, and painter. He was awarded the National Artist of the Philippines title for literature in 1973,[1] as
well as the Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by Conrad Aiken.[2] He is known to have introduced
the "reversed consonance rime scheme" in writing poetry, as well as the extensive use of punctuation
marks—especially commas, which made him known as the Comma Poet.[3] He used the
penname Doveglion (derived from "Dove, Eagle, Lion"), based on the characters he derived from himself.
These animals were also explored by another poet e.e. cummings in Doveglion, Adventures in Value, a
poem dedicated to Villa.[1]

Photo of the elderly Mr. Villa in his Greenwich City, NYC apartment by Eric Gamalinda

When I Was No Bigger Than A Huge

An excerpt of the poem written by Jose Garcia Villa (1908-1997):*

When, I, was, no, bigger, than, a, huge,

Star, in, my, self, I, began, to, write,
My,
Theology,
Of, rose, and,
Tiger: till, I, burned, with, their
Pure, and, Rage. Then, was, I, Wrath-
Ful,
And, most,
Gentle: most,
Dark, and, yet, most, Lit: in, me, an,
Eye, there, grew: springing, Vision,
Its,
Gold, and,
Its, wars. Then,
I, knew, the, Lord, was, not, my, Creator!
–Not, He, the, Unbegotten—but, I, saw,
The,
Creator,
Was, I—and,
I, began, to, Die, and, I, began, to, Grow.

Critical Analysis and Interpretation

This poem “When I Was No Bigger Than A Huge” written by Jose Garcia Villa is probably the
strangest poem I have ever seen. His over-use of punctuations specifically commas made the
poem so disturbing, yet I find beauty and intertextuality to it.

On a formalist point of view, I would say the poem revolves around the author’s inquiry on
metaphysical questions, not necessarily questions but a quest to find what is real as a matter of
fact, such as God’s existence or the reality of a ‘supreme and divine Being.’ This assertion of mine
arises from the word ‘theology’ which he stated in the fourth line in the beginning as well as what
the latter part of the poem implies. Then, he proceeded with ‘rose and tiger’ then ‘pure and rage,’
‘wrathful and most gentle’, so on and so forth, which we can immediately notice that these are
opposites. His theology vis-à-vis these opposites - his search or quest for existential questions I
suppose, was ruined by doubt and uncertainty (most dark and yet most lit).

His use of commas after every word gives emphasis for each word in the poem; connoting the
significance of each of their meanings. On the other hand, the lines containing one to three words
serve as the transitional part for each stanza. After these opposites, the author then proceeded
in relation to the preceding term: ‘in me an eye there grew: springing vision,’ and ‘its gold and its
wars’ from where I have formed in my mind this idea of “hope” and “supreme vision”, this idea of
gold, shining, light, something precious and certain, that may refer to the answers to his doubts
and uncertainty which he initially made. However, there he said not only its gold [certainty] but
also its wars, immediately followed by ‘I knew the Lord was not my Creator!’ which I believe the
latter refers to the wars that still darkens his certainty despite of already having his supreme vision.
Consecutively, he used en dash and went on to further claim that He [the Unbegotten] was not
really the Creator, supporting the former line. His use of punctuations in this part of the poem was
very much important. Thus, em dashes followed containing the lines ‘but I saw the Creator was I’
which means he made a strong break in the structure of the thought and made the continuation
of his idea of knowing the Lord is not the Creator with ‘and I began to die and I began to grow.’

From this, I therefore interpret that the wars referring to his negation about God’s supremacy
despite of having the vision for certainty, were cleared upon him seeing the Creator himself. The
latter could also refer to the springing vision he was talking about, its golds. Hence, he ended with
a conclusion that after all his search for truth about God’s reality he himself find God [his Creator]
to be real and existential. Thus, made him to end and clear all his doubts (I began to die) and
began with certainty (to grow). On the contrary, the Lord and Creator in a Marxist point of view
can be taken as referring to the struggle of society: the lower class dominated by the upper ruling
classes.
In addition, by merely looking at the structure of the poem and aside from the author’s frequent
use of commas, some words were written in capital letters excluding those at the beginning of the
lines which I guess another way of giving emphasis to the words themselves. But some words he
used in the poem are kind of familiar which leads me to archetypically interpret the poem:
Theology by Ted Hughes, Tiger [Tyger] of William Blake and "Do not go gentle into that good
night" by Dylan Thomas from his use of Gentle. Villa’s use of collage with these poems can be
interpreted as his way of relating his idea to other literary works to create an objective point; and
other capitalized words or adjectives are related to these poems.

The title, the first and second line connote the life of a star, from his shining to dimming moment
(the end), which I assert, he wrote this poem in the latter part of his life when he was already
shaped by all his experiences. He as a star was not bigger as compared to the universe, as he
being a single individual raising metaphysical inquiry until he finds an answer through his dying
moment yet the beginning of his certainty (the life, death, and rebirth of a star).
 ---
* Jose Garcia Villa was a Filipino poet, artist, lecturer and short story writer well-known for his use
of punctuation specifically commas in his literary works including the poem he wrote below.
Hence, he was called the "Comma Poet". Villa was awarded as the National Artist of the Year for
Literature in 1973. He also gained prestige and several awards in New York City, USA including
Guggenheim Fellowship for creative writing and outstanding work in American literature (Valeros
& Valeros-Gruenberg, 1987 via Pinoy Lit).

Paper: When,I,was,no,bigger,than,a,huge
december 8, 2009 by myssa, posted in compositions

Poem number 134, better known by its first line “When,I,was,no,bigger,than,a,huge” was
published as part of Jose Garcia Villa’s second anthology of poems (titled simply as) Volume
Two in 1949. The unorthodox structure the poem shares with the rest of the entries in the
collection, as well as the wide use of commas, mark Villa’s shift from the experimental-yet still
familiar versification of the poetry in his first compilation Have Come, Am Here, to what could be
seen as a Formalist experiment with the nature of the Word itself. It is because of this nonstandard
use of punctuation that it is called a ‘Comma Poem’, but due to its subject matter it is also classified
under Villa’s ‘Divine Poems’.
Structurally the poem is composed of four nonstandard-length ‘stanzas’ and a final separate line
serving as a ‘statement’ or ‘conclusion’ to the thought of the persona. The enjambment used in
the poem is such that, while ostensibly created from three sentences the reader is given an
impression of a consciously-constructed piece, where each stanza begins with two bold and solid
‘lines’ followed by a ‘triangle’ crowned with a single-syllable word or a syllable, embodied with
a ‘line’ that could range from two syllables to five syllables in length, and based with a line
composed of three syllables, as evidenced below:
Dark,and,yet,most,Lit: in,me,an,
Eye,there,grew: springing,Vision,
Its,
Gold,and,
Its,wars. Then,
Stylistically the structure of each stanza recalls a border or demarcation, where the first two lines
form a figurative ‘dam’, and the following three ‘lines’ might seem like a trickle that eventually
widens into a torrent. Though what the exactly it is the dam is holding back or dividing could be
subject to a myriad of interpretations (and a topic much more suited to scholars more erudite than
this essay’s author), given the poem’s inclusion in the ‘Divine Poems’ a philosophical or
metaphysical reading might be more appropriate—sacrilegious musings finally given light, or a
divinely-inspired epiphany could be seen as valid.
The poem is classified as a ‘Comma Poem’ due to its use of placement of a comma after every
word, most of the time without the space as expected in Prose. Paraphrasing Villa’s own words
from the preface A Note on the Commas, the commas not only serve to regulate the poem’s verbal
density and temporal movement, it also gives each word a fuller tonal value, allowing the more
measured line movement. It also has the (possibly intended) consequence of altering the meaning
of the poem when the commas are removed; as a demonstration of this (the Penguin Classics
edition Doveglion: Collected Poems) a version without the commas (indeed, only three are
present) immediately follows for the sake of comparison. Thus a truly diligent reader will have to
read the poem unaltered, then with the punctuation ‘normalized’ to gain a better understanding of
its theme and message.
The poem begins with the persona in the midst of reminiscing with
“When,I,was,no,bigger,than,a,huge/Star,in,my,self,I,began,to,write.” If one is familiar with the
way stellar bodies work, then it becomes apparent that the speaker is already of at least middling
age, as stars actually grow larger (at the same time less brighter) as they grow. It could be
compared to the point where a person is past their peak (physically or mentally) but not so much
that their faculties become impaired with age, and at that point in one’s life where a person has
enough life experience to be considered ‘wise’. The fact that the first line cuts at ‘huge’ (instead
of the word that follows, ‘star’) seems to underscore this temporal waypoint and milestone, where
the persona’s musings seem to turn towards how it defines its current existence, its ‘self’ (note
how it is not myself, but ‘my’ and ‘self’). The persona then reveals exactly what it was
internalizing: “My,/Theology,/Of,rose,and”. There’s an interesting interplay of words and
references here, as one would expected philosophy (when one assumes that the persona is talking
about what defines how it lives) to be a better choice; and yet with the image of the rose (which,
while associated with many pagan goddesses is more recently linked to the Virgin Mary) a
connection with the Divine is made.
This connection with the Divine is strengthened with the subsequent stanza’s initial two slines,
recalling the image of Blake’s work (and incidentally concluding the first ‘sentence’ of the poem):
“Tiger: till,I,burned,with,their/Pure,and,Rage. Then,was,I,Wrath”. The Tiger, despite being a
creature of ‘fearful symmetry’ is sometimes interpreted to symbolize God, but not as the
benevolent creator of late Christian traditions but more of a primal deity, mercurial in temperament
and fiery when roused. Contrast this with the often peaceful Romantic imagery that is attached to
the Rose, and you will find a conflicting milieu between these two forces, with each seemingly
trying to gain ascendancy within the persona’s being (note how the second line cuts at the word
Wrath). This constant state of opposition between Binaries is highlighted in the lines that follow
(Ful/And,most,/Gentle: most,) and partway into the first part of the third ‘stanza’
(Dark,and,yet,most,Lit: in,me,an).
From this roiling conflict within the persona, however, an equilibrium of sorts finally emerges, or
perhaps a paradigm-shifting revelation judging from the lines in the third ‘stanza’:
“Eye,there,grew:springing,Vision,/Its,/Gold,and,/Its,wars. Then,”. It is an epiphany, yes, but of
what? The lines that follow are shed more light on this: “I,knew,the,Lord,was,not,my,Creator!/–
Not,He,the,Unbegotten—but,I,saw”. It is a strange reversal indeed, as this reads like an outright
rejection of the Divine, despite the comparisons done in the preceding stanzas. After the
internalization done in the previous stanzas, the conclusion is as baffling as it makes perfect sense:
how indeed can someone of the right mind (and humor one would assume) accept a Divinity so
different (see unbegotten, as God was not born like People are, but simply is) and despite
purported benevolence has much violence done in its name (the Crusades in the middle ages, and
the brutal subjugation of the native peoples of South America by the Spaniards spring to mind), as
well as the ostentatious décor being flaunted by its practitioners (after seeing the amount of gold-
plated icons in some of the large cathedrals, one would think it ironic that humility is supposed to
be a virtue espoused by the Church).
With this virtual rejection of the Divine, the persona also reveals the other answer it has reached:
that in the end, if one cannot count on God, then one will have to rely on one’s
self. “The,/Creator,/Was,I—and,” seems like the persona’s Prideful ramblings, but in light of its
view on the Divine, is a remarkably Humanistic conclusion, that only Man can truly solve Man’s
problems. Although Humanity has more often than not exhibited the capacity to destroy and create
problems, one must remember that Humanity can also create, and solve problems as well…And
when one accepts (somehow) a reality where the Divine is distant and seemingly uncaring, then
there really is no recourse but for Man (as a whole) to rely on its own judgment to see it through
into the future, something succinctly encapsulated in the final line of the poem:
“I,began,to,Die,and,I,began,to,Grow.” Despite having shades of the Biblical Resurrection, it
seems to posit that, only when a Person has discarded obsolete notions (‘to Die’) will there be
ample opportunity to rely on one’s own strengths to improve his or herself.
Thus the poem as a whole could be seen as a person’s rediscovery of their Self, after years or
decades of being dissolute, and affirmation of the capabilities inherent in all of us, breaking
through the dam built of self-doubt and entrenched dogma espoused by the society the person had
grown up in, thoughts that initially trickled through cracks in the firmament, but eventually
becoming a broad torrent of ideas—where Humanity CAN stand on its own two legs, without an
omnipresent Divinity watching over our shoulders. It is a revelation that can be cathartic, to say
the least.

A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF JOSE GARCIA VILLA’S “WHEN I WAS NO BIGGER THAN A HUGE” (English
120)

When I Was No Bigger Than A Huge

By Jose Garcia Villa

When, I, was, no, bigger, than, a, huge,

Star, in, my, self, I, began, to, write,
My,
Theology,
Of, rose, and,
Tiger: till, I, burned, with, their
Pure, and, Rage. Then, was, I, Wrath-
Ful,
And, most,
Gentle: most,
Dark, and, yet, most, Lit: in, me, an,
Eye, there, grew: springing, Vision,
Its,
 Gold, and,
Its, wars. Then,
I, knew, the, Lord, was, not, my, Creator!
–Not, He, the, Unbegotten—but, I, saw,
The,
Creator,
Was, I—and,
I, began, to, Die, and, I, began, to, Grow.

Using Cognitive and Formalistic Stylistics

I find Jose Garcia Villa’s poems very disturbing because of the structure and the words he used in
his poems. The poem which is analyzed in this paper is not the only one of the author’s poem to
use commas after every word. (His poem “Fragment” also has the same structure.) On the first
reading of this poem, I noticed that the words he used are in relation to other poems written by
English poets such as William Blake, Ted Hughes, Dylan Thomas, etc. My schema of the poems
written by authors preceding Jose Garcia Villa was awaken. I chose to focus on the structure and
the intertextuality of this poem to other poems to be able to interpret the message of the
speaker. Hence, the choice of cognitive and formalistic stylistics in analyzing the poem.

A little background on the text and its author

Jose Garcia Villa is one of the very well-known Filipino poets of all time. He writes his literature—
short stories and poems—in English. However, most of his works, if not all, revolve around the
Filipino way of life. One of his famous works is “Footnote to Youth”, a story with a Filipino setting
and theme. In a review of this short story, The New York Times wrote that for at least two years,
Jose Garcia Villa’s name has been familiar to the devotees of the experimental short story. The
devotees knew also that he was an ‘extremely youthful Filipino who had somehow acquired the
ability to write a remarkable English prose’.

He also popularized the use of comma poems, just like the way “When I Was No Bigger Than A
Huge” was structured. According to some references, he also tried ‘collaging’ some already
written poems that gives his own poems more emphasis on the subject.

When I Was No Bigger Than A Huge tells of the speaker’s experience as a writer. It is largely about
beliefs or religion as the word Theology is used. Some analysts may say that the words may not be
connected or related to some other poems by other authors, but it is most likely to be since there
is not just one words but several, I’ll call them ‘strong words’ of the earlier poems Jose Garcia
Villa may have gotten them from.

Structure
The poem consists of four stanzas and a concluding line. The stanzas appear to be written in a
regular pattern of two long lines that contain the main essence of the stanza and three short lines
that may be said to serve as the transition towards the next stanza/s.

When, I, was, no, bigger, than, a, huge,

Star, in, my, self, I, began, to, write,
My,
Theology,
Of, rose, and,

All three stanzas following this first one are arranged in this manner. After the stanzas come a
single line that seems to conclude everything.

I, began, to, Die, and, I, began, to, Grow.

This poem is an example of the comma poems Jose Garcia Villa wrote. Each word is followed by a
comma. A comma, as we all know, represents a ‘pause’. The author must be doing this to put
emphasis to every word used in the poem, suggesting the importance of every word in it.

Jose Garcia Villa wrote that the commas are ”an integral and essential part of the medium:
regulating the poem’s verbal density and time movement: enabling each word to attain a fuller
tonal value, and the line movement to become more measures.”

However, it may be awkward to read the poems with all the commas in-between words,
suggesting that this kind of poems is mainly for visual purposes.

Among the words used in the poem, we can see that mostly, if not all, adjectives and some nouns
begins with a capital letter. These words—Pure, Rage, Wrathful, Gentle, Dark, Vision, Die, and
Grow—play a significant role in the poem, such that they present contrasts which is an important
element in analyzing a poem. (will be discussed in later section)

Words

The title of the poem is ‘bitin’ in its sense. A huge what? Perhaps there is a reason why the author
chose to put this: When I Was No Bigger Than A Huge, as the title. Although we might find the
sense of it upon reading the first stanza (that the author actually is referring to a huge star), we
might find the title ridiculous in its sense. How can something be bigger than a huge? Are we not
taught that in comparing things, huge is the extremest form? Hence, the schema about astronomy
is used. The life cycle of a star tells us that it grows just like humans and through this we can see
the meaning of huge or bigger than huge.

Stars: Protostar–>Fusion Ignition–>Red Giant/Supergiant–>White Dwarf/Blackhole

Man: Fetus–>Infancy to Adulthood–>Middle Age–>Old Age/Death
During the Fusion Ignition stage, the star is at its regular huge size. But then it grows to a
supergiant, which is of course, is bigger than the huge. Interestingly, the author says in the poem
that he began to write his theology when he is no longer bigger than a huge. If we are to follow
the life cycle of the star as compared to that of humans, then we can assume the the write is in
his Old Age (White Dwarf/Blackhole) stage. Thus life in its entirety has already been experienced
by the speaker (and we assume that the author and the speaker are one). Given this, we can
approximate the age of the speaker and thus the background in one’s life when the poem was
written. It may even be concluded that he just found out or realized or appreciated the
importance of poems and the writing of his own poems during the latter part of his life.

Towards the end of the poem, we can see that the man is actually experiencing an epiphany, the
‘truth’ for him, that no one’s the master of his/herself, but the self itself. Not God. And he only
realize it towards the end, when he was dying and old. And upon realizing it did he only begin to
grow.

The words written in capital letters– Pure, Rage, Wrathful, Gentle, Dark, Vision, Die, and Grow—
present contrasts, as I have mentioned earlier.

Pure vs Rage Wrathful vs Gentle Dark vs Vision (we cannot see in

darkness)
And of course, Die vs Grow

My interpretation of these contrasts is that the transition man is experiencing at a certain point in
his or her life produces tension or confusion at a certain level. The speaker of the poem has come
to an epiphany in his life, that what he truly believes in is false, and that there is actually no
Creator but himself. He was confused by his earlier beliefs, but this confusion of concepts led him
to his realization.

Nine ‘I’s were used in the poem, making it too personal or subjective.

Phonology

There is actually no rhymes in the poem, but the way the words are arranged gives us a certain
rhythm, making the poem lovely to read.

Intertextuality

These are the words that led me to the ‘other’ poems related to Jose Garcia Villa’s “When I Was
No Bigger Than A Huge”: Theology (Ted Hughes’ “Theology”); Tiger (William Blake’s “The Tyger”);
Rage, Gentle (Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”); and the last line I,
began, to, Die, and, I, began, to, Grow is not an unusual theme for poems and there may be
several poems that may be related to that. There may be other poems that is ‘collaged’ by Villa,
but these are only the ones I’ve found.
The first poem that I think was ‘related’ in the Jose Garcia Villa’s “When I Was No Bigger Than A
Huge” is Ted Hughes “Theology”. It is a controversial poem (for me) since it is scandalizing the
common belief of the Church, basically that the Serpent tempted Eve to eat the apple. In
“Theology”, Hughes reversed the story. He says that it was not the serpent who seduced Eve to
the apple. What actually happened was Adam ate the apple, Eve ate Adam, and the Serpent ate
Eve. In short, the poem tries to expose the anomalies of the Church, saying that what it’s
doctrines were ‘corruption of facts’.

Theology by Ted Hughes

“No, the serpent did not

Seduce Eve to the apple.
All that’s simply
Corruption of the facts.
Adam ate the apple.
Eve ate Adam.
The serpent ate Eve.
This is the dark intestine.
The serpent, meanwhile,
Sleeps his meal off in Paradise –
Smiling to hear
God’s querulous calling.”

Interestingly, of course, both poems have the same subject matter—falsity of beliefs incorporated
by the Church. And this may not be significant but ‘huge’ and ‘Hughes’ are somehow similar in
form, such that Jose Garcia Villa may have been influenced by Ted Hughes in writing his own
Theology.

Next poem in the poem being analyzed is William Blake’s “The Tyger”. The tiger alone does not
relate to the poem, but the mention of both the Tiger and the Lamb. The most basic question to
ask in that very early poem is “Who created the Tiger and who created the Lamb?” The Church
will tell you, God created both the Tiger and the Lamb, both Evil and Good, both Negative and
Positive forces. The next question would be “Why? Why did He create such contrasts?” And this
leads us back to Jose Garcia Villa, the contrasts in religion he has found himself into. (Of course, I
have my own belief on why God created such contrasts but that would lead us to St.
Augustine,etc. and thus far from the discussion. )

The Tyger by William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
 Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Thirdly is Dylan Thomas’ “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”. This poem is less religious, but
we can connect it to the ‘Old Age’ status of the speaker in Jose Garcia Villa’s poem. The speaker
in Dylan Thomas’ poem urges his dying father to fight, to ‘rage against the dying of the light’, and
this is exactly what the speaker in Jose Garcia Villa’s poem is doing. He thinks that it was never
too late to criticize his beliefs and to write his own Theology. He says that though it was beginning
to get Dark in that particular point in his life, he was able to see a Vision, and that Vision is the
truth that all men are seeking (at least for the speaker).

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Conclusion:

The poem which is unique in its sense and structure tells of human’s realization. This differs from
human to human, but for the speaker in the poem, the realization is that there is no Creator but
himself. He is in his old age that he experienced this epiphany but for him, that is the time he
begins to grow. We cannot say that Jose Garcia Villa has no religion, but the speaker has not, as
he realized it in the poem. Intertextuality and schema have given us enough bases and grounds to
conclude the meaning/interpretation of the poem.
Nibelungenlied
1. 1. Nibelungenlied
2. 2. Background/History • The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an
epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragonslayer Siegfried at the court of
the Burundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge.
3. 3. •A historical nucleus of the saga lies in events of the Germanic Migration Period, in
particular the defeat of the Burundians by Flavius Etuis with the aid of Hunnish mercenaries
near Worms in ca. AD 436. Other possible influences are the feud between the 6th century
Merovingian queens Brunhilda and Frede gunde, as well as the marriage of Attila with the
Burgundian princess Ildikó in AD 453.
4. 4. Settings: The Nibelungenlied is a German epic poem which was written sometime around
1200, probably in what is today Austria.
5. 5. Characters: of Xanten; dragon-slayer Siegfried - Crown Prince Gunther - King of
Burgundy; his brother Gernot and Giselher Kriemhild - Heroine of Siegfried Brunhild - Queen
of Iceland, a beautiful maiden of almost superhuman strength. Hagen - the faithful vassal of
Gunther Etzel (Attila) - King of Huns Alberich - The dwarf who was the Lord Treasurer of the
Nibelung dynasty. When Siegfried conquered the Nibelung brothers, he took his magic cloak
of invisibility and made Alberich Lord Treasurer of the Nibelung treasure.
6. 6. Summary: The hero of Nibelungelied is Siegfried, the crown prince of Xanten and dragon
slayer, and its heroine Kriemhild the sister of Gunther, king of Burgundy and brothers of
Gernot and Giselher. Kriemhild has a dream of a falcon that is killed by two eagles which
means her future¶s husband will die in a violent death and consequently revolves to remain
unmarried.
7. 7. Summary: Siegfried arrived in Worms (is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the
Rhine River) with the hopes in wooing Kriemhild. Upon his arrival, Hagen, one of King
Gunther's vassals, tells Gunther about Siegfried's youthful exploits that involved winning a
treasure and lands from a pair of brothers, Nibelung and Schilbung, whom Siegfried had
killed when he was unable to divide the treasure between them and, almost incidentally, the
killing of a dragon. Siegfried leaves his treasure in the charge of a dwarf named Alberich.
8. 8. Summary: After killing the dragon, Siegfried then bathed in its blood, which rendered him
invulnerable. Unfortunately for Siegfried, a leaf fell onto his back from a linden tree, and the
small patch of skin that the leaf covered did not come into contact with the dragon's blood,
leaving Siegfried vulnerable in that single spot.
9. 9. Summary: Siegfried finally meets Kriemhild. Gunther requests Siegfried to sail with him to
the fictional city of Isenstein in Iceland to win the hand of the Iceland's Queen, Brünhild.
Siegfried agrees, though only if Gunther allows him to marry Gunther's sister, Kriemhild,
whom Siegfried pines for.
10. 10. Summary: Gunther, Siegfried and a group of Burgundians set sail for Iceland with
Siegfried pretending to be Gunther's vassal. Upon their arrival, Brünhild challenges Gunther
to a trial of strength with her hand in marriage as a reward. If they lose, however, they will be
sentenced to death. She challenges Gunther to three athletic contests, throwing a javelin,
tossing a boulder, and a leap. After seeing the boulder and javelin, it becomes apparent to
the group that Brünhild is immensely strong and they fear for their lives. Gunther wins only
because of Siegfried, putting on his cloak of invinsibility and performs all the actions for him.
11. 11. Summary: Gunther wins Brunhild for his wife and a doble wedding is performed in the
Burgundy. Gunther is married to Brunhild and Siegfried is married to Kriemhild. They had a
son, Brunhild named his son Siegfried while Kriemhild named his son Gunther.
12. 12. Summary: However, on their wedding night, Brünhild suspects something is amiss with
her situation, particularly suspecting Siegfried a potential cause. Gunther attempts to sleep
with her and, with her great strength, she easily ties Gunther up and leaves him that way all
night. Siegfried slips into the room according to plan and after a difficult and violent struggle,
an invisible Siegfried defeats Brünhild. Siegfried then takes her ring and belt, which are
 symbols of defloration. Here it is implied that Siegfried sleeps with Brünhild despite Gunther's
request. Afterwards, Brünhild no longer possesses her once-great strength and says she will
no longer refuse Gunther. Siegfried gives the ring and belt to his own newly wed, Kriemhild.
13. 13. Summary: The two queens had an argument and is both a risk for the marriage of
Gunther and Brünhild and a potential cause for a lethal rivalry between Gunther and
Siegfried, which both Gunther and Siegfried attempt to avoid. Hagen contrives a false
military threat to Gunther and Siegfried, considering Gunther a great friend, volunteers to
help Gunther once again.
14. 14. Summary: Under the context of this threat of war, Hagen persuades Kriemhild, who still
trusts Hagen, to mark Siegfried's single vulnerable point on his clothing with a cross under
the premise of protecting him. Now knowing Siegfried's weakness, the fake campaign is
called off and Hagen then uses the cross as a target on a hunting trip, killing Siegfried with a
spear as he is drinking from a brook. Further dishonoring Siegfried, Hagen steals the hoard
from Kriemhild and throws it into theRhine (Rheingold), to prevent Kriemhild from using it to
establish an army of her own.
15. 15. Revenge: Kriemhild swears to take revenge for the murder of her husband and the theft
of her treasure. Many years later, King Etzel of the Huns (Attila the Hun) proposes to
Kriemhild, she journeys to the land of the Huns, and they are married. For the baptism of
their son, she invites her brothers, the Burgundians, to a feast at Etzel's castle in Hungary.
Hagen does not want to go, but is taunted until he does: he realizes that it is a trick of
Kriemhild in order to take revenge and kill them all. As the Burgundians cross the Danube,
this fate is confirmed by Nixes, who predict that all but one monk will die. Hagen tries to
drown the monk in order to render the prophecy futile, but he survives.
16. 16. Revenge: The Burgundians arrive at Etzel's castle and are welcomed by Kriemhild "with
lying smiles and graces". But the lord Dietrich of Bern, an ally of Etzel's, advises the
Burgundians to keep their weapons with them at all times, which is normally not allowed. The
tragedy unfolds. Kriemhild comes before Hagen, reproaches him for her husband Siegfried's
death, and demands the return of her Nibelungenschatz. Hagen answers her boldly,
admitting that he killed Siegfried and sank the Nibelungen treasure into the Rhine, but
blames these acts on Kriemhild's own behaviour.
17. 17. Revenge: King Etzel then welcomes his wife's brothers warmly. But outside a tense feast
in the great hall, a fight breaks out between Huns and Burgundians, and soon there is
general mayhem. When word of the fight arrives at the feast, Hagen decapitates Kriemhild
and Etzel's little son before his parents' eyes. The Burgundians take control of the hall, which
is besieged by Etzel's warriors. Kriemhild offers her brothers their lives if they hand over
Hagen, but they refuse. The battle lasts all day, until the queen orders the hall to be burned
with the Burgundians inside.
18. 18. Revenge: All of the Burgundians are killed except for Hagen and Gunther, who are
bound and held prisoner by Dietrich of Bern. Kriemhild has the men brought before her and
orders her brother Gunther to be killed. Even after seeing Gunther's head, Hagen refuses to
tell the queen what he has done with the Nibelungen treasure. Furious, Kriemhild herself
cuts off Hagen's head. Old Hildebrand, the mentor of Dietrich of Bern, is infuriated by the
shameful deaths of the Burgundian guests.
19. 19. Revenge: He hews Kriemhild to pieces with his sword. In a fifteenth century manuscript,
he is said to strike Kriemhild a single clean blow to the waist; she feels no pain, however,
and declares that his sword is useless. Hildebrand then drops a ring and commands
Kriemhild to pick it up. As she bends down, her body falls into pieces. Dietrich and Etzel and
all the people of the court lament the deaths of so many heroes

Dahong Lagas (1927)

by Jose Corazon de Jesus

Namamalas mo bang ang dahong nalagas,

Laruan ng hangin sa gitna ng landas,

Kung minsan sa iyong kamay ay mapadpad

Gaya ng paglapit ng kawawang palad?

Ako ay ganyan din, balang araw, irog,

Kung humahagibis ang bagyo at unos

Kagaya ay dahon sa gabing malungkot,

Ako sa piling mo’y ihahatid ng Dios.

Naririnig mo ba ang munting kuliglig

Na sa hatinggabi’y mag-isa sa lamig,

At sa bintana mo’y awit din nang awit

Ng nagdaang araw ng sawing pag-ibig?

Ako man ganyan din, darating ang araw

Na kung ako’y iyong sadyang nalimutan,

Ang kaluluwa ko’y ikaw’y lalapitan

At sa hatinggabi’y payapang hahagkan.

Paghihip ng hangin, pagguhit ng kidlat,

Kung ang hangi’t ulan ay napakalakas,

Kagaya ng dahon sa iyo’y papadpad,

Gaya ng kuliglig sa iyo’y tatawag.

At akong wala na sa iyong paningin,

Limot na ng madla’t halos limot mmo rin,

Walang anu-ano sa gabing madilim,

Dahong ipapadpad sa iyo ng hangin.