contempoary

8/3/2019 contempoary

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Filipino poetry in English is one of the crowning achievements of our people today.Since the introduction of the English language together with its literary treasure at theadvent of the American rule, it was able to gain bulk, range, from, and substance inshort, maturity and significance to deserve national and even internationalrecognition.

Since the turn of the 20th century, no less than three hundred Filipinos have writtenpoetry with varying sincerity and devotion, and no less than five dozen individualvolumes of verses have been printed here and abroad .

The growth of English as a literary idiom is attributed to the remarkable changeswrought in our country in the 20th century, thereby affecting the manifold phase ofFilipino life. The first of these influence is the establishment of the school systemthroughout the archipelago. Education, from being a privilege of wealth and a mark of

social distinction, became the birthright of every Filipino. With the rapid growth ofeducation in the country, voices have become more and more articulate. The growthof literacy likewise gave a deeper, broader significance to the works of our writers whonow began to speak to and sing for an every-increasing audience formerly confined toa mere community or a thin stratum of literati.


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The second influence is the disappearance of censorshipwhich had characterized the Spanish regime. This had atwofold significance for our literary and cultural growth.For the first time, our writers were enabled to make free

and unhampered contact with the thinkers and writers ofother countries. The literature of the world, its tremendousrichness of thought and feeling and its remarkable varietyof form, now became part of our own literary heritage.


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Natividad Marquez, known at times as Ana Chavez, had written somedistinguished lyrics. Her poems were generally short but displayed thegrace and music of a real artist. Simple in form and expression, herpoems had a rare musical quality. These qualities are clearly evident inthe SAMPAGUITA and THE SEA. She died in the prime of life.

THE SEAWhy does the sea laugh, Mother,As it glints beneath the sun?It is thinking of the joys, my child,

That it wishes every one.Why does the sea sob so, Mother,As it breaks on the rocky shore?It recalls the sorrow of the world,And weeps forevermore.Why is the sea so peaceful, MotherAs if it were fast asleep?It would give our tired hearts, dearest child,The comfort of the deep,

By: Natividad Marquez


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Conrado B. Rigor was both a short story writer and a poet. In 1939, hepublished Sprouts, a collection of light verses and sonnets. Memorial toAmerica, Rigors best poem in vers libre,was included in Carlos BulosansChorus for America. He died after the

liberation.

PORTRAIT PAINTER

My eyes have taught my hand to steal,I stole the ebon-curling of your hair,The tender blush against your cheeks;I stole that piquant curving of your lips,That wistful glitter in your eyes;I stoke the very sight of you.

But still, ah, stillI fain would steal once and for allYour heart.

By: Conrado B. Rigor


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