The Chamber of the Sea by Edith Tiempo Award for Literature, and first prize in

the Philippine Free Press literary contests

Description in 1955 and 1959.
• Tio Teban tries to escape his hometown ,
Bangan. Due to some actions and Literary Features
expectations of his father. That’s why he Plot
lives with the family of his cousin Amalia. Exposition
For five years, Tio Teban feels lonely • The Ferrer family owns a rice land
when residing with his cousin Amalia's they’re expecting Teban to inherit after
family because he is unable to his father’s death. However, Teban
communicate his actual feelings to them. prefers tending to his rose garden, reading,
And then one day a telegram arrive, and painting to mucking around in mud
announcing his father’s death, he feels and riding a horse, things his
grief as well as freedom. He is glad to be father disapproves of.
free from his father’ criticism and runs to
the beach where he believes he sees a Rising Action
mermaid and a merman. • When Teban’s reluctance lead to his
brother-in-law, Antero to manage the
Authorship lands, his sisters berate him for
• Edith L. Tiempo, was one of the finest discontinuing the Ferrer family name.
Filipino writers in English. She was born Fed up with the non-acceptance at home,
on April 22, 1919, in Bayombong, Nueva Teban moved to Dumaguete to take up
Vizcaya. Together with her late husband, graduate work in the university.
they founded and directed the Silliman
National Writers Workshop in Climax
Dumaguete City, which has produced • One afternoon, Teban received telegram
some of the Philippines' best writers. She informing him of his father’s death.
was conferred the National Artist Award Anticipating the complaints he’d receive
for Literature in 1999, the Gawad from his sisters regarding the rice land,
Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas Award Teban walked to the beach, only this time,
in 1988, the Don Carlo Palanca Memorial he witnessed the unbelievable.
• Falling Action
• About seven or eight fisherman and their
wives were standing on the coast,
inspecting the catch that had been laid out
on the sand. Tio Teban realized that there
were mermaid and merman in the popular
tales.
Denouement
• Tio Teban believed that these creatures
were lovely in their homes and were
taken care of by their family. He believed
that they could have been left to die in the
sea.
Settings
• The story happens in the afternoon at the
coastal city of Dumanguete, where the
protagonist feels caged and suffocates by
not being able to express his thoughts and
feelings to his family.
Conflict
• Man vs Self
Narrative Devices
• Chronological Narrative
Symbols
• Mermaid and Merman - It represents
Teban as something in between a man
and a woman.
• Dumanguete Coastline- It symbolizes
opportunities. Here, Teban finished his
education and found solace to clear his
mind of bad memories.
Tone of the Story
• Depressing and pressured.
Point of View
• Third Person Omniscient
Theme
• Escaping from reality, from life, and from
family pressures.
Other Point of Interest
• The story Chambers of the Sea by Edith
Tiempo sublty and delicately depicts a
man named Teban Ferrer or Tio Teban
(Uncle Teban), as addressed by the
narrator who grows from Bangan and his
diaspora to Dumaguete, whose growing
up and eventual maturity is put into a test,
interrogation, scrutiny and suspicion
based from his sexuality or normativity
and performativity. Hence, the haunting
 question whether Tio Teban is gay,
homosexual or queer is focused in the
lens of queer theory and analysis.
Salviejo, A.(2021). Edith Tiempo Biography.
prezi.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://prezi.com/p/t5vciiseo4qm/edith-
tiempo-biography/

• The short story conveys one’s search for

acceptance of his or her true identity in
the eyes of faith, family, and society. It
explores the roles men and women ought
to play in society. Men are stereotypically
described as wise, strong, natural-born
leaders, and breadwinners, whereas
women are described as keepers of the
house, guardians of the children, and
performers of dainty activities.

References

Admin. (2018, January 12). The chambers of

the Sea, sample of essays. EduCheer!
Retrieved from
https://educheer.com/essays/ef-bb-
bfthe-chambers-of-the-sea/

Valois, W. (2011). Queerness of Identity in

the Philippines in Edith ... -
EzineArticles. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://ezinearticles.com/?Queerness-of-
Identity-in-the-Philippines-in-Edith-
Tiempos-The-Chambers-of-the-
Sea&id=5814802

Edith Tiempo: Govph. Official Gazette of the

Republic of the Philippines. (2015,
April 22). Retrieved from
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/bann
er-artwork/edith-tiempo/
Benjamin by Angel M. Magahum
Description
• Benjamin was a pampered kid who was
sent to Manila to study but ended up in
trouble. Inocencia was pregnant when he
chose to leave her and go back to his
hometown due to the enormous debt. He
marries Margarita, who comes out as
obstinate. He misses Inocencia's
goodness but a letter informs him that
Inocencia and their child passed away.
Inocencia’s brother seek revenge of what
his sister had been throughs, Inocenia’s
brother Serafin planned to have an affair
to Margarita and kidnapped the son of
Benjamin. He searches for his son, but
he's nowhere to be found. Margarita went
crazy and died. In grief, Benjamin sold
the property and moved to Sugbu.
Authorship
• Angel Magahum is considered
"Father of the Ilonggo novel". He wrote
Benjamin (1907), the first Ilonggo novel.
Magahum's novels deal with common
customs mixed with historical discussion.
He also wrote plays and short stories. It is
said that Angel Magahum
encouraged to write plays because he
watched a performance of
Compania de la Zarzuela Tagala by
Severino Reyes. Some of his sarsuellas
are Buhi Pa (1904, Still Alive), Gugma
sang Maluib (1907, Traitor's Love), and
Ang Dungog (1907, The Honor).
Literary Features
Plot
Exposition
• Benjamin was sent to Manila to study,
but ended up troubled. He got Inocencia
pregnant but because of the huge debt he
decided to leave the girl and return to his
hometown. He marries Margarita who
appears stubborn, while being with
Margarita he misse the goodness of
Inocencia.
Rising Action
• A letter tells him that Inocencia and their
child have died. Margarita became
addicted to gambling and committed
the adultery with Pepito, a family friend, and
became the father of the girl's child.
Benjamin found out all this in a letter
from Pepito, besides confessing that he
was Serafin, Inocencia's brother, and he
did everything to take revenge.
was
Gran
Climax
• Serafin kidnapped Margarito Benjamin’s Symbols
son. Benjamin's search was futile. • Inocencia- represents the goodness in
Margarita went crazy and died. In grief, Benjamin’s life but he let it slip.
Benjamin sold the property and moved to
Sugbu. At sea, he witnessed a riot. A man, • Margarita- just like a liquor it taste like
Serafin, killed the captain of the ship and the life of Benjamin after he married
his wife and sent his three children to the Margarita, his life became sour, salty, and
sea. bitter.
Tone of the Story
Falling Action • Regretful and nostalgic.
• There was a fire and Serafin died.
Benjamin and the three children were Point of View
rescued. Benjamin's life prospered in • First Person
Sugbu.
Theme
Denouement • Life is full of surprises you just have to
• Benjamin helped the needy when his life be prepared for what's coming
prospered. But he was robbed and because you never know what it will
suffered again. He was forced to return to bring in front of you.
his hometown.
Other Point of Interest
Settings • In the analysis of Resil B. Mojares (1983),
• The story happens in Manila, where the he noted the "ambiguous form" of
protagonist suffer from his own doings. Benjamin as fiction. It wants to be a
novel, but like the first works at the
Conflict beginning of the 20th century, it has the
• Man vs. Man characteristics of the old books of
manners and moralistic stories during the
Narrative Devices Spanish colonialism.
• Flashbacks
• It wanted to bring a current "picture" of
life but ended up with the old preaching
about proper living.

Reference
Benjamin. (2015). In V. Almario
(Ed.), Sagisag Kultura (Vol 1). Manila:
National Commission for Culture and
the Arts. Retrieved
from https://philippineculturaleducation.
com.ph/benjamin/
Letter to Pedro, U.S. Citizen, Also Called has participated as an Asia Foundation
Pete by Rene Estella Amper Writing Fellow at the Silliman U.
Summer Writers' Workshop in 1968 and
Description 1969. He has also shared the 2'nd Palanca
• The poem displays the closeness of the prize in poetry in 1989 with Fatima Lim
persona and Pedro. He summarizes there for a collection called All Else Is Grass .
childhood memories before the road and René joined in the creation of
bridge was made. The creation of road BATHALAD, and he began writing
gives the farmers access to the market poetry in the vernacular. He learned to
and many other things. The rich becomes write in English, and many poets
richer, poor becomes poorer, and women influenced his style or approach to poetry.
are left to become whores. He wrote to
Pedro who moved to the US with a Literary Features
western wife to inform him of the Imagery
developments that were taking place in • Auditory
the town and how these advancements “In the church the men talk, sleep; the
altered the simplicity and beauty of the children play.”
town and affected the townsfolk. He “Last night the storm came and blew away
mentioned the destruction of the forests the cornflowers. The cornfields are full of
to make way for the feeder road and how cries.”
this event in the modernization of their
town affected the farmers. He also • Visual
revealed the vices that the farmers were “ Last night the storm came and blew away
slaves to. He cited the behavior the the cornflowers.”
people displayed In church. He flippantly “Now there's a barbed wire fence about them;
discussed how women became more the birds have gone away.”
acquisitive.
• Tactile/ Thermal
Authorship “after she was hit by a truck while crossing
• Rene Estella Amper was born on October the street.”
18, 1940 in Boljoon, Cebu. as poet, he
“had split the skin of our young lizards to Scansion
make us a man many years ago.”
Pete, old/ friend,
Symbols (Trochaic Monometer)
• The double persona of Pedro and Pete - there is/n’t real/ly much/ change
Pedro symbolizes the life before while (Iambic Trimeter)
Pete represents the present life. in our/ hometown/ since you/ left.
(Trochaic Trimeter)
• Barbed wire fence- represents the
boundary between the poor and the rich This mor/ning I/ couldn’t/ find any/more
(Iambic Tetrameter)
• Bulldozer- symbolizes the modernity who the grave/ of Si/meona/, the cat/we bu/ried
build the present and who wreck the past. (Iambic Pentameter)
at the/ foot of/ Miguel’s/ mango/ tree,
Figures of Speech (Trochaic Tetrameter)
• Verbal Irony when we/ were grade/ four,
“Pete, old friend; there isn't really much (Iambic Dimeter)
change in our hometown since you left.” after/ she was/ hit by/ a truck/ while
cros/sing
• Personification (Iambic Pentameter)
“The cornfields are full of cries.” the street/. The bull/dozer/ has messed/ it up/
(Trochaic Pentameter)
• Idiom while ma/king the/feeder/ road in/to
“The farmers come down every Sunday the/mountains/
to sell their agony and their sweat for (Iambic Hexameter)
a few pesos.” to reach/ the hearts/ of the/ farmers/.
(Trochaic Tetrameter)
Rhyme The far/mers come/ down eve/ry Sun/day
• Free verse (Iambic Tetrameter)
to sell/ their a/gony/ and their/ sweat for/
(Iambic Pentameter)
a few/ pesos/, lose in/ the cock/pit or/ get (Trochaic Tetrameter)
(Trochaic Pentameter) The ma/yor owns/ a big/ sugar/ planta/tion,
drunk on/ the way/ home. three/
(Iambic Dimeter) (Iambic Hexameter)
A steel/ bridge named/ after the/ new cars/, and a/ mansion/ with the/ gate
congress/man’s wife/ over/hung
(Iambic Pentameter) (Iambic Pentameter)
now spans/ the gray/ river/ where Ta/syo, with sam/pagui/ta. In/side the/ gate
the/ old (Iambic Tetrameter)
(Iambic Pentameter) are guys/ who car/ry a/ rifle/ and a /pistol./
goat, had/ split the/ skin of/ our young/ (Trochaic Hexameter)
lizards/ We still/ go to/ Konga’s/ store for/ rice,
(Trochaic Pentameter) (Trochaic tetrameter)
to make/ us a/ man years/ ago./ and sar/dines and/ sugar/ and nails/ for the/
(Trochaic Tetrameter) coffin./
(Iambic Hexameter)
The long/ blue hills/ where we/ Still on/ly a /handful/ go to/ Mass on/
(Iambic Trimeter) Sundays./
used to/ shoot birds/ with sling/shot or/ (Trochiac Hexameter)
spend In the/ church the/ men talk/, sleep, the/
(Trochaic Tetrameter) children/
the sum/mer af/ternoons/ we loved/ so much/ (Trochiac Pentameter)
doing/ play.The/ priest is/ sad.
(Iambic Hexameter) (Trochaic Dimeter)
nothing/ in the/ tall grass/ have been/ bought Last night/ the storm/ came and/ blew a/way
(Trochaic Tetrameter) (Iambic Tetrameter)
by the/ mayor’s/ son. Now/ there’s barbed the corn/flowers./ The corn/field are/ full of/
/wire cries./
(Trochaic Tetrameter) (Iambic Hexameter)
fence a/bout them/, the birds/ have gone/ Your cou/sin, Ju/lia has /just be/come a/
away./ whore.
(Trochaic Pentameter) (Trochaic Dimeter)

She liked/ good clothes/, good food,/ big P. S./ Tasyo/, the old/ goat,
mo/ney. (Trochaic Trimeter)
(Iambic Tetrameter) sends your/ lizard/ his war/mest
That’s why/ she be/came a /whore. con/gratu/lations./
(Trochaic Trimeter) (Trochaic Hexameter)
Now our /hometown/ has se/ven whores./
(Iambic Tetrameter) Theme
• Look forward to the future and don't
Peter/ old friend,/ forget the past but, stop to enjoy the
(Trochaic Dimeter) present moment called now.
every/ time we/ have good/ reason/ to get/
drunk Other Point of Interest
(Trochaic Pentameter) • The poem has no regular rhyme, no
and be/ carried/ home in/ a wheel/barrow,/ regular length, and no regular stanza for.
(Iambic Pentameter) However, the images and sentiments of
we al/ways re/member/ you. Oh /we miss/ the poet are vividly present.
(Iambic Pentameter) • This poem is a response to the on-going
both Pete/ and Ped/ro. reality of Filipino immigration to foreign
(Iambic Dimeter) countries to seek greener pastures due to
a calamity of problems the Philippines is
Remem/ber us/ to your/ Ame/rican /wife, facing as reflected by the sentence
(Trochaic Pentameter) enjambment, melancholic imagery,
your luc/ky bas/tard, Is/law, your/ cock-eyed/ blatant satire and double persona.
(Iambic Pentameter) • This poem is not just a letter to Pedro or
uncle/, now calls/ himself/ Stanley/ Pete, but also a letter to all Filipinos who
(Trochaic Tetrameter) are unwilling to be the instigators of the
after /he be/gan wea/ring clothes /you sent/ change the country desperately needs to
(Trochaic Pentameter) solve its problems.
him last/ Christmas/.
References

Rene Estella Amper. (n.d.). Retrieved

December 10, 2022, from
https://reneestellaampersm2a01.blogspo
t.com/

New York Essays. (n.d.). Retrieved December

from https://newyorkessays.com/essay-
letter-to-pedro-u-s-citizen-also-called-
pete/

Padernal, J. (n.d.). Letter to Pedro, U.S.

citizen, also called Pete. Share and
Discover Knowledge on SlideShare.
Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/trinorei22/let
ter-to-pedro-us-citizen-also-called-pete
The Wedding Dance by Amador Daguio
Description
• The story is about a married couple,
Awiyao and Lumnay, who were
separating for the reason that they could
not have a baby even if they have been
married for so long. Awiyao, the husband,
has to marry another woman despite the
fact that he is still in love with his wife,
Lumnay. It is because of their tribes
tradition that if a couple could not bear a
child together, they need to separate in
order for the man to find a woman who
could bear him a son that could continue
his lineage in his tribe for a child is
considered as a sign of manhood in their
tribe..
Authorship
• Amador Daguio was born in the Ilocos
province of the Philippines in 1912. He
began writing poetry in high school and
published his first poem before he
graduated. Throughout his career, he
taught at a number of schools in the
Philippines and also worked as a lawyer,
editor, reporter, and public relations
officer for the Filipino government. In his
writing, Daguio seeks to establish a pure
Filipino voice, distinct from its colonizers.
Even in English, Daguio’s writing is
Filipino in essence.
Literary Features
Plot
Exposition
• On the ever of the wedding of Awiyao to
the other woman, Awiyao decided to go
back home because he couldn’t find
Lumnay among the dancers in his
wedding when in fact, Lumnay was one
of the greatest dancers in their tribe. He
found Lumnay in the darkest part of their
house.
Rising Action
• Both of them talked with each other,
talking and reminiscing the times when
they were once a couple, finding it hard
to finally let go of the other for they still
loved each other deeply.
Climax
• Lumnay tdecided to go to the chief of the
tribe and question the unwritten tradition.
That gave her the courage to go to the
place where the wedding dance was held.
Falling Action
• Before reaching the exact place, she
stopped her tracks and admitting her
 defeat, for she realized that she loved
Awiyao very much and that she would
rather lose him and see him happy than to
keep him and see him miserable for not
being able to have a baby.
Denouement
• Lumnay sits on the side of the mountain
overlooking the blazing fire and dancing
women, thinking about how her life has
changed. She has a sense of desperation,
isolation, and worthlessness.
Settings
• Long time ago, in a mountainous area
somewhere in the Cordillera where there
is sadness and tense conversation
between the married couple.
Conflict
• Man vs. Society
Narrative Devices
• Chronological Narrative
Symbols
• The Beads- Symbolizes the promise that
Awiyao made to Lumnay.
• The Fire- The fire or flames signify the
burning intensity of both love and hate
that Lumnay feels in the situation.
• The Night- The night time setting
symbolically adds to the darkness and
isolation that Lumnay feels as she runs
away from the village.
Tone of the Story
• Melancholic, sympathetic and apologetic
Point of View
• Third Person Central
Theme
• True love is wanting the best for the other
person, and therefore not only hurting
over the things that cause them pain but
also being willing to sacrifice own
desires for their good.
Other Point of Interest
• Wedding Dance has something to do with
tradition. In most Filipino ethnic
festivities and celebrations like that of a
wedding, a dance is indispensable. It
stands for a tradition being sacred and
essential, something that should never be
defied nor questioned. The story revolves
on how the characters’ tradition can be an
instrument to the preservation of their
culture and the promotion of peace, but
on the contrary, it also shows how this
tradition can demolish the privilege that
 make one decide for his or her own self, https://essaylead.com/wedding-dance-
plotsummary/
and how it can take away one’s rights to
act according to his or her own freewill. New York Essays. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://newyorkessays.com/essay-a-
• The plot technique that Daguio used in
critical-analysis-of-amador-daguios-
his story is quite impressive. His wedding-dance/
deviation from the traditional plot
structure is a different, yet interesting
way of creating a style of his own. Unlike
the usual flow of a story where it starts
with the introduction until it reaches the
problem, Daguio in the beginning of the
story already revealed the conflict. What
is more interesting about his technique is
it (the story) still allows a sense of
suspense despite the fact that the conflict
is already introduced in the beginning.

References

Clever Prototypes, L. L. C. (n.d.). The

wedding dance by Amador Daguio
Summary & Analysis - Student Activities:
StoryboardThat. Storyboard That.
Retrieved from
https://www.storyboardthat.com/lesson-
plans/wedding-dance-by-amador-daguio

Dan. (2022, August 17). Wedding dance by

Amador Daguio Summary and analysis
essay example. Free Essays -
PhDessay.com. Retrieved from
https://phdessay.com/wedding-dance/

Wedding dance plot/summary - free essay

example by Essaylead. Essaylead. (2017,
July 15). Retrieved from
Quietness by Amador Daguio Literary Features
Imagery
Description • Auditory
• It's a poem written by the Philippine “I am lover of quietness-
author Amador Daguio. This poem is a Unechoed songs within a silent heart,”
wonderful example of how beautiful
words can mask misery. In each of his “I love the quiet ways of memory,
stanza's he eludes to the pain and misery The quiet looks to give you loving praise,”
he suffers from the initial subject. An
example would be of god. He adores the • Visual
beautify of nature, but bemoans the “The moving clouds, the sun, the dewy leaf.”
essence of god. He is sad that he must
question, but not openly, thus his Symbols
questions afford him grief • Quietness- it symbolizes peace and
calmness
Authorship
• Amador Daguio was born in the Ilocos Figure of Speech
province of the Philippines in 1912. He • Personification
began writing poetry in high school and “The moving clouds, the sun, the dewy leaf.”
published his first poem before he
graduated. Throughout his career, he • Idiom
taught at a number of schools in the “A silver pond, a statued loveliness”
Philippines and also worked as a lawyer,
editor, reporter, and public relations Sound of the Poem
officer for the Filipino government. In his • Consonance
writing, Daguio seeks to establish a pure “Unechoed songs within a silent heart,
Filipino voice, distinct from its colonizers. A silver pond, a statued loveliness”
Even in English, Daguio’s writing is
Filipino in essence. • Repetition
“I love the quiet ways of memory,
The quiet looks to give you loving praise,
The quiet secrets of my misery (Trochaic Tetrameter)
Through quiet nights and days.” The mo/ving clouds,/ the sun,/ the de/wy
leaf./
Rhyme (Iambic Pentameter)
• Cross Rhyming My quiet/ questio/ning of/ God a/bove,
• Terminal Rhyme or End Rhyme (Trochaic Tetrameter)
My quiet,/ tearless/ grief.
Rhyme Scheme (Iambic Dimeter)
• ABAB CDCD EFEF
Theme
Scansion • People who are silent are the ones who
carry a heavy burden and so much misery
I am/ lover/ of quiet/ness- that they want to scream.
(Iambic Trimeter)
Une/choed songs/ within/ a si/lent heart,/ Other Point of Interest
(Trochaic Pentameter) • The title quietness say to the poem that
A sil/ver pond,/ a sta/tued love/liness/ the writer loves quietness the particular
(Iambic Pentameter) reason for this circumstance is being
Where words/ can take/ no part./ quiet can represent calmness or misery.
(Trochaic Trimeter) Calmness because you can find peace of
mind in a place where is quiet and serene.
I love/ the quiet/ ways of/ memo/ry, And, misery because some things are
(Iambic Tetrameter) better left unsaid, where in people tend to
The quiet/ looks to/ give you/ loving/ praise, choose to be quiet despite of the battling
(Trochaic Tetrameter) emotions inside.
The quiet/ secrets/ of my/ mise/ry
(Trochaic Tetrameter) References
Through quiet/ nights and/ days.
Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, December 3).
(Iambic Dimeter)
Amador daguio. Wikipedia. Retrieved
from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amador_
The quiet/ mountains/ of the/ earth I/ love,
Daguio
UBD Library. Quietness - UBD Library.
(n.d.). Retrieved from
http://ubdlibrary.wikidot.com/quietness

BATSTATEU RMIS. (n.d.). Morphological

Analysis of Contemporary Philippine
Poetry Retrieved from
http://www.cti.batstate-
u.edu.ph/rmis/?do=guestview&go=gues
tviewresearch&researchid=3265
Man of Earth by Amador Daguio Even in English, Daguio’s writing is
Filipino in essence.
Description
• The subject matter is that we must reflect Literary Features
and try to dig deep to ourselves and relate Imagery
ourselves with a bamboo. The poet is • Auditory
pronouncing about what certainly is the “Do I have to whisper
basis of our life and what the end result My every sin and grief?”
from that basis of life is. It
speaks about the old story • Visual
of “Si Malakas at si Maganda”, a Filipino “Am I of the body,
story of creation. It as well says about a Or of the green leaf?”
bamboo that can be compared to us most
specially the Filipino people. Bamboo is • Tactile
not just an ordinary plant that we must “Bend me then, O Lord,
regret. It has features and most especially Bend me if you can.”
its awesome characteristics that made us
similar to them. Symbols
• Bamboo - The bamboo plant bends when
Authorship a strong wind passes by; this symbolizes
• Amador Daguio was born in the Ilocos the Filipinos, who remained strong during
province of the Philippines in 1912. He the colonization era.
began writing poetry in high school and
published his first poem before he • Winds -symbolizes the nations that
graduated. Throughout his career, he colonized the Philippines.
taught at a number of schools in the
Philippines and also worked as a lawyer, Figure of Speech
editor, reporter, and public relations • Allusion
officer for the Filipino government. In his “They say that from the bamboo
writing, Daguio seeks to establish a pure We had our first birth.”
Filipino voice, distinct from its colonizers.
• Personification
“If the wind passes by,
Must I stoop and try”
Sound of the Poem
• Rhyme
Rhyme
• Terminal Rhyme or End Rhyme
• Cross Rhyming
Scansion
Pliant/ is the /bamboo;/
(Trochaic Trimeter)
I am/ a man/ of earth/;
(Iambic Trimeter)
They say/ that from/ the bam/boo
(Iambic Trimeter)
We had/ our first/ birth.
(Trochaic Dimeter)
Am I/ of the/ body,/
(Trochaic Trimeter)
Or of/ the green /leaf?
(Iambic Dimeter)
Do I/ have to/ whisper /
(Trochaic Trimeter)
My eve/ry sin/ and grief?/
(Iambic Trimeter)
If the/ wind pas/ses by/,
(Iambic Trimeter)
Must I/ stoop and/ try
(Trochaic Dimeter)
To mea/sure ful/ly
(Iambic Dimeter)
My fle/xibi/lity?/
(Trochaic Trimeter)
I might/have been/ the bam/boo,
(Iambic Trimeter)
But I/ will be/ a man./
(Trochaic Trimeter)
Bend me/ then, O /Lord,
(Iambic Dimeter)
Bend me/ if you/ can.
(Trochaic Dimeter)
Theme
• In the midst of chaos and life’s
storm,keep stillness inside of you.
Other Point of Interest
• One way of understanding a poem is to
look at the time it was written. Man of
Earth was written in 1932. There were a
few important events occurring in the
Philippines during this time. One such
event was the convention between the
United States of America and Great
Britain delimiting the boundary between
the Philippine archipelago and the State
 of North Borneo. It's possible that Daguio
used "winds" in his poem as a substitute
for the nations that took turns in
colonizing the country.

References

Man of Earth. Studymode. (n.d.). Retrieved

from
https://www.studymode.com/essays/Ma
n-Of-Earth-63042337.html

Man of earth: A poem by Amador T. Daguio

(critical analysis). The Cordilleran Sun.
(n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.cordilleransun.com/2021/08
/man-of-earth-poem-by-amador-t-
daguio.html

Chapter 3 - Literature in car and NCR - car's

literature influence by geographical
features, culture. Studocu. (n.d.).
Retrieved from
https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/
icct-colleges-foundation/hospitality-
management/chapter-3-literature-in-car-
and-ncr/22814038

Scribd. (n.d.). Biography of Amador Daguio.

Scribd. Retrieved from
https://www.scribd.com/document/3783
41652/Biography-of-Amador-Daguio