#LIT2SirSol

[h-gabriellain]

The Sick Rose

[Poems from LIT2 Course Guide]

O Rose thou art sick. The invisible worm, That flies in the night In the howling storm: Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy.

By William Blake

[h-gabriellain]

Moonlight on Manila Bay

[Poems from LIT2 Course Guide]

A light, serene, ethereal glory rests Its beams effulgent on each crestling wave; The silver touches of the moonlight wave The deep bare bosom that the breeze molests; While lingering whispers deepen as the wavy crests Roll with weird rhythm, now gay, now gently grave; And floods of lambent light appear the sea to pave- All cast a spell that heeds not time‘s behests. Not always such the scene; the din of fight Has swelled the murmur of the peaceful air; Here East and West have oft displayed their might; Dark battle clouds have dimmed this scene so fair; Here bold Olympia, one historic night, Presaging freedom, claimed a people‘s care.

By Fernando M. Maramag (1893 – 1936) Manila Bay is an important geographical military asset for the country which hoped to control the Pacific ocean.

[h-gabriellain]

"Be Beautiful, Noble, Like the Antique Ant" Jose Garcia Villa

[Poems from LIT2 Course Guide] 

Be beautiful, noble, like the antique ant, Who bore the storms as he bore the sun, Wearing neither gown nor helmet, though he was archbishop and soldier: Wore only his own flesh. Salute characters with gracious dignity: Though what these are is left to Your own terms. Exact: the universe is Not so small but these will be found Somewhere. Exact: they will be found Speak with great moderation: but think With great fierceness, burning passion: Though what the ant thought No annals reveal, nor his descendants Break the seal. Trace the tracelessness of the ant, Every ant has reached this perfection. As he comes, so he goes, Flowing as water flows, Essential but secret like a rose.

[h-gabriellain]

Lyric 17by Jose Garcia Villa

[Poems from LIT2 Course Guide]

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.

Jose Garcia Villa (August 5, 1908 – February 7, 1997) was a Filipino poet, literary critic, short story writer, and painter.  He published several poetry collections in the Philippines and in the United States, including Have Come, Am Here (Viking Press, 1942), which was a finalist for the 1943 Pulitzer Prize. He died in New York City in 1997.