The Not-Really Elements of Poetry

Diction: a selection of language, from which the words actually printed on the page have in
turn been selected.i
Tone: (in written composition) attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. Tone is
generally conveyed through the choice of words or the viewpoint of a writer on a particular
subject.ii
Image: what the words actually name.iii
Rhythm (indayog)
ti-TUM ti-TUM ti-TUM ti-TUM ti-TUM
wa-LA a-KONG a-LAM sa-PO e-TRY
an-DA ming-SI na-Sa bi-NI sir-CARL
na-DI ko-WA ring-MA in-TIN di-HAN
please-STOP ka-SI hin-DI ko-NA ma-TAKE
Sound
Alliteration: repetition of initial consonant sounds through a sequence of words
Got a long list of ex-lovers
Theyll tell you Im insane
But I got a blank space babyiv
She
She
She
She

just wants to be beautiful

goes unnoticed, she knows no limits,
craves attention, she praises an image,
prays to be sculpted by the sculptorv

Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds in a sequence of words with different endings

So the FCC wont let me be or let me be me so let me see
they tried to shut me down on MTV but it feels so empty without mevi
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
Theres vomit on his sweater already, moms spaghetti
Hes nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop bombs,
But he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down,
The whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
Hes choking how, everybodys joking now
The clocks run out, times up, over, blaow!vii
Meter: stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern in a verse or within the lines of a poem;
stressed syllables tend to be longer and unstressed shorter

iambic: ka-BOOM ka-BOOM ka-BOOM ka-BOOM

trochiaic: SAM-ba SAM-ba SAM-ba SAM-ba

anapestic: ba-ba-BOOM da-da-DUM ba-ba-BOOM da-da-DUM
dactylic: BI-pi-di BA-pi-di BI-pi-di BA-pi-di

Narrative: story in the poem; a report of related events presented to the listeners or
readers in words arranged in a logical sequence
Meaning: message that the poems intends to communicate
Plot: series of events told in a poem

BOWL LIMN YEAH

Paolo Manalo
See cell yeah, who bought
Who bad, sew cat cut
A one, mass a rough
He mass in. Moo
Comma put la, seek
Moo rah mass socket
The hill doom ooh do
Wall doom ooh do wall
Pay roe Hindi boon tease

from Jolography (2002) which won the first

prize in the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards in
2002.

Pulutan
Vijae Orquia Alquisola
Sa tagay, ikaw ay tumawag ng lakas.
Maghilom, mapanatag pansamantala.
Sumubo, sariwang hiwa ay kumatas.
Nalango1, sa tawanat huntahang2 wagas3.
Limang kaarawang basag kang nagbilang.
Sa tagay, ikaw ay tumawag ng lakas.
Pagtitimpi4, tulad ng bulay umawas5.
Ang iyong tapang, waring6 babad sa suka.
Sumubo, sariwang hiwa ay kumatas.
Naghamon ka, pinal ang pasyang kumalas.
Mga bote at kantyaw, muling nag-umpugan.
Sa tagay, ikaw ay tumawag ng lakas.
Paggising, ulo ay parang napahampas
sa sakitiniinda maging ng dila.
Sumubo, sariwang hiwa ay kumatas.
Walang naniwala sa iyong bulalas7.
Tulad lang ng kinilaw: ikaw ay hilaw.
Sa tagay, ikaw ay tumawag ng lakas.
Sumubo, sariwang hiwa ay kumatas.
from Paglasa sa pansamantala (2014) which
won the first prize in the Carlos Palanca Memorial
Awards in 2014

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

nalango: to become intoxicated

huntuhan: conversation of a group of people
wagas: pure; clean
pagtitimpi: temperance; self-control
umawas: to overflow
wari: it seems/appears; seemingly
bulalas: outcry; yell

Pulutan is an example of villanelle. A villanelle is a verse form consisting of nineteen

lines divided into six stanzasfive tercets (three-line stanzas) and one quatrain (four-line
stanzas). The first and third lines of the first tercet rhyme, and this rhyme is repeated
through each of the next four tercets and in the last two lines of the concluding quatrain.
The villanelle is also known for its repetition of select lines. 8

Pulutan
Vijae Orquia Alquisola
Sa tagay, ikaw ay tumawag ng lakas.
Maghilom, mapanatag pansamantala.
Sumubo, sariwang hiwa ay kumatas.
Nalango, sa tawanat huntahang wagas.
Limang kaarawang basag kang nagbilang.
Sa tagay, ikaw ay tumawag ng lakas.
Pagtitimpi, tulad ng bulay umawas.
Ang iyong tapang, waring babad sa suka.
Sumubo, sariwang hiwa ay kumatas.
Naghamon ka, pinal ang pasyang kumalas.
Mga bote at kantyaw, muling nag-umpugan.
Sa tagay, ikaw ay tumawag ng lakas.
Paggising, ulo ay parang napahampas
sa sakitiniinda maging ng dila.
Sumubo, sariwang hiwa ay kumatas.
Walang naniwala sa iyong bulalas.
Tulad lang ng kinilaw: ikaw ay hilaw.
Sa tagay, ikaw ay tumawag ng lakas.
Sumubo, sariwang hiwa ay kumatas.

8 Beaty, J. & Hunter J. P. (1998). The Norton Introduction to Literature, shorter 7th
edition, New York: Norton.

i Kenner, H. (1959). The Art of Poetry, p. 7. USA: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
ii Tone. https://literarydevices.net/tone/
iii Kenner, H. (1959). The Art of Poetry, p. 47. USA: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
iv Swift, T. (2014). Blank Space, from the album 1989.
v Cara, A. (2016). Scars to Your Beautiful, from the album Know-It-All.
vi Mathers, M. B. III. (2002). Without Me, from the album The Eminem Show.
vii Mathers, M. B. III. (2002). Lose Yourself, from the album Music from and Inspired by
the Motion Picture 8 Mile.