The poem Lyric 17 by Jose Garcia Villa is about what qualities make poetry good. The author in my opinion is trying to convey the right qualities that are required in a poem to make it satisfactory. I think the poem feels passionate towards poem writing as can be seen through how instead of merely writing an instruction sheet on how to write a good poem, he instead writes a poem about good poems. What more, the language he uses is fanciful and the metaphors and rhyming couplets indicates the thought put behind his work. In the poem, the term “musical as a seagull” may indicate that the poem should be a rarity and something unheard of, a diamond in the rough, very much alike how one has never heard of a musical seagull. The poem similarly should also be fluent. Meanwhile, “brightness moving” may indicate how poems’ should not be dark, it should be optimistic and pleasant and should not be constant, rather captivating and intriguing one’s reader. The phrase “hold’s secret a bird’s flowering” is a metaphor that indicates towards the hatching of a bird’s young from an egg. This represents showing a new perspective to the reader and how the poem should inspire its audience to think and not merely be able to find it’s meaning from merely reading it. “Fire as well” represents wit and brain in a poem that makes a poem interesting and not dull. “Slender as a bell” refers to how bells have multiple sizes and alike how a poem’s size is not fixed and it all depends on the maker’s choice. “Wisdom of bows” has multiple meanings such as; firstly, the tradition of bowing, secondly, archery and lastly, ribbon tying. All things that are in different areas and hold symbolisms such as bowing being a form of respect, archery being a skill that can be used as a form of leisure or someone’s livelihood and bows something for aesthetic purposes. These differing forms of arts all indicate how wisdom is not merely restricted to a certain subject and person. “Kneel like a rose” indicates humility in beauty and strength. While a rose is beautiful, it has unseen strength in thorns and kneeling indicates submission thus subsequently referring to humility. Meanwhile, “must be able to hear” shows that the poem must be sensitive and be able to sense it’s reader while guiding and appeal to it’s audience with more than visual imagery. “Luminance of dove and deer” possible gives references to the how a deer symbolizes gentleness and the dove purity. “Must be able to hide”, and “seeks like a bride” brings attention how while the poems meaning should not be in clear vision, it should not be completely obscured to the point it is lost. As well as indicating that it should draw the audience attention like how the bride seeks attention on special day. “Hover God smiling from the poem’s cover” shows that the writer of the poem would be the “God of the poem and has free rule over the poem instead of something obstructing his ability to create freely. Throughout the poem, the word “must” is used eight times. This shows the writers compulsion as to how strongly he feels that all writers should follow the guidelines above in poem writing. In the poem, he also draws a
lot of references to nature; this possibly indicates that the writer thinks that good poems should draw inspiration from nature. The poem uses metaphors, rhyming couplets, the form of a sonnet while using 14 lines and naming the poem “lyric 17” alike how the famous poets of the past all did not give names to their poems. The above literary uses all help draw attention to the poem with the exception of the title, which is of little relevance apart from the poem’s 14 lines form. I do not think the poem’s title is appropriate as it hold no meaning and depth apart from superficial purposes such as wanting to bring it’s standard closer to authors such as Shakespeare. While it draws attention, it holds little or no relevance for its audience. I personally do not like the poem. This is because I feel that poem writing should be about the free expression of emotions instead of following a guideline to make it interesting. I also feel that poetry does not have to be musical to be beautiful and that some poetry appeals to certain audience. Also, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, so therefore it is nearly impossible to make a poem appeal to all its audience. Therefore while the poem draws attention with all its unseen meanings and rhyming, I feel that it is too restricting and does not encourage freedom of speech so while it may appeal to certain reader’s it does not reach out to me. Q9. Classify questions 1 to 7 under the fist paradigm. FORM -Q4,5 INTENTION -Q1,2,3,4,5,6,7 SENSE –Q4 TONE -Q2,4,5 Q10. The questions can come from and question any part of poetry.
