Tagalog literature; a historico-critical study.

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GRAMMAR, DICTIONARIES, POETIC ART 67
difficult part, while the second is the easy part of the poetic
art. In the first, all verses must end with an accented syllable,
and this is what makes it difficult. However, there is not a
a hard-and-fast rule about that. The first verse may end in an
accented syllable while the succeeding ones may not, and still
the poem is not incorrect. An example of each of these three
forms will illustrate this very clearly. The accented syllable
endings:
Ngayon ay ligid ka ng puri at dangdl,
ang bawa't gawa mo'y pinapalakpakcn;
nguni't ng mabulid sa kapahamnakan,
buld ang dangal mong nagtungo kung sacn. (1)
The unaccented syllable endings:
Dilag lamang ng salapi't halimuyak ng pagsuyo
ang malamang ng bahagya sa matamis na pangako:
ang salitang ito mandi'y gata't pulot na naghalo
at masusing natitinggal sa ubod ng bawa't puso;
kaluluang nasusukol sa gipit na pagkasubo,
dali-daling ginigikban ng pangakong umaako. (2)
The combination of the two:
Pinaghinawaa ng nwcagupas va daumt,
dumupok na kdyong gutay o gulanit,
kinayamutdn na sa dami ng punit
ng mga karayom at mga sinulid. (3)
Unlike English poetry, but like the Spanish which exercised
a no mean influence on it, not all the Tagalog verses composing
a poem begin with a capital letter, as may be noticed in the
foregoing examples. Only the first word of each stanza,
and the first word following a period, a question mark, or an
exclamation, are capitalized. For example: (4)
"Tumawva ka, anya't ang makikita.va'y buiung Sangdaigdig
lumuha ka't ikaw magisang lalagok ng lithang mapait.
(1) A paragraph of Ang Bula written by Amrado V. Hernandez in Pagkakaisa, Dec. 17, 1927.
(2) The First stanza of Pedro Gatmaitan's Ang Pangako, published in
Aliaptap, Sept. 12, 1929. -
(3) The first stanza of Lope K. Santos' Basahan of the weekly Liway-
way, Sept. 6, 1929. - "
(4) A Stanza of J. C. Balmaceda's Ang Anak ni Eba, published in All -:
taptap, Sept. 12, 1929..
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