A textula

FRANK RIVERA

MR. DOMINGO S. SAGNIP JR.

Master Teacher I
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frank Rivera, a playwright, was born on
February 29, 1948 in Paete, Laguna. He
finished his Bachelor of Arts in English-Filipino at
the University of the Philippines. He received
recognition for a number of his plays like
Ambon, Ulan, Baha: Sarsuwelang Pinoy (2003)
and Oyayi, Ang Zarzuela (2004).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Also, he received awards for the Makata sa
Cellphone (2005), a collection of poetry
which includes his popular textula. For his
works, TEXTULA, he was dubbed as the
“Makata sa Cell Phone.”
 A TEXTULA
By Frank Rivera

Merong himala, hindi totoong wala

Ituro ma’y mali, alam nati’y tama
Kahit walang sagot itong panalangin
Hindi tumitigil ang ating paghiling.

Walang nagturo na tayo’y makibaka

Ngunit sulirani’y ating binabata
Kahit may pangakong laging
napapako
Sa anumang init, handa ring mapaso.

Sa ating puso’y may awit ng pag-asa

Kahit titik nito’y hindi makabisa
Ang katotohana’y lalaging totoo
Basta maniwalang mayroong milagro.
LITERARY ELEMENT
STRUCTURE
The poem is a piece of lyric poetry. It is
composed of three stanzas, and each stanza
has four lines. It has a regular meter to which
each line consists of twelve syllables.
LITERARY ELEMENT
SOUND DEVICE
The poem uses what is called in Tagalog poetry
as “tugmang karaniwan” wherein the last syllable
of each line has the same sound. Except the last
two lines of the first stanza which uses the
“tugmang katinig”, the rest of the lines of the
poem uses “tugmang patinig,” to which the last
words of the lines have the same vowel sound.
LITERARY ELEMENT
FIGURES SPEECH
Oxymoron
Merong himala, hindi totoong wala
Ituro ma’y mali, alam nati’y tama
Metaphor
Kahit may pangakong laging napapako
Personification
Sa ating puso’y may awit ng pag-asa
Kahit titik nito’y hindi makabisa
LITERARY ELEMENT
IMAGERY
Touch: Sa anumang init, handa ring mapaso.
Sound: Sa ating puso’y may awit ng pag-asa
Sight: Kahit titik nito’y hindi makabisa
LITERARY ELEMENT
MOOD/TONE

The author’s mood/tone is sad because of

hopelessness, but positive in dealing with his
problem.
LITERARY ELEMENT
THEME
Hopeful in spite of difficulties in life brought
about by the social and economic
condition.
Positive in dealing with these adversities.
LITERARY APPROACH
SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT
The poem depicts the long-time problem of
the society - the poverty - which make the
Filipinos to become resilient and hopeful in
their everyday struggles in life. They do not
lose hope that at the end they will win the
battle against this social problem.
KEY POINTS
Both Amador T. Daguio’s and Frank Rivera’s
poems are lyric poetry and possess
traditional elements. Both poems use end
rhymes. However, Daguio’s poem has no
regular meter, while Rivera’s poem has.
 I HEARTILY
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