My Sonnet: To My Grandmother

                                Thou art more precious than diamond rings 

                                Thy face shimmers though 'tis wrinkled and old.  

                                Ne'er giving up, you withstand strong winds

                                Continue dreaming, this is what you told.

                                In your warm arms is where I want to be,

                                When I'm with thee in happiness I drowned

                                Suddenly, death took you away from me,

                                And mine heart was crushed like the desert's sand.

                                Darkness dimm'd the light and the heavens cried

                                 I look up and shout as loud as I could,

                                Wishing once more I can be by your side.

                                Our mem'ry is gold and to this I hold

                                           If given a chance that thou I may see,

                                           I would bid farewell and say I love thee.

The Wife of Bath’s Tale: Values and Realizations

Recently, we have been discussing Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” particularly four tales: The Wife of Bath’s Tale, The Miller’s Tale, The Pardoner’s Tale, and The Knight’s Tale. Among the four tales, my favorite is The Wife of Bath’s Tale because it has left a great impact on me and on my views of marriage. Most importantly, it imparts values that will help in the success of relationships.

            One of the values that the tale wants to impart is faithfulness. In the tale, it was mentioned that the Wife of Bath have had five husbands and it was also said that she had a relationship with a man while she was still married to his fourth husband and this man later on became his fifth husband. This represents the fickleness of women. It only means that women should be faithful to their husbands and men to their wives.

            Another value we can get from the tale is something to do with greediness. There were parts in the tale that portrays greediness in sex or lust. The Wife of Bath has this greediness for she is using his body to manipulate men band she says that she is willing to give herself to that man. Another was when the knight raped the woman. This means that women and men should not be overcome by lust because lust is a sinful act.

                        The most important value we can get from this tale is respecting. The Wife of Bath is very selfish and she always want to be obeyed. She doesn’t know how to respect the opinions or ideas of others. It upsets her when his fifth husband a clerk, is more interested in books than he was in her. There was an instance when his husband was reading a book about how bad woman are, she snatched the book and ripped some pages out. His husband was furious and he hit her. This is how she became deaf. While at the latter part of the tale, the knight obeyed the old woman. He respected her decision and they lived happily ever after. This portrays that respect is important in a relationship.

           The main message of the old woman here in the tale is ugly or fair, women should be obeyed in all things by their husbands. As a whole, it shows that during Chaucer’s time, women have the power over their husbands. But in my opinion, it’s the contrary. After reading the Wife of Bath’s Tale, my views in marriage has changed and it gave me realizations about relationships. Before, I thought that only love is needed for a relationship to survive until I realize that I was wrong. Love is not enough. Having a successful relationship takes work from both partners. Great relationships don’t always come easy and you have to try to find ways to improve it.

            The keys to a successful relationship are faithfulness, honesty, trust, communication and respect to each other.

And as it is said in Colossians 3:18-19-“Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them”. 

My Father, A Hero

What is a hero? To a child, a hero is a powerful and an invincible person who saves people. For them, a hero is like superman, batman, spider man, and other superheroes with super powers. According to Merriam-Webster, a hero is a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great valor, power and honor. In old times, a person should slay a beast or a villain in order for him to be called a hero but nowadays, people's definition of a hero is, someone whose feats or deeds contributes in helping the society. In my own opinion, a hero is someone who sacrifices for the sake of others. He is a man of exceptional quality.


All of us have our own heroes. It can be our parents, teachers, classmates, friends, or someone who saved our lives. Here in the Philippines, we have a lot of heroes such as those who risked and sacrificed their lives for our country's freedom like Dr. Jose Rizal, our national hero, Andres Bonifacio and other heroes. Today's heroes are OFW's (Overseas Filipino Workers), famous boxers like Manny Paquiao, Gerry Peñalosa, and Gabriel Elorde. Even an ordinary citizen could be a hero just like Efren Peñaflorida Jr.,who was featured as a CNN hero in the year 2009. For me, my hero is my father. Why? He is not as intelligent as Rizal, he is not an OFW, he is not a famous boxer, nor a CNN hero but, the only thing that makes him my hero is his extraordinary qualities. My father is a hero because he is helpful and caring. When I was in Grade four, I just walk when going to school so, it was hard for me to carry my bag because it's to heavy for me so he is the one who carries my bag. And sometimes, he also help me in doing my projects. My father is industrious. Because of his desire to fulfill our needs, sometimes he arrives late at night or late in the morning. He always thinks of working for us even up to the point that he still goes to work even when he is not feeling well. With that, I may say that my father is also strong-hearted and selfless. My father is a very responsible man. He never forget his duties as a father, as a husband and as the bread-winner of our family. My father's work is like carpentry,he installs aluminum and glasses etc. but, I don't know exactly what it is called. I am really amazed by his hard work just to be able for me to study in a good private school. My father is also our cook and that's what I like the most about him because he can cook well compared to my mother. He wakes up early in the morning just to prepare our breakfast. He is also the one who wakes us up in the morning. I remember when I was in Grade four, my father wakes me every morning but I'm a bit lazy that time so my father always carry me downstairs. He is really strong! He is an extraordinary father.


"The world's battlefields have been in the heart chiefly; more heroism has been displayed in the household and the closet, than on the most memorable battlefields in history."- Henry Ward Beecher. It  means that, being a father who sacrifices for his family is more heroic  than being a hero who sacrifices his life in the battlefield. He also said that " Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right using of strength..." Thus, a hero is someone who sacrifices for the sake of others. He is a man of exceptional quality.