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    The Voice of Bataan

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    catherine temblor
    This poem is about the brave soldiers who fought on Bataan during World War 2. It describes how they were surrounded by the enemy, cut off from supplies, yet continued to fight despite overwhelming odds and without hope of rescue. Though eventually conquered, the soldiers held out as long as possible and their sacrifice gave the rest of the world hope. The poem presents Bataan as symbolic of the global fight for freedom and democracy against a shared enemy.

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    The Voice of Bataan

    Uploaded by

    catherine temblor
    228 views5 pages
    This poem is about the brave soldiers who fought on Bataan during World War 2. It describes how they were surrounded by the enemy, cut off from supplies, yet continued to fight despite overwhelming odds and without hope of rescue. Though eventually conquered, the soldiers held out as long as possible and their sacrifice gave the rest of the world hope. The poem presents Bataan as symbolic of the global fight for freedom and democracy against a shared enemy.

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    the voice of bataan

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    This poem is about the brave soldiers who fought on Bataan during World War 2. It describes how they were surrounded by the enemy, cut off from supplies, yet continued to fight despite overwhelming odds and without hope of rescue. Though eventually conquered, the soldiers held out as long as possible and their sacrifice gave the rest of the world hope. The poem presents Bataan as symbolic of the global fight for freedom and democracy against a shared enemy.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    228 views5 pages

    The Voice of Bataan

    Uploaded by

    catherine temblor
    This poem is about the brave soldiers who fought on Bataan during World War 2. It describes how they were surrounded by the enemy, cut off from supplies, yet continued to fight despite overwhelming odds and without hope of rescue. Though eventually conquered, the soldiers held out as long as possible and their sacrifice gave the rest of the world hope. The poem presents Bataan as symbolic of the global fight for freedom and democracy against a shared enemy.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 5

    Bataan

    Bataan! America's conscience,

    Standing at the edge of the world's heart.

    A small island of ashes and dead bodies,

    Where the brave stood their ground,


    fighting,

    Foodless until they were surrounded,


    cornered,

    Fire on fire falling upon them from the sky;

    And the enemy landed, conquered,

    As though this island were the world.

    Deadly planes scoured the skies,

    Submarines nosed the seas— without help,

    Without hope for help, they dug into the


    ground.

    The forest rolled downward. All eyes


    skyward,

    They saw the enemy cluster like stars,

    Dropping flames numerous as clustering


    stars.

    And they waited for words. But no words


    came.
    II

    Until there were no more hands to move.

    Bataan! This was our last island, For the hope we live by. For the future we
    live for.
    Built in memory of old victories.

    Every fighting man stood his ground,

    Watching each other's lives, falling


    together,

    And believing in each other's care,

    Peace for the world rested in their ground.

    Not afraid to die, they hugged the tight


    holes

    Until the enemy crept upon them

    Who, holding their ground for a brief


    moment,

    Gave the whole world another hope to hold.

    As long as their hearts moved, the guns


    loaded,

    And the fighting moved through the jungles

    And on to the scarred beaches, until there

    Were no more guns to load.

    They fought to the last man for our island.

    For the world's island, that the world's one


    world.

    Fighting one enemy and one war,


    III

    Bataan! The world is but an island.

    This the brave knew, creeping on the earth


    of home,

    Holding strength with the other brave,

    Those who printed kisses in American


    streets;

    Not for the wound that opened and hurt,

    Not for the flesh that burned, but for the


    hate

    That blossomed in treetops and doorways:

    The hate that crept from hate to


    tenderness.

    They held the guns straight; plunged down


    the hill.

    They did not stop to consider our promises.

    They fought and fell, not for our promises,

    Not for victory, but for the day

    That would give the future, and kill the


    enemy.

    For the indivisible day.

    And toward the end: No Surrender.


    IV

    Bataan! Our fathers knew

    The world is but an island, and all men

    Fight one war, one enemy. Our age

    Called it freedom: one and indivisible.

    O America! Until our world's island is won,

    Until our freedom is redeemed in freedom,

    Until our dead are at peace with the living,

    We the living will never rest, will never die


    with peace.

    The war is a war for life.

    The war belongs to all men.


    V

    Bataan in our heart's island!

    We feel every fibre that moves to give


    wisdom

    To the heart, vision to the eyes, seeing all

    The brave rise under one star of liberty.

    We face the future with one weapon,

    All of us holding each other, men and


    women together,

    For one hope, one island, one freedom.

    The future is living and real,

    Stirring in the conscience of America—

    Another hope, another proof to the world,

    That Bataan did not fall!

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