The Voice of Liberty.pdf

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March, 1950 CAULOS ]>, UOMm.o I BRING the voice of bold, unfettered men The voice that will not die Through this and ages still to be T he price be fir" or blood. THE MANILA GUARDIAN Page 13 By General CARLOS P. ROMULO EDITOR'S NOTE: The following poe.m of General Cwrlus P. Romulo, Philippine Ambassador Extroordinary a.nd Plenipotentiary to the United Nations, and curr ently president of the UN General A ssembly, was featured bit the Saturdriy Review of literature. in its Janum"JI 11,, 1950 issue. In reprinting tl1e poem, the Manila Guardian hopes to project tlw thou,qhts of the foremost spokesman of the Philippine.s<md fo-r nuinkind-tuday, and to pay tribute. to the man, whom future generations may ·rightly call World Citizen No. 1. Resounding with the fon:c 0 ruthless hurricanes, It came to strike and lash At dungeon gates of steel Tearing into the paths Anoss tht.· shadowland of dismal years; Dark memories of youth Betrayed in senseless wars, Of empires, to reverse Swcrping· the full extent of history, The misdirected Course Its substance, imn.rnncnt, sublillll'. ()f tHannies that tried to Crush Of men who gave their blood To serve ambitions madThcsc only, and the tears, Of bitterness remain Imparts the answer to our kind being here, Not like the savage brute Bereft of faith or hope, But standing up to God Within the harmony of space: and time . If troubled hands should seek to mute Its affcnts firm and dt·ar That men and women f rec: Might circumscribe their ken \i\'ithin the narrow sropc Of prejudice and hatei Then all their doubt and fear Spread by relentless hordes St~t:king hut Mammon's gain, Can by un(nithful words Becloud and drsenatc Its mandate but in y;,in. Ere Man devised his ruk of Law To reaffirm the higher and divine, En: mosque or synagogue or shl"ine Took root upon this c~u·th, T his voice 'vas heard in awe By human ea rs perverse, And then lw saw the birth The guiltless in their chains, And hold back in their wraths Communes and parliaments. Arross the distant meadow plains Of Runnymede, where Common Man, Roused from the anguish of his hearth, Laid down the Charter of his will That all his peen; who bore The cross of Arrogance Might live and slave no more; Into the iron cells or the Bastille \Vhcrc despots came in ire Their victims to disgorge; O\"cr the battlefields of Bunker Hill, Of Concord, Valley Forge; Against the cannon and the fire That thundered through Bataan And paved the foe's advance O n proud CorregidorIt swept to b1ing rebirth J"o muted faiths, a nd renaissance To dying sanamcnts. For little things hard won. So much is gone, so much of peacc1 Of love, of light, of truth 1n carh rcmcmbcn:d death; Yct1 crc the sighings cease, War's foul and scaring breath May burn thr land again Where heavy iron bars Of cults and creeds arc down And sullen frontiers frown Upon a world in fears . Then omT again the potent power That makes the eagle soar Above the highest peak, Beyond the farthest sky, Will strike the fatal hour For those who would deny The- freedom of the mind; And st<'rnly, bold, unfettered men, Hy word of tongue or pen, In tcm1s of T ruth will speak, As they have done before, T he faith of Humankind ; While multitudes, unchained and free, \<\1ill wave the battlcflags and sing The Hymn of Liberty. Of T ruth that spanned the univcr<ie.. l"he thunder and the crash arc gone This be rhe immortal Voice I bringOut of thr mr-al~trnm of 1h1· d f'mcnts. I.caving but ugly s<"ars T he Voin· that will not die.

Date

1950

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In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

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