Online Journal 3: Analysis of Amado Hernandez’ Poem
This poem shows the struggle of the Philippines towards the colonization of the Americans. It talks of the things taken away by the colonizers that would represent the Nation. It also showed how the colonizers rob the Nation of their resources, corrupt the people. The persona talking to the Nation are its people who are not afraid to voice their opinions and their stance towards different mistreatment their beloved nation, as well as them, has gone through. They empathize and sympathize with the nation as it grieves and tries to get back up and thrive.
In the first stanza, it talked of the history of the Philippines being constantly colonized. It spoke of The Battle of Manila- the end of the Spanish colonization, when the sixth line mentioned 13th of August. Before this line, it said, “Ganito ring araw nang agawan ka ng laya,” which could symbolize the start of the Filipino-American War.
The second stanza showed the different mistreatments the Americans have done to Filipinos. As everyone rejoiced over the victory against the Spaniards, the Filipinos did not know that the Americans had been plotting their strategies for colonizing the Philippines. The author used different characters from classics to describe the situation of the Filipinos during that time.
The third stanza shows a great disagreement against the circumstances during that time. It may pertain to the Americans literally training their military forces in the Philippines and mooching off our resources. As the Americans continue to get into the society of the Philippines that time, Filipinos continue to lose their freedom. The emotion can be felt through the exclamation point. Although it sounds cliche, it really did give the anger and depth to the emotion the persona or the author wanna give.
The last two stanzas emphasized sympathy and empathy. The persona wanted to comfort the Nation as it grieves over what had happened to it. The person is trying to say that no matter what will happen, freedom, although dead, will be celebrated. The persona will continue fighting for justice, for what is right. No matter what happens, freedom will always be present and sought for. The passion from the persona shone through as it brings the grieving nation back up. The people showing unity to gain freedom is like embodying the Nation getting back up ang healing as the people fight for what has been lost.
Each line contains 16 syllables. This has given the reader a chance to kind of absorb and really chop down each thought that was given. The lines sounded somehow comforting. The poem did not really follow a universal scheme in terms of rhymes. The first and last stanzas are perfect rhymes as they all ended in vowels. The stanzas in between have their last vowels second to the last, before a consonant.
The punctuation marks helped the readers feel the impact of each line. The commas helped the readers slow down and take in what they have read. The semicolons give a slow stop and a fast start for the next thought. The period and the exclamation points give more emotion to what they just ended.
The one period in this poem was on the fourth stanza, sixth line: “Lumuha ka nang lumuha’t ang laya mo’y nakaburol.” It was there to symbolize a stop- not a running thought, as well as to introduce a new thought. It was used to help the reader to take in and understand the thought of freedom being lost, taken away, or killed. But, I beg to differ. It could also symbolize a fresh start- a new journey towards finding freedom. Periods do not always mean to end what has been said before. It could also mean that you want to add another thought, another chapter.
This poem, for me, is very relevant and timely. The Philippines has been under serious problems for the past years. Many people have been subjected to injustice and unfair treatment by the government that was supposed to protect them. In this situation, it is not colonizers who betray us, they are now our fellow Filipinos. We, as a society, should learn how to use our voice as the persona used his/hers. We should not be afraid to say our opinions, our hardships, and what is wrong towards our society.