LAST FAREWELL

1st Farewell, my adored Land, region of the sun caressed,

Pearl of the Orient Sea, our Eden lost,
With gladness I give you my Life, sad and repressed;
And where it more brilliant, more fresh and at its best,
I would still give it to you for your welfare at most.
EXPLANATION:
These are the words of one about to die for his country. He expresses no regret but only
gladness, knowing that in giving his life, he is giving his country the greatest gift any
citizen could offer.

2nd On the fields of battle, in the fury of fight,

Others give you their lives without pain or hesitancy,
The place does not matter: cypress laurel, lily white,
Scaffold, open field, conflict or martyrdom's site,
It is the same if asked by home and Country.
EXPLANATION:

Here Rizal says that it does not matter where one dies, but why one dies and to what
purpose. Whether it’s “scaffold, open field, conflict or martyrdom’s site,” all death hold
the same honor if given for home and Country.

3rd I die as I see tints on the sky begin to show

And at last announce the day, after a gloomy night;
If you need a hue to dye your mutational glow,
Pour my blood and at the right moment spread it so,
And gild it with a reflection of your nascent light!
EXPLANATION:
Rizal’s execution was set at sunrise, thus the meaning of the first and second lines. He
employs the visual senses in his poetic use of color, and then in the third and fourth
lines, adds the bright red tint of his blood to the scene, and gilds it with golden sunlight.
The use of these devices ignites passion in the reader, as it is felt – a hundred times
more so – in the writer, even without explicit use of words signifying feeling.
4th My dreams, when scarcely a lad adolescent,
My dreams when already a youth, full of vigor to attain,
Were to see you, gem of the sea of the Orient,
Your dark eyes dry, smooth brow held to a high plane
Without frown, without wrinkles and of shame, without stain.

EXPLANATION:
Since his childhood, even as other children dreamed of childish things, Rizal dreamed
of seeing his country free, esteemed, and with head held high.

5th My life's fancy, my ardent, passionate desire,

Hail! Cries out the soul to you, that will soon part from thee;
Hail! How sweet 'tis to fall that fullness you may acquire;
To die to give your life, 'neath your skies to expire,
And in your mystic land to sleep through eternity!
EXPLANATION:
Here, he showers her with praise. He is his life’s fancy, his ardent and passionate
desire. He shouts “Hail!” as many would to their God. He says in the third line that it is
sweet to fall so that his country may acquire fullness, and then continues on in the
succeeding lines, “to die to give your life.” But his joy does not end in the act of dying,
but continues beyond the grave, where he shall sleep in his country’s mystic land
through eternity. As one dies for God, Rizal dies for country. And as one looks forward
to heaven, Rizal’s heaven – in these lines, at least – lies in being buried in the land of
his ancestors.

6th If over my tomb someday, you would see blow,

A simple humble flower amidst thick grasses,
Bring it up to your lips and kiss my soul so,
And under the cold tomb, I may feel on my brow,
Warmth of your breath, a whiff of your tenderness.

EXPLANATION:
In this stanza, Rizal likens his soul to that of “a simple humble flower amidst thick
grasses.” The use of this comparison says a lot about how Rizal sees himself – timid,
simple, humble, surrounded by the unrelenting forces of society. He imagines that after
his death, he will live on in the bosom of his motherland, and never cease to enjoy her
love, which he begs her to express with a kiss.
7th Let the moon with soft, gentle light me descry,
Let the dawn send forth its fleeting, brilliant light,
In murmurs grave allow the wind to sigh,
And should a bird descend on my cross and alight,
Let the bird intone a song of peace o'er my site
EXPLANATION:
Rizal’s love for nature is again depicted in these next four lines. It is interesting that he
enumerates the moon, the dawn, the wind, and a bird to pay homage to his grave, yet
does not mention close friends or specific people. Perhaps it is a simple image of his
reunion with nature that he wants to bring to mind; perhaps it is also an expression of
the loneliness and isolation that he has felt and continues to feel in his fight for freedom.

8th Let the burning sun the raindrops vaporize

And with my clamor behind return pure to the sky;
Let a friend shed tears over my early demise;
And on quiet afternoons when one prays for me on high,
Pray too, oh, my Motherland, that in God may rest I.
EXPLANATION:
The mention here, of a friend, is the closest he gets to company. And the mention of
God in the fourth line is the closest he gets to praying for a spiritual heaven. That Rizal
beseeches his country to pray that his soul may rest in God is in line with the Roman
Catholic belief that all men are sinners and that salvation is to be earned and cannot be
determined before the grave
9th Pray thee for all the hapless who have died,
For pray thee for all the hapless who have died,
For all those who unequalled torments have undergone;
For our poor mothers who in bitterness have cried;
For orphans, widows and captives to tortures were shied,
And pray too that you may see your own redemption.
EXPLANATION:
In these four lines he gives his motherland a list of the things he wishes her to pray for.
He remembers all of the martyrs who have suffered the same fate as he will, who have
died for their country; the mothers, wives, and children they have left behind who suffer
no less for being abandoned. He also, in a hopeful closing note, asks her to pray for
herself.

10th And when the dark night wraps the cemetery

And only the dead to vigil there are left alone,
Don't disturb their repose, don't disturb the mystery:
If you hear the sounds of cittern or psaltery,

It is I, dear Country, who, a song t’you intones.

EXPLANATION:

Clearly Rizal has not imagined that a monument would eventually be built over his
grave and has pictured his final resting place as a humble cemetery where he shall,
even after death, sing a song of devotion for his motherland.

11th And when my grave by all is no more remembered,

With neither cross nor stone to mark its place,
Let it be plowed by man, with spade let it be scattered
And my ashes were to nothingness are restored,
Let them turn to dust to cover your earthly space.
EXPLANATION:
In this next stanza, Rizal wishes to then be “plowed by man” when his grave is no
longer remembered, and be scattered as he returns to be part of the dust that covers
the land he had died for. What actually happens in real life, though, is an uncanny
parallel. On December 30, 1896, on the day of his execution, Rizal’s remains were
buried in an unmarked grave in the Paco Cemetery. Years later, however, his remains
were exhumed and on December 30, 1912, they were brought to their final resting place
in the base of the monument at Luneta.

12th Then I it doesn't matter that you should forget me:

Your atmosphere, your skies, your vales I'll sweep;
Vibrant and clear note to your ears I shall be:
Aroma, light, hues, murmur, song, moaning’s deep,
Constantly repeating the essence of the faith I keep.
EXPLANATION:
The first line in this stanza begins following the assumption that our hero’s ashes have
now been spread over the land. Rizal envisions that once he has returned to her in this
manner, it will no longer matter if the country forgets him because he will be with her,
everywhere, as dust in the atmosphere, blowing in the skies, in the wind, and still
singing songs and murmuring words of devotion.

13th My idolized Country, for whom I most gravely pine,

Dear Philippines, to my last goodbye, oh, hearken
There I leave all: my parents, loves of mine,
I'll go where there are no slaves, tyrants or hangmen
Where faith does not kill and where God alone does reign.
EXPLANATION:
Here we come to a more submissive yet hopeful tone. Rizal bids farewell to his one
great love – his country – and yet looks forward to being with God, where there are no
slaves, tyrants or hangmen.
14th Farewell, parents, brothers, beloved by me,
Friends of my childhood, in the home distressed;
Give thanks that now I rest from the wearisome day;
Farewell, sweet stranger, my friend, who brightened my way;
Farewell, to all I love. To die is to rest.

EXPLANATION:
To close, Rizal now finally mentions specific people: parents, brothers, friends of his
childhood. In other translations, the fourth line reads, “Adios sweet-tender foreigner—
my friend, my happiness,” which historians have interpreted to allude to Josephine
Bracken, the daughter of an Anglo-Saxon father and a Chinese mother, whom many
believe – although it is frequently challenged – he secretly married an hour before his
death.