"Mi último adiós" which translated to English is called “My Last Farewell" or in tagalog “Ang

Huling Paalam” is a poem written by our Philippine national hero José Rizal on the eve of his
execution on December 30, 1896. Based on many articles the said poem was originally written in
Spanish and it was also untitled and by virtue of logic and literary tradition, it would be titled by
the words coming from the first line of the poem itself. But it was later on entitled "Mi Ultimo
Adios" by Mariano Ponce, his friend and fellow reformist. Another possible poem was written in
a piece of paper hidden in Rizal’s shoes but the text became unreadable so its content remains a
mystery.

Bonifacio’s translation reconstructed the poem where one stanza from Jose Rizal”s poem is
equivalent to two stanzas in the Tagalog version. Other than the fact that the poem’s construction
was changed, it still remained true to the original message of Rizal's intimate view of the
Revolution. Upon comparing the piece with the translated one there were no lines omitted.
Additionally throughout my research, Bonifacio in fact has ingeniously added a new phrase not
found in the original piece of “Mi Ultimo Adios”. On the second stanza after the line "sin dudas,
sin pesar" which is translated to "walang agam-agam, maluwag sa dibdib" he added "matamis sa
puso at di ikahapis.” meaning a joy of a heart that knows no pain. Based on the poem Jose Rizal
was provided with two choices which is revolution and martyrdom and it was confirmed that he
chose martyrdom found on some lines in the first stanza which is “With gladness I give you my
Life, sad and repressed; And were it more brilliant, more fresh and at its best, I would still give it
to you for your welfare at most.”Which is translated by Andres Bonifacio to:” Masayang sa iyo’y
aking idudulot, ang lanta kong buhay na lubhang malungkot;maging maringal man at labis ang
alindog, sa kagalingan mo ay akin ding handog.”

In conclusion, both the original piece and the translated piece depicts an image of how Jose Rizal
is willing to sacrifice his life for his beloved country besides knowing the imminent danger that
he has to face which is death. Aside from the fact that Andres Bonifacio added a line it just
supported the important detail that our hero Jose Rizal didn’t feel any remorse or regret or
hesitancy in offering his life and loyalty to his country.

Jenilen D. Bulado

11-Love