OCBO, JENNIFER B.

1 .KUNDIMAN, 1891
 
Now mute indeed are tongue and heart:
love shies away, joy stands apart.
Neglected by its leaders and defeated,
the country was subdued and it submitted.
But O the sun will shine again!
Itself the land shall disenchain;
and once more round the world with growing praise
shall sound the name of the Tagalog race.

We shall pour out our blood in a great flood

to liberate the parent sod;
but till that day arrives for which we weep,
love shall be mute, desire shall sleep.

 
-The word “kundiman” connotes a traditional Filipino love song usually used by a man to
serenade a woman being wooed. The above “Kundiman” is a poem written by Jose Rizal to
express his intense love for his motherland. In the verses, we can see that Rizal is optimistic
that the Philippines will be freed from inequality and oppression.
 
 
2.WATER AND FIRE (EL AGUA Y EL FUEGO, 1891)
     
Water are we, you say, and yourselves fire,
so let us be what we are
and co-exist without ire,
and may no conflagration ever find us at war.
 
but, rather, fused together by cunning science
within the cauldrons of the ardent breast,
without rage, without defiance,
do we form steam, fifth element indeed:
progress, life, enlightenment, and speed!
 
-This is a very short composition excerpt from the novel El Filibusterismo, Chapter El
Cubierta. In this poem, Jose Rizal expressed his great dream for the Philippines: its
freedom and advancement.
 
shall dominate!
 
The sandy beach of Dapitan
and the rocks of its lofty mountain
are your throne. O sacred asylum
where I passed my childhood days!

- 
Rizal conducted his school at his home in Talisay, near Dapitan, where he had his farm and
hospital. He frequently met with his boys underneath a talisay tree.

3. THE SONG OF MARIA CLARA, 1887

(A Translation from the Spanish by Nick Joaquin)
 
Sweet the hours in the native country,
where friendly shines the sun above!
Life is the breeze that sweeps the meadows;
tranquil is death; most tender, love.
 
Warm kisses on the lips are playing
as we awake to mother's face:
the arms are seeking to embrace her,
the eyes are smiling as they gaze.
 
How sweet to die for the native country,
where friendly shines the sun above!
Death is the breeze for him who has
no country, no mother, and no love!
 
 
This poem forms part of the Jose Rizal’s infamous novel, Noli Me Tangere. In the novel, one
of the main characters, Maria, upon the insistent requests of her friends, rendered a
beautiful song with the accompaniment of the harp.

4. TO JOSEPHINE, 1895
 
Josephine, Josephine
Who to these shores have come
Looking for a nest, a home,
Like a wandering swallow;
If your fate is taking you
To Japan, China or Shanghai,
Don't forget that on these shores
A heart for you beats high.
 
 
Rizal dedicated this poem to an Irish woman, Josephine Bracken, whom we called his
“dulce extranjera”(sweet foreigner). The poem somehow manifests that Rizal is “smitten”
with Josephine.
 
When Josephine was eighteen years of age, she visited Manila for the purpose of seeing Dr.
Jose Rizal to accompany her adoptive father for an eye operation. Then, she developed
affection towards Dr. Rizal despite her stepfather’s objection. Despite several lady loves in
the past, Josephine alone was the one Dr. Jose Rizal sought for marriage.
 
Josephine prematurely gave birth to an eight-month baby boy, who existed only for hours.
Rizal’s lost son was named “Francisco” in honor of the hero’s father, Don Francisco.

5. SONG OF THE WANDERER/TRAVELER(EL CANTO DEL VIAJERO, 1895)

 
Dry leaf that flies at random
till it's seized by a wind from above:
so lives on earth the wanderer,
without north, without soul, without country or love!
 
Anxious, he seeks joy everywhere
and joy eludes him and flees,
a vain shadow that mocks his yearning
and for which he sails the seas.
 
Impelled by a hand invisible,
he shall wander from place to place;
memories shall keep him company
of loved ones, of happy days.

-There came a time in Cuba where there was a raging yellow fever epidemic and they got
short of physicians to attend to the needs of the Cuban people. Rizal’s friend, Blumentritt
advised Jose Rizal who was then in exile in Dapitan, to offer his services as a military doctor
in Cuba.
 
A letter from Governor Ramon Blanco notified him that his offer was accepted. Aside from
the fact that his humanitarian offer was granted, he will also be able to travel to Europe and
then to Cuba. His delight in the receiving the news led him in writing his “El Canto del
Viajero” (The Song of the Traveler/Wanderer)