Song of Maria Clara

ANGELICA LEIANNE M. LOPEGA

BSBA –Operations Management
Sweet are the hours in one's own Native Land,
All there is friendly o'er which the sun shines above;
Vivifying is the breeze that wafts over her fields;
Even death is gratifying and more tender is love.
 
Ardent kissed on a mother's lips are at play,
On her lap, upon the infant child's awakening,
The extended arms do seek her neck to entwine,
And the eyes at each other's glimpse are smiling
 
It is sweet to die in one's own Native Land,
All there is friendly o'er which the sun shines above;
And deathly is the breeze for one without
A country, without a mother and without love.
Maria
consisting
stanzas Clara’s
with of
four song
three
verses
each is
Tangere;
entitled found
in
“La in
the Noli Me
chapter
Pesca” or
“The Fishing”.
Interpretation:
THE FIRST STANZA EXPRESSES HOW
WONDERFUL EVERYTHING IS IN ONE’S OWN
NATIVE LAND. THE HOURS ARE SWEET,
EVERYTHING IS FRIENDLY, THE BREEZE IS
VIVIFYING, LOVE IS MORE TENDER, AND EVEN
DEATH IS GRATIFYING.
IN THESE FOUR LINES, RIZAL SIGNIFIES THAT
MARIA CLARA’S LOVE FOR HER COUNTRY IS SO
GREAT THAT IT COLORS EVERYTHING ELSE THAT
SHE SEES. IT IS THIS LOVE THAT MAKES
EVERYTHING ELSE, NO MATTER HOW MUNDANE
AND ORDINARY, MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN EVEN THE
MOST BEAUTIFUL WONDERS ELSEWHERE. THEIR
BEAUTY IS NOT A RESULT OF THEIR EMPIRICAL
NATURE, BUT OF THEIR BEING ROOTED IN THE
TERRITORY OF HER COUNTRY.
THE SECOND STANZA EMPLOYS
METAPHOR, WHERE THE MOTHERLAND
IS A HUMAN MOTHER AND THE SPEAKER
IN THE POEM, HER INFANT CHILD.
HAVING EMPLOYED THE USE OF METAPHOR IN
THE PREVIOUS STANZA, IT NOW BECOMES MUCH
EASIER FOR ANY READER OF THIS VERSE TO
UNDERSTAND THE USE OF IRONY IN THESE
CLOSING LINES, FOR HOW CAN DEATH BE
SWEET? DEATH CAN ONLY BE SWEET IN THE
ARMS OF THE ONE YOU LOVE.

AS THE SPEAKER HERE LIKENS HERSELF TO A

CHILD, THEN NO DEATH CAN BE SWEETER THAN
IN THE ARMS OF HER MOTHER. “AND DEATHLY,”
RIZAL CLOSES, “IS THE BREEZE FOR ONE
WITHOUT A COUNTRY, WITHOUT A MOTHER AND
WITHOUT LOVE.”