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Philippine Youth
Jose P. Rizal
Unfold, oh timid flower!
The second verse can be rearranged in contemporary English to say: "Oh genius great,
soar high; and fill their mind with noble thoughts. May their virgin mind fly and find the
honor's glorious seat more rapidly than the wind." Here, Rizal calls to genius to fill young
minds with noble thoughts and hopes that as they release their thinking from the chains
that bind, they may be able to soar swiftly high where the joy of honor is.
Contrary to the second verse, which talked about ascending and soaring to the
heights, this third stanza now talks about descent, and a downward motion of
the great genius to fill the earthly strokes of art and science with their
magnificent ideas. Again, Rizal calls them to break the chains that bind their
intellect. "Poetic genius" here does not necessarily pertain to the talent of
writing poetry. Instead, the term "poetic" is simply an adjective to describe
genius, meaning that it is deep and mystifying and heavy with meaning.
See that in the ardent zone,
The Spaniard, where shadows stand,
Doth offer a shining crown,
With wise and merciful hand
To the son of this Indian land.