Jose Rizal Poems

Dry leaf that flies at random
till it's seized by a wind from above:
so lives on earth the wanderer,
...

When I remember the days
that saw my early childhood
spent on the green shores
of a murmurous lagoon;
...

Tunay ngayong umid yaring dila't puso
Sinta'y umiilag, tuwa'y lumalayo,
Bayan palibhasa'y lupig at sumuko
Sa kapabayaan ng nagturong puno.
...

I
They bid me strike the lyre
so long now mute and broken,
but not a note can I waken
...

Go to my country, go, O foreign flowers,
sown by the traveler along the road,
and under that blue heaven
that watches over my loved ones,
...

IF truly a people dearly love
The tongue to them by Heaven sent,
They'll surely yearn for liberty
Like a bird above in the firmament.
...

When I recall the days
That saw my childhood of yore
Beside the verdant shore
Of a murmuring lagoon;
...

Sweet the hours in the native country,
where friendly shines the sun above!
Life is the breeze that sweeps the meadows;
...

For the Motherland in war,
For the Motherland in peace,
...

Now mute indeed are tongue and heart:
love shies away, joy stands apart.
Neglected by its leaders and defeated,
...