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Noli Me Tangere (The Social Cancer) on mp3

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Interpretation: Our Mother Tongue

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.

In this first stanza we note that Rizal considers a people's mother tongue as a gift from heaven. Growing up in the Catholic faith where language, according to the Bible, originated from the fall of the Tower of Babel, the poet must certainly have considered the Filipino language as a unique blessing to a unique people who, if they only realize the value of the treasure they hold in the tips of their tongues, would surely yearn for the freedom to build an identity for themselves, free from the influence of foreign lands.

BECAUSE by its language one can judge
A town, a barrio, and kingdom;
And like any other created thing
Every human being loves his freedom.

Here the poet explains why language is linked to the need for freedom, why language is more than just a group of words people use to communicate to each other. It is, according to Rizal, the standard by which outsiders judge a community, a culture, a civilization.

ONE who doesn't love his native tongue,
Is worse than putrid fish and beast;
AND like a truly precious thing
It therefore deserves to be cherished.

In this third stanza we find the origin of Rizal's well-known proverb, "He who does not love his own language is worse than an animal and smelly fish. ("Ang hindi magmahal sa sariling wika, daig pa ang hayop at malansang isda.") He then further stresses that a nation's language is a treasure to be valued and cherished.

THE Tagalog language's akin to Latin,
To English, Spanish, angelical tongue;
For God who knows how to look after us
This language He bestowed us upon.

It is only right for Filipinos to consider Tagalog not as a lower form of language; it is "akin to English, Spanish" and even to the language of angels. It can be supposed from this stanza, then, that the regard people have for their native tongue has a great influence on the regard they have for their own identity as a nation. Tagalog is a language given by God, as are Latin, English and Spanish. It is, therefore, not to be treated as one inferior to other tongues. Filipinos, likewise, ought not to feel inferior to other nations and should desire freedom for they, like everyone else, are capable of upholding their identity themselves.

AS others, our language is the same
With alphabet and letters of its own,
It was lost because a storm did destroy
On the lake the bangka in years bygone.

Letters unique only to the Filipino language could be traced back to Baybayin. The origins and disappearance of the use of this alphabet is a long chapter in history.

Need more of this? Uncover the meaning of ALL of of Rizal's relevant poetry and verses by buying the book.

Interpretation: To The Philippines

Aglowing and fair like a houri on high,
Full of grace and pure like the Morn that peeps
When in the sky the clouds are tinted blue,
Of th' Indian land, a goddess sleeps.

Rizal builds a description of his motherland using simile and metaphor. He likens her to an houri which, by definition, is one of the beautiful maidens that in Muslim belief live with the blessed in paradise (definition taken from Merriam-Webster). The second and third lines of this first stanza comprise one versified sentence, and when arranged in the more modern tongue, goes, "When the clouds are tinted blue in the sky, [she] peeps like the Morn, pure and full of grace." Here he also likens his country to a sleeping goddess of the Indian land. One might ask why the poet imagines his land to be in deep slumber; perhaps it is because he feels she has yet to be acquainted with greatness and with equal respect as is given to other lands.

The light foam of the son'rous sea
Doth kiss her feet with loving desire;
The cultured West adores her smile
And the frosty Pole her flow'red attire.

The Philippines as an archipelago is described in this stanza as being kissed by the light foam of the sea. The "feet" might well refer to her shores, of which she has a great multitude. Rizal manages to include the truth about the country being conquered by the West, by saying that it "adores her smile." And the rich flora and fauna of the land, the iced caps of the globe can only dream to match.

With tenderness, stammering, my Muse
To her 'midst undines and naiads does sing;
I offer her my fortune and bliss:
Oh, artists! her brow chaste ring
With myrtle green and roses red
And lilies, and extol the Philippines!

Here the poet takes a position of humility and stands in awe and adoration of his motherland. This is evident through his use of the words "tenderness" and "stammering." He calls upon undines and naiads - different types of water nymphs in mythology - as well as all of nature, represented by the three flowers: myrtle, roses and lilies, to "extol the Philippines."

Need more of this? Uncover the meaning of ALL of of Rizal's relevant poetry and verses by buying the book. 

Interpretation: To the Child Jesus

Jose Rizal wrote the poem To the Child Jesus (in other references, Child Jesus) when he was 14 years old. A rather short poem only eight lines long, it follows the traditional Spanish pattern of poetry:

Why have you come to earth,
Child-God, in a poor manger?
Does Fortune find you a stranger
from the moment of your birth?

The poem begins with Rizal addressing the child Jesus and asking him why he had chosen a lowly manger as the place through which he would enter the world of humanity. He further enriches this question by asking whether Fortune - in this case it could mean wealth or power or prestige or all of the above - had decided to stay far away from the Lord the moment he decided to become a man.

Alas, of heavenly stock
now turned an earthly resident!
Do you not wish to be president
but the shepherd of your flock?

 "Alas" is a word expressing concern, grief, sorrow or pity and is commonly used in traditional poetry. When Rizal adds this expression to the second half of his poem, he signifies that he, Rizal, as a man and having the perspective of a mere human being, finds a part of himself that grieves over how much the divine has given up in the process of his incarnation. He then ends the poem with a rather rhetorical question: Wouldn't you rather be Lord above the earth than be a mere shepherd of simple sheep like the rest of us?

Early in a Filipino child's education, he is taught the basic truths and tenets of Christianity. It is highly probable that as a child, Rizal had already felt deeply for his country and hand great dreams for his motherland. It was easy for his young mind to connect the life and suffering of Jesus, God incarnate, to the present struggles of the nation against oppression, as Rizal believed in non-violence and clearly found a firm ally in the person of Christ.

Need more of this? Uncover the meaning of ALL of of Rizal's relevant poetry and verses by buying the book.  

Rizal's Poor Performance at the UST and the Parallel Universe in His Books

There were three main reasons for his struggling academic performance at the University of Santo Tomas (Guerrero, 1998):

Rizal was not satisfied with the system of education at the university.

• In the Ateneo,  Jesuit professors were encouraging and understanding. This motivated Rizal to develop his skills and talents.
• The Dominican system was obsolete and repressive.
• Rizal stressed this in the El Filibusterismo, through Father Millon, the professor in Physics and Placido Penitente, one of the Filipino students under him. Rizal, through the character of Placido Penitente, expressed how he disapproved of how instruction in science was done in the university and how Spanish professors treated Filipino students who had the potential to excel in class. (This is no longer true today, considering that UST is one of the best universities in the country) [Garcia, et.al., 2011]

There were plenty of things to distract a young man in the peak of his youth.

• Rizal became fascinated with women during this time, as any young man would.

1. Segunda Katigbak
2. Leonor Valenzuela
3. Leonor Rivera

• Some historians point out that Rizal "joined parties, took part in gang fights and even cut classes." [Garcia, et.al., 2011]

 Medicine was not Rizal's true vocation.

• He found out later that he was made not for medicine, but for the arts.

  

Rizal at the University of Santo Tomas 1877-1882

Jose Rizal, having completed his Bachiller en Artes at the Ateneo Municipal, was now eligible for higher education at a university. His mother, Doña Teodora, had second thoughts about sending her son to school because of the previous incident involving the execution of friars Gomez, Burgos and Zamora. However, it was Don Francisco who decided his son should to the University of Santo Tomas, a prestigious institution run by the Dominican order.

Undecided
Rizal, upon entering the university, was not certain which course of study he wanted to pursue. The Jesuit priests who had been his former mentors had advised him to take up farming, or to join the order and be a man of the cloth. However, his tastes went towards law, literature, or medicine. In the end, he decided to sign up for Philosophy and Letters during his freshman year because of the following reasons:

1. It was what his father would have wanted for him.
2. He had failed to seek the advice of the rector of the Ateneo, Father Ramon Pablo.

As part of the course, he had to complete units in the following subjects:

• Cosmology and Metaphysics
• Theodicy
• History of Philosophy

His report card was very impressive:

Shifting to Medicine

After completing his first year, Rizal decided to take up medicine as his university course. This change of heart was due to two factors:

1. Father Ramon Pablo, rector of the Ateneo, had advised him to pursue the course.
2. Rizal's mother had failing eyesight and he thought he owed it to her to become a doctor and cure her condition. 

Rizal's performance at the University of Santo Tomas was not as excellent as his time at the Ateneo. His grades after shifting to medicine had suffered as well:

 

 

Why the poor performance?

Unfortunately, Rizal was not happy at UST and this reflected on his grades (Zaide & Zaide, 1999). There were three main factors that contributed to his unhappiness at the university, namely:

1. The Dominican professors were hostile to him.
2. Filipino students suffered discrimination.
3. The method of instruction at UST was obsolete and repressive.

Likewise, there were three main reasons for his struggling academic performance (Guerrero, 1998):

1. Rizal was not satisfied with the system of education at the university.
2. There were plenty of things to distract a young man in the peak of his youth.
3.  Medicine was not Rizal's true vocation.

He would later find out that his real calling was in the arts, not in medicine. 

For more information on the above factors leading to Rizal's poor academic performance and how he reflected his university life in his books, click here.

  

Interpretation: A Poem That Has No Title

To my Creator I sing
Who did soothe me in my great loss;
To the Merciful and Kind
Who in my troubles gave me repose.

Rizal opens the poem in thanksgiving. The entire poem is generally about God and is speaking in the second person to God. However, it is important to observe the order in which these verses are written. That he begins by referring to God as the one who soothed him in his great loss and gave him repose in his troubles, could very well signify that the life of the hero was in fact full of pain and difficulty, and that it was in these dark moments that he felt God's presence the most.

Thou with that pow'r of thine
Said: Live! And with life myself I found;
And shelter gave me thou
And a soul impelled to the good
Like a compass whose point to the North is bound.

Here Rizal goes back in time to the days before he was born. With artistic reference to God's power to create everything out of nothing and to speak all beings into existence (Genesis), the author pictures his birth as a result of God's command for him to "Live!" He also acknowledges that his soul is "impelled to the good" and we read this with a very obvious yet tenuous sense of gratitude as well.

Thou did make me descend
From honorable home and respectable stock,
And a homeland thou gavest me
Without limit, fair and rich
Though fortune and prudence it does lack.

Rizal here says that God allowed him to be born into an honorable and respectable family, and into a country that had no limit (which could refer to having limitless potential, ability, greatness... or even in the more "physical" sense of the word, having limitless resources, beauty, wonder). He closes the verse with the only line in the poem that expresses sadness. We see here the burden that the hero continues to carry in his heart - that of our nation's lack of fortune and prudence - which he, no doubt, was still fighting for when he wrote this composition.

Need more of this? Uncover the meaning of ALL of of Rizal's relevant poetry and verses by buying the book.