The Philippine National Hero

Maturity is the fruit of infancy and the infant is formed on the lap of its mother.He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination. To doubt God is to doubt one’s own conscience, and in consequence, it would be to doubt everything.No good water comes from...

Kapagka ang baya’y sadyang umiibigSa langit salitang kaloob ng langitSanlang kalayaan nasa ring masapiKatulad ng ibong nasa himpapawidPagka’t ang salita’y isang kahatulanSa bayan, sa nayo't mga kaharianAt ang isang tao’y katulad, kabagayNg alin mang likha noong kalayaan.Ang hindi magmahal sa kanyang salitaMahigit sa hayop at malansang isdaKaya ang marapat pagyamanin kusaNa tulad sa inang tunay na nagpalaAng wikang...

Mary, sweet peace, solace dearOf pained mortal ! You're the fountWhence emanates the stream of succor,That without cease our soil fructifies.From thy throne, from heaven high,Kindly hear my sorrowful cry!And may thy shining veil protectMy voice that rises with rapid flight.Thou art my Mother, Mary, pure;Thou'll be the fortress of my life;Thou'll be my guide on this angry...

Wise education, vital breathInspires an enchanting virtue;She puts the Country in the lofty seatOf endless glory, of dazzling glow,And just as the gentle aura's puffDo brighten the perfumed flower's hue:So education with a wise, guiding hand,A benefactress, exalts the human band.Man's placid repose and earthly lifeTo education he dedicatesBecause of her, art and science are bornMan; and as...

Josephine, JosephineWho to these shores have comeLooking for a nest, a home,Like a wandering swallow;If your fate is taking youTo Japan, China or Shanghai,Don't forget that on these shoresA heart for you beats high....

Unfold, oh timid flower! Lift up your radiant brow,This day, Youth of my native strand! Your abounding talents showResplendently and grand,Fair hope of my Motherland! Soar high, oh genius great,And with noble thoughts fill their mind;The honor's glorious seat,May their virgin mind fly and findMore rapidly than the wind.Descend with the pleasing lightOf the arts and sciences to...

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...

To my Creator I singWho did soothe me in my great loss;To the Merciful and KindWho in my troubles gave me repose.Thou with that pow'r of thineSaid: Live! And with life myself I found;And shelter gave me thouAnd a soul impelled to the goodLike a compass whose point to the North is bound.Thou did make me descendFrom honorable...

Truly hushed todayAre my tongue and heartHarm is discerned by loveAnd joy flies away,'Cause the Country wasVanquished and did yieldThrough the negligenceOf the one who led.But the sun will return to dawn;In spite of everythingSubdued peopleWill be liberated;The Filipino nameWill return perhapsAnd again becomeIn vogue in the world.We shall shedBlood and it shall floodOnly to emancipateThe native land;While...

For the Motherland in war,For the Motherland in peace,Will the Filipino keep watch,He will live until life will cease!MEN:Now the East is glowing with light,Go! To the field to till the land,For the labour of man sustainsFam'ly, home and Motherland.Hard the land may turn to be,Scorching the rays of the sun above...For the country, wife and childrenAll will...

When I recall the daysThat saw my childhood of yoreBeside the verdant shoreOf a murmuring lagoon;When I remember the sighsOf the breeze that on my browSweet and caressing did blowWith coolness full of delight;When I look at the lily whiteFills up with air violentAnd the stormy elementOn the sand doth meekly sleep;When sweet 'toxicating scentFrom the flowers I...

IF truly a people dearly loveThe tongue to them by Heaven sent,They'll surely yearn for libertyLike a bird above in the firmament.BECAUSE by its language one can judgeA town, a barrio, and kingdom;And like any other created thingEvery human being loves his freedom.ONE who doesn't love his native tongue,Is worse than putrid fish and beast;AND like a truly...

Aglowing and fair like a houri on high,Full of grace and pure like the Morn that peepsWhen in the sky the clouds are tinted blue,Of th' Indian land, a goddess sleeps.The light foam of the son'rous sea Doth kiss her feet with loving desire;The cultured West adores her smileAnd the frosty Pole her flow'red attire.With tenderness, stammering, my...

Farewell, my adored Land, region of the sun caressed, Pearl of the Orient Sea, our Eden lost,With gladness I give you my Life, sad and repressed;And were it more brilliant, more fresh and at its best,I would still give it to you for your welfare at most.On the fields of battle, in the fury of fight,Others give you...

  abá: A Tagalog exclamation of wonder, surprise, etc., often used to introduce or emphasize a contradictory statement. abaka: “Manila hemp,” the fiber of a plant of the banana family. achara: Pickles made from the tender shoots of bamboo, green papayas, etc. alcalde: Governor of a province or district with both executive and judicial authority. alferez: Junior officer...

Normal 0 Since some of our characters are still living and others have been lost sight of, a real epilogue is impossible. For the satisfaction of the groundlings we should gladly kill off all of them, beginning with Padre Salvi and ending with Doña Victorina, but this is not possible. Let them live! Anyhow, the country, not ourselves,...

Normal 0 High up on the slope of the mountain near a roaring stream a hut built on the gnarled logs hides itself among the trees. Over its kogon thatch clambers the branching gourd-vine, laden with flowers and fruit. Deer antlers and skulls of wild boar, some with long tusks, adorn this mountain home, where lives a Tagalog...

Normal 0 Vainly were the rich wedding presents heaped upon a table; neither the diamonds in their cases of blue velvet, nor the piña embroideries, nor the rolls of silk, drew the gaze of Maria Clara. Without reading or even seeing it the maiden sat staring at the newspaper which gave an account of the death of Ibarra,...

Normal 0 “Listen, sir, to the plan that I have worked out,” said Elias thoughtfully, as they moved in the direction of San Gabriel. “I’ll hide you now in the house of a friend of mine in Mandaluyong. I’ll bring you all your money, which I saved and buried at the foot of the balete in the mysterious...