"My Last Farewell" And should a bird descend on my cross and alight,
José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda Let the bird intone a song of peace o'er my site.
Translated by Encarnacion Alzona Let the burning sun the raindrops vaporize
& Isidro Escare Abeto And with my clamor behind return pure to the sky;
Let a friend shed tears over my early demise;
Farewell, my adored Land, region of the sun caressed, And on quiet afternoons when one prays for me on high,
Pearl of the Orient Sea, our Eden lost, Pray too, oh, my Motherland, that in God may rest I.
With gladness I give you my life, sad and repressed;
And were it more brilliant, more fresh and at its best, Pray thee for all the hapless who have died,
I would still give it to you for your welfare at most. For all those who unequalled torments have undergone;
For our poor mothers who in bitterness have cried;
On the fields of battle, in the fury of fight, For orphans, widows and captives to tortures were shied,
Others give you their lives without pain or hesitancy, And pray too that you may see your own redemption.
The place does not matter: cypress, laurel, lily white;
Scaffold, open field, conflict or martyrdom's site, And when the dark night wraps the cemet'ry
It is the same if asked by the home and country. And only the dead to vigil there are left alone,
Don't disturb their repose, disturb not the mystery:
I die as I see tints on the sky b'gin to show If thou hear the sounds of cithern or psaltery,
And at last announce the day, after a gloomy night; It is I, dear Country, who, a song t'you intone.
If you need a hue to dye your matutinal glow,
Pour my blood and at the right moment spread it so, And when my grave by all is no more remembered,
And gild it with a reflection of your nascent light With neither cross nor stone to mark its place,
Let it be plowed by man, with spade let it be scattered
My dreams, when scarcely a lad adolescent, And my ashes ere to nothingness are restored,
My dreams when already a youth, full of vigor to attain, Let them turn to dust to cover thy earthly space.
Were to see you, Gem of the Sea of the Orient,
Your dark eyes dry, smooth brow held to a high plane, Then it doesn't matter that you should forget me:
Without frown, without wrinkles and of shame without Your atmosphere, your skies, your vales I'll sweep;
stain. Vibrant and clear note to your ears I shall be:
Aroma, light, hues, murmur, song, moanings deep,
My life's fancy, my ardent, passionate desire, Constantly repeating the essence of the faith I keep.
Hail! Cries out the soul to you, that will soon part from
thee; My idolized Country, for whom I most gravely pine,
Hail! How sweet 'tis to fall that fullness you may acquire; Dear Philippines, to my last goodbye, oh, harken
To die to give you life, 'neath your skies to expire, There I leave all: my parents, loves of mine,
And in thy mystic land to sleep through eternity! I'll go where there are no slaves, tyrants or hangmen
Where faith does not kill and where God alone does
If over my tomb some day, you would see blow, reign.
A simple humble flow'r amidst thick grasses,
Bring it up to your lips and kiss my soul so, Farewell, parents, brothers, beloved by me,
And under the cold tomb, I may feel on my brow, Friends of my childhood, in the home distressed;
Warmth of your breath, a whiff of thy tenderness. Give thanks that now I rest from the wearisome day;
Farewell, sweet stranger, my friend, who brightened my
Let the moon with soft, gentle light me descry, way;
Let the dawn send forth its fleeting, brilliant light, Farewell to all I love; to die is to rest.
In murmurs grave allow the wind to sigh,
