last farewell

MI ULTIMO ADIOS/MY FINAL FAREWELL Mi Ultimo Adios or My Final Farewell is a poem written by our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal on the eve of his execution on Dec. 30, 1896. When Jose Rizal walked from his prison to the place of his execution, he not only walked proudly for himself, but he planted the seeds of pride for his people. His last words written in his cell “My Final Farewell” were an enduring life giving breath from a man who was about to breath no more. The poem was Jose Rizal’s goodbyes, first to his country, to his family, friends and loved ones. To his country he said in his poem “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 their lives without pain or hesitancy, the place does not matter; it is the same if asked by home and Country.” His love of country all started when he was still young, when he saw the martyrdom of the GOMBURZA and promised to himself that he would dedicate himself to avenge someday for those victims. His dreams were to see his country in eminent liberation, free from sorrow and grief. It is his desire to dedicate his life for his country. He had no regrets on what he have done and its consequence that he mentioned with his lines, “I’ll go where there are no slaves, tyrants or hangmen and where faith does not kill and where God alone does reign.” And he also mentioned in her poem that he is going to a place where God rules over and that he is thankful that he now may rest from the wearisome day of his life and repeats in the last line of his poem that “In death there is rest”. But Rizal also had little concern that someday his grave will be someday forgotten and describes the image of his grave being forgotten someday and reminds us to remember why he died – for the redemption of the country. And he said that “If you hear the sounds of cithern or psaltery, it is I, dear Country, who, a song t’you intones”. Thus Rizal request that his ashes be spread before it will no longer take significance and that he will be the Vibrant and clear note to our ears that constantly repeating to us the essence of the faith that keep. But in the end of the poem all of his concern vanished as he stated that “Oblivion does not matter for he would travel far and wide over his beloved fatherland and keeps his faith with him as he sings his hymn for the nation. He is the symbol of the Philippines as the martyr whose death does not matter if one dies for those he loves and also for his country and for all the Filipino people. There’s a sense of pride. He was not a perfect man, nor his ideas but he left something everlasting, that Filipinos can be proud of. There are perhaps the reasons why we Filipinos need to study and understand the life and works of Rizal. It inspires Filipinos to be proud of their motherland, to prove that Filipinos are capable to be equal if not excel even above those who treat us slaves. His brilliance and patience are just some virtues he portrayed. I think Rizal is encouraging the Filipino youth to be proud of being a Filipino and to use their talents and skills to transform what is happening to our society to a better one. Jose Rizal is really a well-known and popular hero to the Filipinos. The Philippines will never forget what power and strength he had to die to his own blood and country. He is an inspiration to every youth in all generations. He was a multilingual, painter, artist doctor and a brilliant man. He is a man of honor we Filipinos should be proud that a person like Jose Rizal was born on our native soil. His teachings are worthy of emulation for us to continue his glory now and with the next generation.