Jose Rizal, our national hero, showed unselfish love for his country by laying his own life in martyrdom and awakening people’s patriotic fervor so that Philippines would be freed from Spanish tyranny.
Warm and beautiful like a houri of yore,
as gracious and as pure as the break of dawn
when darling clouds take on a sapphire tone,
sleeps a goddess on the Indian shore.
The small waves of the sonorous sea assail
her feet with ardent, amorous kisses, while
the intellectual West adores her smile;
and the old hoary Pole, her flower veil.
My Muse, most enthusiastic and elate,
sings to her among naiads and undines;
I offer her my fortune and my fate.
With myrtle, purple roses, and flowering greens
and lilies, crown her brow immaculate,
O artists, and exalt the Philippines!
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