Astronomo, Allyster Berthe R.

Aquino
AB Mass Communication 2B
August 30, 2016
TTh 11:00 12:30 / T304

Submitted to: Mrs. Belma

Submitted on:

In his poem, My Last Farewell, Jose Rizal demonstrates how

passionate he is for our country. Truly, the patriotic spirit embedded within
the lines of his final poem rival the blazing flame those who died fighting in
the Revolution had.
The poem opens up with the lines Farewell, dear Fatherland, clime of
the sun caressd / Pearl of the Orient Seas, our Eden lost! in which Rizal
describes the countrys beauty lost to the strife and abuse under Spanish
rule.
He then mentions the other people who have fought for the country in
any way they could, ending with Tis ever the same, to serve our home and
countrys need to highlight the fact that no matter how or where one dies,
as long as it is for the country, we are all one and the same: heroes.
In the proceeding stanzas, Rizal offers his death to the country; it must
be noted here that he never touched on the personal sentimentalities typical
of one looking at death right in the eye. The poem emphasizes the love of
country first and the death of a hero next.
In fact, in the lines of the fourth stanza, Rizal expresses that his death
brings to fruition a dream he had from the beginning of his life: My
dreams / My dreams / Were to see thy loved face, O gem of the Orient
sea. He expresses no fear, only love and calm anticipation.
Although Rizal was anticipating his death, he knew that it was unjust
and untimely, which he expresses in the middle stanzas of the poem. He also
brings up the injustices done to the other Filipinos, even if this was his final
poem, even if he was about to die. Rizal knew that his death wasnt the end
of the story of the Philippines.

Rizal may have even known that his death was only just the beginning.
The final parts of My Last Farewell handle the overarching theme both
intensely and solemnly. Rizal seeks to rest from the trying times of the
Spanish rule, and is saddened at where his story ends, but keeps reminding
the reader of the love for the Fatherland, the same love that burned the fire
of the Philippine Revolution to hellish fervor.