Divine Word College of Legazpi

Legazpi City

LIT01 Philippine Literature in English

Analysis of the poem entitled “Like the Molave” by Rafael Zulueta da Costa

Submitted by:

Camba, Athena Ma. Shane B.

Mangente, Ma. Lyriana L.
Palaje, Cleo Nicole M.

Block A
MT 9:00am – 10:30am

Submitted to:

Salvacion L. Garcera, Ph. D, LPT

Professor
 LIKE THE MOLAVE
by: Rafael Zulueta da Costa

Not yet, Rizal, not yet. Sleep not in peace:

There are a thousand waters to be spanned;
There are a thousand mountains to be crossed;
There are a thousand crosses to be borne.
Our shoulders are not strong; our sinews are
Grown flaccid with dependence, smug with ease
Under another’s wing. Rest not in peace;
Not yet, Rizal, not yet. The land has need
Of young blood-and, what younger than your own,
Forever spilled in the great name of freedom,
Forever oblate on the altar of
The free? Not you alone, Rizal. O souls
And spirits of the martyred brave, arise!
Arise and scour the land! Shed once again
Your willing blood! Infuse the vibrant red
Into our thin anemic veins; until
We pick up your Promethean tools and, strong,
Out of the depth less matrix of your faith
In us, and on the silent cliffs of freedom,
We carve for all time your marmoreal dream!
Until our people, seeing, are become
Like the molave, firm, resilient, staunch,
Rising on the hillside, unafraid,
Strong in its own fiber, yes, like the molave!
 ANALYSIS

I. METER

 NOT yet,/ RIzal/, not YET./SLEEP not/ in PEACE:

Irregular Pentameter

Trochaic Iambic
NOT yet not YET
RIzal in PEACE
SLEEP not

 THERE are a /thousand WAters/ to be SPANNED;

THERE are a /thousand MOUNtains/ to be CROSSED;
THERE are a /thousand CROSSes/ to be BORNE.

Irregular Trimeter

Dactylic Amphibrachic Anapestic

THERE are a thousand WAters to be SPANNED

thousand to be CROSSED
MOUNtains to be BORNE
thousand CROSSes

 Our SHOULDERS/ are not STRONG/ our SINEWS are

Irregular Trimeter

Iambic Anapestic Amphibrachic

Our SHOULDERS are not STRONG our SINEWS are

 Grown FLACcid/ with DEPENDence/ smug WITH ease

Amphibrachic Trimeter

 Under another’s WING/ REST not/ in PEACE;

 Irregular Trimeter

Anapestic Trochaic Iambic

Under another’s REST not in PEACE

WING

 NOT yet,/ RIzal/ NOT yet./The LAND/ has NEED

Irregular Tetrameter

Trochaic Iambic

NOT yet The LAND

RIzal has NEED
NOT yet

 Of young BLOOD/-and, WHAT younger/ than your OWN,

FORever spilled/ in the GREAT name/ of FREEdom,
FORever oblate/ on the ALTAR/ of The FREE?
NOTyou alone/ RIzal./ O SOULS
And spiRITS/ of the MARTYRED brave,/aRISE!
ARISE and SCOUR/ the LAND!/ Shed once again/
Your wilLING blood!/ InFUSE/ the VIBrant red

Irregular Trimeter

Anapestic Amphibrachic Dactylic Trochaic Iambic

Of young BLOOD and, WHAT younger FORever spilled RIzal O SOULS

than your OWN of FREEdom FORever oblate aRISE
in the GREAT name the VIBrant red NOT you alone aRISE and SCOUR
on the ALTAR InFUSE
of The FREE
And spiRITS
of the MARTYRED brave
Your wilLING blood
 Into OUR thin/ anemic veins;/

Anapestic Dimeter

 Until We PICK up/ your ProMEthean tools/ and, STRONG,

OUT of the DEPTH/ less MATtrix of your/ of your FAITH
IN us,/ and on THE/ silent CLIFFS of FREEdom,
We CARVE/ for all TIME/your marMOreal DREAM!

Irregular Trimeter

Anapestic Iambic Trochaic Amphibrachic

Until We PICK up and, IN us of FREEdom

your ProMEthean tools STRONG
and on THE We CARVE
silent CLIFFS
for all TIME
your marMOreal
DREAM

 UnTIL/ our PEOple,/ SEEing/are beCOME

Like the MOlave/ FIRM,/reSILient,/STAUNCH,

Irregular Tetrameter

Iambic Amphibrachic Trochaic Anapestic

UnTIL our PEOple SEEing are beCOME
reSILient FIRM Like the MOlave
STAUNC
H

 RISing on/ the hillSIDE,/unaFRAID,

STRONG in its OWN fiber/, YES,/like the MOlave!

Irregular Trimeter

Anapestic Dactylic Iambic

the hillside RISing on YES

unafraid STRONG in its OWN fiber
 like the MOlave

II. RHYME AND RHYME SCHEME

Not yet, Rizal, not yet. Sleep not in peace:

There are a thousand waters to be spanned;
There are a thousand mountains to be crossed;
There are a thousand crosses to be borne.

 Rhyme Scheme: ABBB

 Rhyming Words: “Not yet” was used twice within the same line (line 1)
“There are a thousand” was used thrice (lines 2,3,4)
 Type of Rhyme: Identical Rhymes

Our shoulders are not strong; our sinews are

Grown flaccid with dependence, smug with ease
Under another’s wing. Rest not in peace;

 Rhyme Scheme: ABB

 Rhyming Words: Ease and Peace (line 2 and 3)
 Type of Rhyme: Slant Rhymes – Assonance

Not yet, Rizal, not yet. The land has need

Of young blood-and, what younger than your own,
Forever spilled in the great name of freedom,
Forever oblate on the altar of
The free? Not you alone, Rizal. O souls
And spirits of the martyred brave, arise!

 Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDE

 Rhyming Words: “Forever” is used twice (line 3 and 4)
 Type of Rhyme: Identical Rhymes

Arise and scour the land! Shed once again

Your willing blood! Infuse the vibrant red
Into our thin anemic veins; until
We pick up your Promethean tools and, strong,
Out of the depth less matrix of your faith
In us, and on the silent cliffs of freedom,
We carve for all time your marmoreal dream!

 Rhyme Scheme: AABCDDE

 Rhyming Words: Land and Blood (line 1 and 2)
Matrix and Cliffs (line 5 and 6)
  Type of Rhyme: Slant Rhymes – Assonance (line 1 and 2)
Slant Rhymes – Consonance (line 5 and 6)

Until our people, seeing, are become

Like the molave, firm, resilient, staunch,
Rising on the hillside, unafraid,
Strong in its own fiber, yes, like the molave!

 Rhyme Scheme: ABCB

 Rhyming Words: “Like the molave” is used twice
 Type of Rhyme: Identical Rhyme

III. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

Lines from the Poem Figurative Language

There are a thousand waters to be spanned;
There are a thousand mountains to be crossed;
There are a thousand crosses to be borne. Anaphora
Our shoulders are not strong; our sinews are
Not yet, Rizal, not yet
And spirits of the martyred brave, arise! Epistrophe
Arise and scour the land! Shed once again
Not yet, Rizal, not yet. Sleep not in peace
There are a thousand mountains to be crossed
There are a thousand crosses to be borne
Under another's wing. Rest not in peace Assonance
The free? Not you alone, Rizal. O souls!
Until our people, seeing, are become
Strong in its own fiber, yes, like the molave

IV. SYMBOLISM
The 'molave' symbolizes the character we must have to be able to fight for our beloved country,
Philippines. People should become like the molave; firm, resilient, and staunch, because Rizal alone
cannot do all the work for our country. Heroes need help too. We need to fight with him, we need
to continue what he started. Like a molave rising on the hillside, unafraid, we too need to be able to
stand tall, courageous enough for our homeland.

V. THEME AND MESSAGE

 THEME
 The theme of the poem is about encouraging us – Filipinos in making our nation stronger and
becoming independent in sustaining the needs and giving support to its people. It also highlights the
role of the youth on how they will be able to fight for their country and improving its nation. The
poem inspires us on how our heroes fight for the freedom we had right now, but despite their
battles, there are still a lot of things to do and a lot of things to improve. If people will contribute
effort, put in some time and hard work we will be able to improve our lives and be a self-sufficient
nation.

 MESSAGE

The message of the poem says a lot about Filipino Citizens. It deeply depicts that when a nation
is full of chaos, we need to be strong and independent to save our land for the younger generation.
We must encourage each and everyone not to let anyone get in our way in any aspect of our lives
such as our freedom and way of living. We must not let anyone abuse us with their power and
position. Because, we all deserve a place that is dominated by fairness and righteousness, especially
in a land that we call our “own”. We must not waste what our heroes have built for us, our
fellowmen, and for the nation as a whole. At a time when our rights and sense of humanity are
being challenged, we must fight back as one, not with bad blood but with combined efforts and
courage to make our country a prosperous place to live at. Let us adopt the resiliency of a molave
tree, who stands still and continues to rise again after facing the threat of floods, droughts, and
storms.