Apolonio, Micoh Aaron P.

Rizal’s Life and Works

BT302

TO MY FELLOW CHILDREN

This poem is about love for our own national language, the Filipino language. Dr. Jose
Rizal, the author that this poem had been attributed, considering the style and content of the
poem, many are hesitant to acknowledge Rizal as the author but accredited for him. It has the
possibility that the author may not even be Rizal. He was born in Calamba, Laguna, on June 19,
1861. The young Rizal grew up in an educated home with a large library, it is rare in the
Philippines that was colonized in the past. He learned to read and write through his mother’s
help, and it was also her mother who introduced him to books and literature. “To My Fellow
Children,” is the only one remaining of those early literary works that is written in Tagalog that
is later on changed into Filipino that is designated as our official language of the Philippines in
1937. The reason why Rizal wrote this poem is because he wanted to uplift Filipinos to be proud
of being a Filipino and our language, by making use of it in order to achieve freedom.
“To My Fellow Children,” its content expresses nationalism of Rizal and also contains
one of the most quoted lines in Filipino poetry. He uses figures of speech in his poem. In the
first set of the poem, he asserting that we can be like a bird in the sky that is free to fly
wherever it wants but in order to be free, we should love our own language truthfully because
it is a gift from above so we should be grateful for it. Language is not only a communication tool
but it shows identity of an individual. There could be no real sense of nationhood and
patriotism without an identity. Our own language is our way to freedom so if we don’t cherish
it, we’re nothing but the birds in a cage that can’t fly and soar freely. In the following sets of the
poem, he compared those Filipinos who doesn’t appreciate his own language from a smelly
fish. Because just like a fish that’s out of its natural habitat, it becomes stinky. Some of Filipinos
who go out of the country, it is really fine in adapting to their culture as a way of respecting
them but others tend to forget their own and where they come from. They will try to conceal
themselves from being a Filipino and create hate to their fellow Filipinos. Like men who are
created equal, different languages are also equal and unique. In the last set of the poem, he
indicated that in every existing nation, it has its own different attributes that they can be proud
of, just like ours. We have our own but it would vanish if we allow intrusion to what we have.
In our present time, this poem is helpful for us to remember or to look back on what our
heroes fight for, by loving our own language, it has led to the fulfillment of freedom for
Filipinos. We have already gained our freedom but it seems that we are unconsciously
patronizing foreign languages. Because of allowing colonial mentality to happen, Filipino
language is possibly in danger of being bygone. Our very own Filipino language should be
respected and valued. If we reject it, it is like denying ourselves of who we really are. As a
Filipino it is our responsibility to take care of our language in the sense that we must not forget
it but we must enrich it, use it more often and be proud to be a Filipino.