A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA

Jose Rizal
THE CONTEXT
THE CONTEXT
JUNTA DE CENSURA
Board of Censors

In the colonial Philippines, cultural and

literary life was subject to intensive
censorship imposed by a Junta de Censura
whose members are designated by the
Government, and the Archbishop
(Tardio, n.d.).
THE CONTEXT
LICEO ARTISTICO Y LITERARIO DE MANILA
Artistic-Literary Lyceum of Manila

In 1879, a literary competition was organized and was

divided into two categories depending on the author's
origins.
THE CONTEXT
LICEO ARTISTICO Y LITERARIO DE MANILA
Artistic-Literary Lyceum of Manila

CATEGORIES:
Spanish-born

Naturales y Mestizos
THE CONTEXT
LICEO ARTISTICO Y LITERARIO DE MANILA
Artistic-Literary Lyceum of Manila

"thus, bearing in mind the Spanish colonial criteria, it was

considered undiplomatic to organize a sole competition
for colored people and the whites, in case one of the
former should defeat the latter."
-Wenceslao Retana
THE CONTEXT
LICEO ARTISTICO Y LITERARIO DE MANILA
Artistic-Literary Lyceum of Manila

In the next leg of the competition where Rizal was the

denied the first prize for his allegory El Consejo de los
Dioses in 1880, the Liceo revolved in the commemoration
of the most celebrated figure in Spanish literature, Miguel
de Cervantes Saavedra, and that year it was decided that
all participants would be included in one single category.
A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA
To the Filipino Youth
A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA
To the Filipino Youth

When he freshly turned 18 and was still a

student in the University of Santo Tomas, Rizal
won the first prize in the Liceo Artistico y
Literario de Manila for his poem, A La Juventud
Filipina, for which he took home a feather-
shaped and gold ribbon-decorated silver pen.
 REASONS A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA IS CONSIDERED A CLASSIC

It was the first great It expressed for the

poem in Spanish first time the
written by a Filipino nationalistic concept
whose merit was that the Filipinos, and
recognized by Spanish not the foreigners,
literary authorities. were the "fair hope of
the Fatherland."
A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA
To the Filipino Youth

The poem reflects Rizal's familiarity to Greek

mythology thus reflecting a mix of Western and
Eastern culture.
Deities in Greek mythology that was mentioned in Rizal's A La Juventud Filipina

Philomel
accorded as Nightingale as he was a figure of literary, artistic and
musical artistry

Phoebus (Apollo)
seen as the most beautiful of the Greek deities and as an ideal
picture of the Kouros (boy of noble rank)

Apelles
an esteemed Greek painter
A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA
To the Filipino Youth

In the poem, Rizal addresses the youth

that he himself represents. Evidently, it
is a replica of what he has done
throughout his life and the ideologies
that he upheld.
 A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA
To the Filipino Youth

Unfold, oh timid flower!

Lift up your radiant brow,

This day, youth of my native
strand!
Your abounding talents show
Resplendently and grand,
Fair hope of my Motherland!
 A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA
To the Filipino Youth
Soar high, oh genius great,
And with noble thoughts fill
their mind;
The honor’s glorious seat,
May their virgin mind fly and
find
More rapidly than the wind.
Descend with the pleasing
light
Of the arts and sciences to
the plain,
Oh Youth, and break forthright
The links of the heavy chain
That your poetic genius
enchain.
 A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA
To the Filipino Youth

See that in the ardent zone,

The Spaniard, where shadows
stand,
Doth offer a shining crown,
With wise and merciful hand
To the son of this Indian land.
 A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA
To the Filipino Youth

You of heavenly harmony,

You, who heavenward rise
On a calm unperturbed night,
On wings of your rich
Philomel’s match in melody,
fantasy,
That in varied symphony
Seek in the Olympian skies
Dissipate man’s sorrow’s
The tenderest poesy,
blight;
More sweet than divine
honey;
 A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA
To the Filipino Youth

You at the impulse of your

And you, who with magic
mind
brush
The hard rock animate
On canvas plain capture
And your mind with great
The varied charm of Phoebus,
pow’r consigned
Loved by the divine Apelles,
Transformed into immortal
And the mantle of Nature;
state
The pure mem’ry of genius
great;
 A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA
To the Filipino Youth

Run! For genius’ sacred

With trumpet the mortal’s
flame
name
Awaits the artist’s crowning
Oh, joyful, joyful day,
Spreading far and wide the
The Almighty blessed be
fame
Who, with loving eagerness
Throughout the sphere
Sends you luck and
proclaiming
happiness.
 A LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA
To the Filipino Youth

ZACARIA, Putri Jihadah E.