THEY ASK ME

FOR VERSES
(ME PIDEN VERSOS)

Prepared by: Viva, Pearl Joy V.

BSED 2E IRREG
Background
• Was written while he was a member of
Circulo Hispano Filipino.
• Me Piden Versos reflected how sad it
was for him to have the ability to steer
emotions through his poems yet stifled
and muted by the powerful and
oppressive Spaniards.
Background
• Me Piden Versos (They Ask Me for Verses)
reflects Dr. Jose Rizal’s longing for his native
land, the Philippines
• was written in 1882 in Madrid
• He wrote this because he was actually asked for
verses.
• He reminisced his childhood days. It can be seen
in the poem how he missed the Philippines very
much and how painful it is for him to leave his
motherland
 I
They bid me strike the lyre
so long now mute and broken,
but not a note can I waken
nor will my muse inspire!
She stammers coldly and babbles
when tortured by my mind; Hinihinging aking tugtugin ang lira
she lies when she laughs and thrills na laong panahong pipi at sira na,
as she lies in her lamentation, ni isa mang tinig ay walang makuha’t
for in my sad isolation nagtampo na mandin sa akin ang Musa;
my soul nor frolics nor feels. magbadya pa’y hirap, utal, naiiba
kung napapaliho ang isip kong dala;
nagsisinungaling kapag tumatawa
paris ng bulaang hibik ng pag-asa,
at sa kalungkutang lagay kong mag-isa,
di na makaramdam pati ng kaluluwa!
 II
There was a time, ’tis true,
but now that time has vanished
when indulgent love or
friendship
called me a poet too.
Now of that time there lingers
hardly a memory,
as from a celebration
some mysterious refrain
that haunts the ears will remain
of the orchestra’s actuation.
Nagkapanahon nga at katotohanan,
ngunit yumao na ang panahong iyan
na ako ay isang Makata kung turan
ng pag-uumanhin at ng kaibigan;
sa panahong yaon, ngayo’y wala namang
labing alaala kahit bahagya man,
gaya kung malabi sa mga handaan
ang kagiliw-giliw na mga awitan,
tugtog ng orkestrang hindi napaparam
sa mga pakinig na naligayahan.
 III
A scarce-grown plant I seem,
uprooted from the Orient,
where perfume is the atmosphere
and where life is a dream.
O land that is never forgotten!
And these have taught me to sing:
the birds with their melody,
the cataracts with their force
and, on the swollen shores,
the murmuring of the sea.
Ako ay halamang bagong umaangat,
bagong tumutubo’t sa Silangan buhat;
doon pati hangin ay may halimuyak,
may bango pati na buhay at pangarap!
Bayang di-malimot sandali mang
oras!
Ako’y tinuruang kumantang matimyas
ng huni ng mga ibong lumilipad
at ng mga bukal na lumalagaslas,
gayon din ng ugong ng alon sa dagat
pagtalsik sa pampang ng mga
talampas.
 IV
While in my childhood days
I could smile upon her sunshine,
I felt in my bosom, seething,
a fierce volcano ablaze.
A poet was I, for I wanted
with my verses, with my breath,
to say to the swift wind: ‘Fly
and propagate her renown!
Praise her from zone to zone,
from the earth up to the sky!’
Samantalang ako’y nasa kamusmusan
nginingitian ko ang silay ng araw;
loob ng dibdib ko’y pinagngangalitan
ng sa bulkang init na nararamdaman.
Nagmakata ako pagka’t naibigang
ibulong sa hanging pumapailanlang
ang mga tula ko’t mga panambitan
nang upang iawit sa sandaigdigan
ang dangal ng aking minumutyang bayan
magmula sa lupa hanggang kalangitan.
 V
I left her! My native hearth,
a tree despoiled and shriveled,
no longer repeats the echo
of my old songs of mirth.
I sailed across the vast ocean,
craving to change my fate,
not noting, in my madness,
that, instead of the weal I sought,
the sea around me wrought
the spectre of death and sadness.
Akin ngang nilisan ang lupang sarili,
halamang natuyo’t walang dahong labi
pagka’t nangalagas, kulang sa kandili’t
ayaw nang umulit ang awit kong dati…
Tinawid ko’y dagat, lawak na malaki
sa hangad mabago ang palad kong imbi;
ang kabaliwan ko ay lubhang napipi
sapagkat ang aking hanap na pagbuti’y
naguhit sa tubig, naging guniguni:
anino ng isang kamatayang api!
The dreams of younger hours,
love, enthusiasm, desire,
have been left there under the
skies
of that fair land of flowers.
Oh, do not ask of my heart
that languishes, songs of love!
For, as without peace I tread
this desert of no surprises,
I feel that my soul agonizes
and that my spirit is dead.
Doon sa ilalim ng masayang langit
ng isa ngang lupang sagana sa dikit,
doon nangaiwan ang aking pag-ibig,
ang aking masayang mga panaginip,
gayon din ang lugod at sariling hilig…
Huwag na ngang hingan ng tulang may tamis
yaring abang diwa sa pananahimik,
sapagkat sa gitna ng lumbay at sakit
na kinaguluhan niring pag-iisip,
ang aking kalulwa ngayo’y tumatangis
pagka’t nangalanta ang lahat kong nais…
ASSESSMENT:
1. Why did Jose Rizal wrote the “Me Piden
Versos”
2. “They ask me for Verses was written while
Rizal was a member of ____ What
association?
3. Stanza 5 was dedicated to whom?
4. Lyre or Lira, symbolized what?
5. “They ask me for Verses” declaimed during
what?
6. In what year and where did Rizal wrote “They
ask for Verses”
THANKYOU