To the Philippine Youth -English Translation of A La Juventud Filipina

To the Philippine Youth

by José Rizal
Translated by Charles Derbyshire
For Spanish Version go to A La Juventud Filipina

Hold high the brow serene,

O youth, where now you stand;

Let the bright sheen

Of your grace be seen,

Fair hope of my fatherland!



Come now, thou genius grand,

And bring down inspiration;

With thy mighty hand,

Swifter than the wind's violation,

Raise the eager mind to higher station.



Come down with pleasing light

Of art and science to the fight,

O youth, and there untie

The chains that heavy lie,

Your spirit free to blight.

See how in flaming zone

Amid the shadows thrown,

The Spaniard'a holy hand

A crown's resplendent band

Proffers to this Indian land.



Thou, who now wouldst rise

On wings of rich emprise,

Seeking from Olympian skies

Songs of sweetest strain,

Softer than ambrosial rain;

Thou, whose voice divine

Rivals Philomel's refrain

And with varied line

Through the night benign

Frees mortality from pain;



Thou, who by sharp strife

Wakest thy mind to life ;

And the memory bright

Of thy genius' light

Makest immortal in its strength ;



And thou, in accents clear

Of Phoebus, to Apelles dear ;

Or by the brush's magic art

Takest from nature's store a part,

To fig it on the simple canvas' length ;



Go forth, and then the sacred fire

Of thy genius to the laurel may aspire ;

To spread around the fame,

And in victory acclaim,

Through wider spheres the human name.



Day, O happy day,

Fair Filipinas, for thy land!

So bless the Power to-day

That places in thy way

This favor and this fortune grand !





Jose Rizal biography,timeline,Jose Rizal's poems,Mi Ultimo Adios,My Last Farewell