Mi último adiós

The first stanza of "Mi último adiós"

"Mi último adiós" (Spanish for "My Last Farewell") is a poem written by Philippine national hero José Rizal on the eve of his execution on December 30, 1896. Although the poem was untitled, this title served as an artifice useful as a quick reference. This poem was one of the last notes he wrote before his execution. Another that he had written before his death was found in his shoe but because the text could not be read it remains a mystery.

Title

Rizal did not inscribe a title to his poem. Mariano Ponce, his friend and fellow reformist, titled it Mi Último Pensamiento in the copies he distributed, but this did not catch on. Here is a copy of news story taken from The Inquirer dated December 30, 2002:

On the afternoon of Dec. 29, 1896, a day before his execution, Dr. Jose Rizal was visited by his mother, Teodora Alonzo, sisters Lucia, Josefa, Trinidad, Maria and Narcisa, and two nephews. When they took their leave, Rizal told Trinidad in English that there was something in the small alcohol stove (cocinilla), not alcohol lamp (lamparilla). The stove was given to Narcisa by the guard when the party was about to board their carriage in the courtyard. At home, the Rizal ladies recovered from the stove a folded paper. On it was written an unsigned, untitled and undated poem of 14 five-line stanzas. The Rizals reproduced copies of the poem and sent them to Rizal's friends in the country and abroad. In 1897, Mariano Ponce in Hong Kong had the poem printed with the title "Mi Ultimo Pensamiento." Fr. Mariano Dacanay, who received a copy of the poem while a prisoner in Bilibid(jail), published it in the first issue of La Independencia on Sept. 25, 1898 with the title "Ultimo Adios." N.B. The stove was not delivered until after the execution. Rizal needed it to light the room and to be able to write the poem and his other parting words. VGPas 10/21/08.

Thus did Rizal's untitled, undated and unsigned last poem became popularly known as "Último adiós," or "Mi último adiós."

Political impact

After the transfer of possession to the United States as a result of the Spanish-American War, the Philippines was perceived as a community of "barbarians" incapable of self-government. Lobbying for management of Philippine affairs, U.S. Representative Henry A. Cooper recited the poem before the U.S. House of Representatives. Realising the nobility of the piece's author, his fellow congressmen enacted the Philippine Bill of 1902 (renamed Jones Law) enabling self-government. With that speech, the US Congress passed the bill into law which is now known as the Philippine Organic Act of 1902, despite the fact that the United States at that time still had the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act in effect and African Americans has yet to be granted equal rights as US Citizens. It created the Philippine legislature, appointed two Filipino delegates to the US Congress, extended the US Bill of Rights to Filipinos, and laid the foundation for an autonomous government. The colony was on its way to independence. although relative complete autonomy would not be granted to the nation until 1946 at the Treaty of Manila which reclaimed the legacies of the June 12,1898 Philippine Republic.

This same poem which has inspired liberty-loving peoples across the region and beyond was recited (in its Bahasa Indonesia translation of Rosihan Anwar) by Indonesian soldiers of independence before going into battle.

Rosihan Anwar recalled the circumstances of the translation: “The situation was favorable to promote nationalism. [On Sept. 7, 1944, Prime Minister Koiso of Japan declared that the ‘East Indies’ would become independent soon, an announcement that was received enthusiastically throughout the islands, and got ecstatic treatment in Asia Raya the following day.] In that context, I thought it would be good that I could disseminate this story about Jose Rizal among our younger people at that time. It was quite natural; I thought it would be good to tell the story of Jose Rizal, this rebel against the Spanish. And of course the climax, when he was already sentenced to death and then hauled off to face firing squad, and he wrote that [poem] ….”

“I translated it from the English. Because I do not know Spanish. I know French, I know German, but not Spanish. Then, according to the custom at that time, everything you want to say over the radio station or anything you wanted to publish in a newspaper … everything must go first to the censorship. I sent it to [the] censor, no objection, it’s okay. Okay. Then I made an arrangement, with my friend, [an] Indonesian friend, who worked at the radio station, where everything was supposed to be supervised by the Japanese. He gave me a chance to read it, which I did …”

He read Rizal’s farewell poem over Jakarta radio on Saturday, Dec. 30, Rizal’s 48th death anniversary. The same day, Asia Raya devoted almost half of its back page to a feature and poem on Rizal written by Anwar, and to Anwar’s translation of the poem.

Poem

My Last Farewell

Farewell, my adored Land, region of the sun caressed, Pearl of the Orient Sea, our Eden lost, With gladness I give you my Life, sad and repressed; And were it more brilliant, more fresh and at its best, I would still give it to you for your welfare at most.

On the fields of battle, in the fury of fight, Others give you their lives without pain or hesitancy, The place does not matter: cypress laurel, lily white, Scaffold, open field, conflict or martyrdom's site, It is the same if asked by home and Country.

I die as I see tints on the sky b'gin to show And at last announce the day, after a gloomy night; If you need a hue to dye your matutinal glow, Pour my blood and at the right moment spread it so, And gild it with a reflection of your nascent light!

My dreams, when scarcely a lad adolescent, My dreams when already a youth, full of vigor to attain, Were to see you, gem of the sea of the Orient, Your dark eyes dry, smooth brow held to a high plane Without frown, without wrinkles and of shame without stain.

My life's fancy, my ardent, passionate desire, Hail! Cries out the soul to you, that will soon part from thee; Hail! How sweet 'tis to fall that fullness you may acquire; To die to give you life, 'neath your skies to expire, And in your mystic land to sleep through eternity !

If over my tomb some day, you would see blow, A simple humble flow'r amidst thick grasses, Bring it up to your lips and kiss my soul so, And under the cold tomb, I may feel on my brow, Warmth of your breath, a whiff of your tenderness.

Let the moon with soft, gentle light me descry, Let the dawn send forth its fleeting, brilliant light, In murmurs grave allow the wind to sigh, And should a bird descend on my cross and alight, Let the bird intone a song of peace o'er my site.

Let the burning sun the raindrops vaporize And with my clamor behind return pure to the sky; Let a friend shed tears over my early demise; And on quiet afternoons when one prays for me on high, Pray too, oh, my Motherland, that in God may rest I.

Pray thee for all the hapless who have died, For all those who unequalled torments have undergone; For our poor mothers who in bitterness have cried; For orphans, widows and captives to tortures were shied, And pray too that you may see you own redemption.

And when the dark night wraps the cemet'ry And only the dead to vigil there are left alone, Don't disturb their repose, don't disturb the mystery: If you hear the sounds of cithern or psaltery, It is I, dear Country, who, a song t'you intone.

And when my grave by all is no more remembered, With neither cross nor stone to mark its place, Let it be plowed by man, with spade let it be scattered And my ashes ere to nothingness are restored, Let them turn to dust to cover your earthly space.

Then it doesn't matter that you should forget me: Your atmosphere, your skies, your vales I'll sweep; Vibrant and clear note to your ears I shall be: Aroma, light, hues, murmur, song, moanings deep, Constantly repeating the essence of the faith I keep.

My idolized Country, for whom I most gravely pine, Dear Philippines, to my last goodbye, oh, harken There I leave all: my parents, loves of mine, I'll go where there are no slaves, tyrants or hangmen Where faith does not kill and where God alone does reign.

Farewell, parents, brothers, beloved by me, Friends of my childhood, in the home distressed; Give thanks that now I rest from the wearisome day; Farewell, sweet stranger, my friend, who brightened my way; Farewell, to all I love. To die is to rest.

Translations

Mi último adiós could be the most translated patriotic swan song in the world, and interpretations into 46 Filipino languages including Filipino Sign Language[1], and as of 2005 at least 35 English translations known and published (in print). The most popular English iteration is the 1911 translation of Charles Derbyshire and is inscribed on bronze. Also on bronze at the Rizal Park in Manila, but less known, is the 1944 one of novelist Nick Joaquin. The latest translation is in Czech made by a Czech diplomat and addressed at the session of their Senate.

This poem has been translated into at least 38 other languages:

• Bengali
• Bulgarian
• Burmese
• Chinese
• Czech
• Danish
• Dutch
• Fijian
• Filipino
• French
• German
• Greek
• Hawaiian
• Hebrew
• Hindi
• Hungarian
• Igbo
• Indonesian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Javanese
• Korean
• Latin
• Māori
• Norwegian
• Portuguese
• Romanian
• Russian
• Sanskrit
• Sinhaleas
• Somali
• Tahitian
• Thai
• Tongan
• Turkish
• Urdu
• Vietnamese
• Wolof
• Yoruba

References

• Mauro Garcia (1961). 'Translations of Mi Ultimo Adios,' in Historical Bulletin Manila. Philippine Historical Association.
• Hilario, Frank A (2005). indios bravos! Jose Rizal as Messiah of the Redemption. Lumos Publishing House.
• Jaroslav Ludva (2006). Mi último adiós - Poslední rozloučení. the Embasy of the Czech Republic in Manila.
• Multiple Authorship (1990). Mi Ultimo Adios in Foreign and Local Translations (2 vol). National Historical Institute.
• Sung by various Artists of Spanish language as a Tribute (more information needed!)

See also

• Death poem

• Original Ultimo Adios Manuscript
• Modern English translation by Edwin Agustín Lozada, May 2001

Resources

• Full Text in Spanish (Mi último adiós)
• Full Text in Tagalog (Huling paalam)
• Full Text in English (My last farewell)
• Recital of US Congressman Henry Cooper before the House of Congress
• Details of Jose Rizal's last night