An Interpretation to Rizal’s Poem Entitled “To the Filipino Youth”

What was Rizal's wish for the Filipino youths? What do Filipino youths need to possess according to Rizal? Did he hope for the youths to be genius or brave? These main questions seek to investigate  the reasons for Dr. Jose P. Rizal in writing his popular poem, "A La Juventud Filipina".

Jose Rizal was 18 years old when he wrote the prize-winning poem, A La Juventud Filipina, an immortal poem which is so much cherished by every Filipinos, especially the youths. What does this poem tell about?

The poem’s theme, “Grow, O Timid Flower”, simply shows persuasion. To ‘grow’ sounds compelling from Rizal who always wanted to make everyone rise amid the cruelty that dominates under the leadership of Spain. Using the word ‘timid’, he described the Filipino youths of his age as cowards who learn nothing but submit themselves to wills of the Spaniards. Definitely, Rizal wrote the poem out from disappointment. No matter what, he still sees the hope for every Filipinos. Like a flower opening from its overnight closure, he expected the youths to grow and shine.

Rizal mentioned “Spaniard’s holy land” and “crown’s resplendent band” in the 4^th stanza of his poem showing good attributes to the Spaniards. These words were chosen to balance his thoughts of criticizing them in the 3rd stanza, where Spaniards put "chains" to every Filipinos. Rizal called to untie the chains and prevail the youths' “spirit free”.

In the poem, he advocated for rising and waking up.  Did Rizal ever think of arm struggle? Though he wanted to make Filipinos spread around the flame, go for the sacred fire, and use one’s divine voice, Rizal was seemingly unclear about his specific moves to save the country. As we all know about him, Rizal neither introduced arm struggle or a bloody revolution to claim for victory. Instead, he advocated for an immortal strength, one that must use his intellect.

All of Rizal’s dreams to the Filipino youths are simply a replica to what he has done throughout his life. He was more bias towards using one’s own intelligence to fight against the flaming zone created by the Spaniards. He even portrayed a pen as mightier than a sword. On the 8^th stanza, he even wanted to transform the clear accent of every Filipinos, which is the voice of freedom of every Filipinos, to a magical art using a brush that is to be simply portrayed on a canvas.

Simply speaking, Rizal wants to communicate the means of making peaceful process to achieve freedom. This is an immortal messaged directed to the present and the future. It is imperative that we must fulfill our responsibilities as we use our skills, knowledge, talent, and strength in advancing our country.

Today, we are called to fight for what is good for the Philippines. Let us not waste the words of Rizal. We,Filipino youths, must identify our niche and maximize our knowledge and skills in our chosen fields. Let us continue working for the advancement of the Philippines.