“Like the Molave”by Zulueta da Costa

“Like the Molave”Reporters:Monique Rendoque

Daphne Anne Reyes

Fritz Geralt Omangay

Jan Joel Sulit

JoseP.

Rizal

Jose P. RizalOur National Hero who died for the freedom of our country. He tried to fight by pen, but the hearts of the Spaniards were too hard. Rizal turned out and decided to spare his life because maybe when a drop of his blood would fall, the hard stones would soften. But we all know that stones would never change…

Not yet Rizal, not yet. Sleep not in peace:There are a thousand waters to be spanned;

There are a thousand mountains to be crossed;

There are a thousand crosses to be borne.Our shoulders are not strong our sinews areGrown flaccid with dependence, smug with

easeUnder another’s wing.

Rest not in peace;

Not yet Rizal, not yet. The land has need

Of young blood – and, what younger than your own,

Forever spilled in the great name of freedom,

The free?

Not you alone, Rizal.

And spirits of the martyred brave, arise!

Arise and scour the land! Shed once again

Your willing blood! Infuse the vibrant red

Into our thin anaemic veins; until

We pick up your Promethean tools and, strong,

Out of the depthless matrix of faithIn us, and on the silent cliffs of freedom,

We carve for all time your marmoreal dream!

Until our people, seeing are becomeLike the molave, firm, resilient, staunch,

Rising on the hillside unafraid.Strong in its own fibre; yes, like the

Molave!

* * *

Not yet, Rizal, not yet.The glory hour will come.

Out of the silent dreaming,From the seven thousand-fold

silence,We shall emerge, saying:

WE ARE FILIPINOS ! And no longer be ashamed.

Sleep not in peace.

The dream is not yet fully carved,

Hard the wood, but harder the blows.

Yet the molave will stand;Yet the molave monument will

rise,And gods walk on brown legs.

~*End*~

Vocabulary Words

Borne*There are a thousand crosses to be borne.

(bôrne)

- To carry.

Sinew *Our shoulders are not

strong our sinews are

(sin‘ū)

- A source of power or strength.

Flaccid *Grown flaccid with

dependence

(flak’sid)- Soft and limp; flabby; weak.

Smug * Grown flaccid with

dependence, smug with ease

(smug)

- Annoyingly self-satisfied.

Matrix *Out of the depthless

matrix of your faith

(mā’triks)

- that within which someone originates, takes form, etc. : specifically a mold for the face of a type or for a printing plate.

Resilient*Like the molave, firm,

resilient, staunch

(ri-zil’iənt)

-recovering strength, spirits, etc. quickly.

QUESTIONS:

1. What is the molave compared to?

• A. Blood

• B. Fibre

• C. Cliffs for freedom

• D. Faith

2. What does the writer want to stop Rizal from?

• A. The Cliff

• B. Dreams

• C. Smug

• D. Resting in Peace

3. What is not yet fully carved in the last stanza?

•A. Dream

•B. Stand

•C. Love

•D. Unity

4. To whom is the poem addressed?

• A. Rizal

• B. Jacinto

• C. Filipinos

• D. Bonifacio

5. What is the meaning of the word “Flaccid”?

• A. Healthy

• B. Weak

• C. Abundant

• D. Strong

THANK YOU