Hymn to Labor

by Jose Protacio Rizal

1 Now the East with light is reddening,



To our fields and tasks we fare;

By our faithful work sustaining



Life and home and country there.
5

Though the earth be hard and stubborn



And the sun unpitying glow,



For our country and children,



Love and easy way will show.

Chorus 1

10

“Our country forever!”



may this be our cry.



“For thy sake to live,



For thy sake to die.”



Go then joyous to your labor,



while the wife awaits you here,

15

With the children from her learning



To hold truth and country dear.



When night brings you weary homeward,



Peace and joy will banish care;



But if fate unkindly treats you,

20

Love your dreary task will share.

Chorus 2



Hail to labor! Blessed be it,



For it brings our country wealth;



May we ever hold it sacred —



‘Tis our country’s life and health.

25

If the youth would win our favor



By this word should faith be shown,



Only he who toils and struggles



Will support and keep his own.



Show us then the way to labor,

30

Guide our careless, wandering feet



So that when our country needs us,



We our work may make complete.



And the old men then will call us



Children worthy of their sires,

35

For the dead are honored chiefly



By their sons whom worth inspires
question?

Form small groups to interact on the meaning of the poem.

Respond to the following questions.

1. Who are the workers referred to in the poem? Look for words and

phrases in the first and second stanzas that indicate who they are.

2. According to the poet, what are the purposes of doing their work

faithfully?

3. What different times of the day are described? Can you draw

pictures or describe in your own words what the workers do at

these times of the day?

4. What may make the work easy and joyful to the laborers?

5. Stanzas 3 and 4 give a picture of a typical Filipino family in the

rural area. Describe the scene.

6. What is the importance of hard, honest labor?

7. The “careless wandering feet” belong to the youth. What do

the young hope to do and to be in the future? How may this be

possible?

8. What advice does the poet give to the (a) youth, (b) the laborers

to be worthy of their parents and ancestors?

9. In what way can a laborer be proud of his country?

10. State the main idea or message of the poem in your own words
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