A poem that I got when I went for the youth programme

To the Filipino Youth
(A La Juventud Filipina)

Theme: "Grow, O Timid Flower."

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 might hand,
Swifter than the wind's volation,
Raise the eager mind to higher station.

Come down with pleasing light,
Of art and science to the flight,
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 Spainard's holy hand
A crown's resplendent band
Proffers to this Indian land.

Thou, who now wouldst rise
On wings of rich emprise,
Seeking from the Olympian skies
Songs of the 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 brush's magic art
Takest from nature's store a part
To fix 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 today
That places in thy way
This facour and this fortune grand

Written in 1879 by Jose Rizal, Translated by Charles E. Derbyshire.

I don't really recall us going through this poem during the programme, but it was in the folder with the rest of the stuff from the programme.. but oh well, it seemed nice, so i shared..

-Oracl3-