MY CHILDHOOD IMPRESSIONS

by Jos Rizal
I spent many, many hours of my childhood
down on the shore of the Lake, Laguna de bay.
I was thinking of what was beyond.
I was dreaming of what might be over on the other side of the waves.
Almost every day, in our town, we saw the Guardia civil lieutenant
caning and injuring some unarmed and inoffensive villager.
The villagers only fault was that while at a distance
he had not taken off his hat and made his bow.
The alcalde treated the poor villagers
in the same way whenever he visited us.
We saw no restraint put upon brutality.
Acts of violence and other excesses were committed daily.
The officers whose duty it was to protect the people
and keep the public peace were the real outlaws.
Against such lawbreakers, our authorities were powerless.
I asked myself if, in the lands which lay across the lake,the people lived in
the same way.
I wondered if there they tortured any countryman
with hard and cruel whips merely on suspicion.
Did they there respect the home?
Or over yonder also, in order to live in peace,
would one have to bribe tyrants?

Interpretation:
For me, I interpret this poem as a young innocent child and his eyes are being opened with
reality at a young age. A young child who just want to explore and see the beauty of the world
but he witnessed the cruelty and the abnormality of the minds of the leaders. In a childs eyes,
seeing how abrupt and violent his environment has become it makes one child to imagine a
place where peace and order is in action. He thought of beautiful things but what he thought
was too far from the reality he saw during his childhood years. Innocent people received
violence and brutality, they cant act because they are powerless.
Also, the poem merely says how one child can describe his whole world with the environment he
is living in. Which also means that a child cannot embrace the beauty of the place he has lived
in because of the cruelty exposed by the aura of people around him. In shorter terms, a young
child has been awakened of what an adult citizen of the country should be aware of. The young
child also thought of a beautiful shore waiting at the end of the lake, but too many questions
bothered him because of the inhuman regulations.

TO MY CREATOR
By Jos Rizal

To my Creator I sing
Who did soothe me in my great loss;
To the Merciful and Kind
Who in my troubles gave me repose.
Thou with that powr of thine
Said: Live! And with life myself I found;
And shelter gave me thou
And a soul impelled to the good
Like a compass whose point to the North is bound.
Thou did make me descend
From honorable home and respectable stock,
And a homeland thou gavest me
Without limit, fair and rich
Though fortune and prudence it does lack.

Interpretation:

The Lord is truly magnificent. We are blessed and lucky because he bestowed us a life
that is full of surprises. Our Lord molded to what we are today, he planned for us to live
this life, he made us with all his likeness, and he poured his love to one and all. He

sheltered us with his grace, he filled our minds with enough wisdom and knowledge. He
is an Almighty Lord, that he hands what we need, and he open his arms in guiding us
and in forgiving our sins. He gave us a wondrous country, full of wonderful scenery, he
made us rich, not by wealth but by beautiful surroundings. Like a compass he guides,
he point us the direction to what is right and to a beautiful pathway direct to his kingdom.
He is truly a creative creator.

He blessed us more, when he lend his only begotten Jesus. Jesus Christ, the son of
Mary, the son of God. He was crucified and died for all our sins. He died for us to be
saved, and to be rescued. Hes a brave man, he faced all the trials and all maltreatment
of the soldiers, he also faced the people who betrayed him. And he accepted all of these
without any complain. God gave him strength for he know that hes the one who will
come and take over of all our sins. Jesus is truly our Savior/Brother and God is truly our
Almighty Father. He is powerful, that he gave his son for us to be enlightened. God sent
his son for us to be guided wherever we go. We are love, we are not alone. Hes always
at our back in times of joys and sorrows. He will never let us go alone that he will walk
with us til forever. And because of him, we are saved.