Dr. José Rizal - The Song of Maria Clara.

Maria Clara is one of Rizal's immortalized characters in his Noli Me Tangere novel. It is widely believed that the character was based on Rizal's real life cousin, Leonor Rivera.

Sweet are the hours in one´s own Native Land,
All there is friendly o´er which the sun shines above;
Vivifying is the breeze that wafts over her fields;
Even death is gratifying and more tender is love.

Ardent kissed on a mother´s lips are at play,
On her lap, upon the infant child´s awakening,
The extended arms do seek her neck to entwine,
And the eyes at each other´s glimpse are smiling.

It is sweet to die in one´s own Native Land,
All there is friendly o´er which the sun shines above;
And deathly is the breeze for one without
A country, without a mother and without love.

José Rizal, Noli Me Tangere, 1887