Women in the Life of Rizal: To All the Women I Loved Before - A Collection of Poems

By Yustine Gadiane and Jerica Inandan

December 19, 2024

© Rappler: Photo of Jose Rizal and Josephine Bracken

Segunda Katigbak

Para mi primer amor, 

A young lad may know but little, true

At tender, young sixteen—

Yet then I knew, I longed to woo

Thy guarded heart, unseen.

Thy rosy-cheeks, thy gentle smile

Hath left me flushed and weak.

No craft of hand, though wrought in style,

Can match thy beauty’s peak.

Thy grace, like sylphs that roam the air,

So light, it shames the breeze;

And like them, thou dost linger there,

Too far for hands to seize.

And though I long, to have thee close

I leave myself bereft.

For I am not the one fate chose,

So in thy wake, I’m left. 

 Tuyo en eterno anhelo,

 José

Leonor Rivera

A la que mora en la sombra de mi corazón,

In dreams doth Morpheus bless,

I see our fingertips,

That pause in shy caress—

Too meek to fully grip.

I see our breathless stutters,

Our hearts that beat the same,

The words we leave unuttered,

The thing we dare not name. 

In every waking moment, dear,

Thy image fills my mind,

A constant ache, a sweet despair,

The kind most rare to find.

In every woman I have loved,

'Tis thee I truly see,

Thy ghost doth haunt my every thought,

A love I dare not free.

Though gone, I seek thee in the dawn,

A shadow's fleeting trace—

For in my heart, though time moves on,

'Tis thee I long to chase.

Con un corazón que aún late por ti,

José

Leonor Valenzuela

Guardiana de Mi Llama Secreta,

Oh beauty, a towering sight,

Haunting my days, Igniting my nights.

With ink unseen, weaving my lore,

A love concealed, yet burning more.

Let flame’s soft breath unlock my art,

Each letter is drawn from a desperate heart.

Lurking shadows, a secret glow,

For only you, my soul would show.

Siempre tuyo en el baile de luz,

José

Consuela Ortiga

Un Amor No Dicho,

Beneath Madrid’s gilded skies,

That smile of yours, my heart tied.

A fleeting love to ink my thoughts upon,

A grace that lingered, a dream to hold on.

Yet, how can a heart betray its vow?

Thoughts filled with shadows, I bow down.

A friendship, sacred, I would not betray,

Though your beauty called, I Turned away.

Unspoken words, a token remain,

To your loving grace—a love untamed

Con honor y silencio, lo dejé ir,

José

Nellie Boustead

To thee, whom fate forbids me to hold,

In labyrinths of paper, 

Wood or leather bound—

I read, a beaut so favored,

That war hath shooketh ground.

I thought it but so ludicrous,

An act of pride and folly.

‘Til I drew a weapon, ruinous—

To stand for thee, though costly.  

‘Twas then I came to know,

I would die a happy man—

If only to feel thy heart aglow,

With love no time could span. 

And though I shan’t resign, 

The God I am to praise—

Thou wert the closest to divine,

I have ever come to taste. 

In unspoken reverence,

José

Gertrude Becket

To thee, whose love I cannot hold,

In summer noon, the world serene,

I brush my canvas mellow—

With light and dark; shadow, sheen,

The colors of the meadow.

And while the sun beats down on me, 

I feel more of a warmth—

In thy gaze, my devotee,

That burns but never scorns.

My pretty girl, thy love so pure

Shan’t ne’er be put to waste.

And so, I cannot fool or lure,

Nor lead thee on in haste.

For my heart still calls another’s name,

But if this weren’t true;

I would surrender to the flame

And scorch in love for you. 

With all my heart, though it cannot be thine,

José

O-Sei San

私の心が残したあなたへ,

In foreign land, where one hath none

And tongues speak different mothers,

Thou still hast left my mind undone—

My heart to beat in stutters.

Thy lips that whisper, soft and hush

The words of Rising Sun,

Hath singed my own with bloodrush

In hopes they meet as one.

In times I see the cherry blossoms,

Dance in spring’s soft air—

I think of our own microcosm,

Where we are all that is there.

And there, part of my heart shall lay,

With thee, in endless spring—

And even though I cannot stay,

In echoes sweet, I cling.

愛の静かな思い出の中で,

José

Suzanne Jacoby

To Thee, who endures a distant love,

In time, our hearts draw closer

Feelings are strong, a bond so kind

Leaving my heart with unwanted closure,

Accept my sorrow, for I have to unwind

Your letters came, echoing across seven seas

Each word a whisper, shouting my name.

Though miles stretched wide, our love remained,

A flame that distance couldn’t have strained.

To our unwavering love, forever nearby,

José

Josephine Bracken 

To thee, whom death would part,

If the world doth find some grace,

To grant me one last kindness—

I hope to die in thine embrace,

Ere I be lost to darkness.

And if it thus so mercifully grant,

My hapless, final wish—

I long to clasp our trembling hands, 

And share a parting kiss. 

For though our time was brief, 

Thou set my heart so free—

In exile’s quiet, cruel grief,

I found a home in thee. 

I yearned for us, eternal, 

But our fate doth misalign—

Still our love lives, supernal.

I am glad to have been thine.

Ever true, till death’s own hand,

José