THROUGH EDUCATION
OUR MOTHERLAND RECIEVES LIGHT
The vital breath of prudent Education
Instills a virtue of enchanting power;
She lifts the motherland to highest station
And endless dazzling glories on her shower.
And as the zephyr's gentle exhalation
Revives the matrix of the fragrant flower,
So education multiplies her gifts of grace;
With prudent hand imparts them to the
human race.
For her a mortal-man will gladly part
With all he has; will give his calm repose;
For her are born all science and all art,
That brows of men with laurel fair enclose.
As from the towering mountain's lofty heart
The purest current of the streamlet flows,
So education without stint or measure gives
Security and peace to lands in which she lives.
Where Education reigns on lofty seat
Youth blossoms forth with vigor and agility;
He error subjugates with solid feet,
And is exalted by conceptions of nobility.
She breaks the neck of vice and its deceit;
Black crime turns pale at Her hostility;
The barbarous nations She knows how to
tame,
From savages creates heroic fame.
And as the spring doth sustenance bestow
On all the plants, on bushes in the mead,
Its placid plenty goes to overflow
And endlessly with lavish love to feed
The banks by which it wanders, gliding slow,
Supplying beauteous nature's every need;
So he who prudent Education doth procure
The towering heights of honor will secure.
From out his lips the water, crystal pure,
Of perfect virtue shall not cease to go.
With careful doctrines of his faith made sure,
The powers of evil he will overthrow,
Like foaming waves that never long endure,
But perish on the shore at every blow;
And from his good example other men shall
learn
Their upward steps toward the heavenly paths
to turn.
Within the breast of wretched humankind
She lights the living flame of goodness bright;
The hands of fiercest criminal doth bind;
And in those breasts will surely pour delight
Which seek her mystic benefits to find,
Those souls She sets aflame with love of right.
It is a noble fully-rounded Education
That gives to life its surest consolation.
 And as the mighty rock aloft may tower
Above the center of the stormy deep
In scorn of storm, or fierce Sou'wester's power,
Or fury of the waves that raging seep,
Until, their first mad hatred spent, they cower,
And, tired at last, subside and fall asleep, --
So he that takes wise Education by the hand,
Invincible shall guide the reigns of motherland.

On sapphires shall his service be engraved,

A thousand honors to him by his land be granted:
For in their bosoms will his noble sons have saved
Luxuriant flowers his virtue had transplanted:
And by the love of goodness ever lived,
The lords and governors will see implanted
To endless days, the Christian Education,
Within their noble, faith-enrapture nation.

And as in early morning we behold

The ruby sun pour forth resplendent rays;
And lovely dawn her scarlet and her gold,
Her brilliant colors all about her sprays;
So skillful noble Teaching doth unfold
To living minds the joy of virtuous ways.
She offers our dear motherland the light
That leads us to immortal glory's height.
What is the interpretation of Jose Rival's poem, "Through
Education Our Motherland Receives Light?"
Filipino poet Dr. Jose Rival's work "Through Education Our Motherland Receives Light"
posits that a well-rounded education is the key to fixing problems in the Philippines and
affecting positive social and political change. Rival employs personification throughout
the poem, giving human qualities to the idea of education. Referred to as "her"
throughout the work, education becomes like a powerful being capable of changing a
person and a nation.
A celebrated Filipino political and social activist, Rival wrote the poem in 1876 at the
age of 15, while the Philippines were under rule by the Spanish government. This was a
time of great political unrest in the Philippines, when national pride was low and the
masses often turned to violence in opposition to perceived oppression. Rival spurned
tendency toward violence, and instead embraced the more pragmatic ideology that
education provides the answer to the problems of the nation.

In "Through Education Our Motherland Receives Light," education is portrayed as a

torch lighting the darkness or the morning sun casting out the shadows over a land. This
is to suggest that those who seek a well-rounded education, who seek the light of
education, are illuminated and empowered, illuminating and empowering all those who
seek her light. In a time where many felt oppressed, Rival offered that the power or light
of education is endless, that it cannot be taken away.

Education is offered as an answer to unite the people, instill pride in the people and
provide the tools needed to make positive changes in the nation. Rival explains that all
science and art are born of education, that education is capable of bringing security and
peace to lands. His words encourage readers that through knowledge, even barbarous
savages can rise to heroism.