To the Flowers of Heidelberg

========Poems are simply reflections of an

Author’s feelings based on his experiences and present situation. While in Heidelberg experiencing the
feeling of nostalgia for his parents and his country, Rizal wrote the poem "To the Flowers of Heidelberg"
.When Rizal soared to Heidelberg in 1886, he was fascinated with the bloom flowers he saw in the
Neckar River. Those flowers reminded him of the flowers in their home’s garden in Calamba because of
his mood of homesickness. His poem, To the Flowers of Heidelberg is simply an expression of his
sadness as he remembered his family whom he loves so much. In his poem, he also described the
flowers as beautiful and brilliantly attractive which lie in heaven beneath a shiny bright sky. His poem
also shows that he misses his homeland where he first saw the beauty of life and the beauty of all
creation. Those flowers in Heidelberg were resemblance of his happy and beautiful experiences and
memories in his homeland where he was far a distance away. Because of sorrow and loneliness he
compensated by writing a poem about the beauty he saw on the flowers of
Heidelberg.========EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In this poem, Jose Rizal effectively employs natural imagery
to express his longing for the Philippines. He also wishes peace for his country and countrymen, and
subsequently compares a person far from his homeland to a flower losing its fragrance.

Written by Alvin V. Ogena; Edited by Jack Victor M. Nera

Rizal, contemplating the flowers that deck the university town of Heidelberg in spring, was inspired to
compose the following poem exuding intense love of his native land. Wherever he was, his thought
salways turn to his faraway homeland, wishing "Peace to my country with fecund soil, To her women
virtue, to her men faith.”

In 1885, the 24-year old Rizal went to Paris, France to pursue his career as an ophthalmologist. He tried
his skills in music and studied solfeggio , piano and voice culture for a month and a half. He worked as an
assistant to the renowned ophthalmologist, Dr. Louis de Weckert, and left for Heidelberg after a year.
He settled in the house of a Lutheran ,Karl Ulmer and worked in the clinics of famous Polish and German
ophthalmologists, Dr. Javier Galezowsky and Dr. Otto Becker, respectively. In Heidelberg, he was
astound with the flowers along the Neckar River, especially the forget-me-nots, which made him
compose the poem,

A Las Flores de Heidelberg

(To the Flowers of Heidelberg), on April 22, 1886. It was also in this German city where the long-distance
friendship between Jose Rizal and Ferdinand Blumentritt began.========
This poem denotes both his love of Heidelberg (and especially the flora), and his intense love
and home-sickness for his own country. When he wrote home he sent these flower pressings
inside the letters - and his poem relates that with each pressing he kissed it and sent his love
with it. He says, however, that the freshness and perfume of the flower will be lost because it
has been plucked from its true home ... as has he. And this is how he feels - he needs to be in
his own country to be fully alive.

Rizal found inspiration in the beauty of the blooming flowers and the fragrance of the woods.
He wrote the poem while he was in Germany and studying to be a good ophthalmologist.
He wrote the poem on April 24, 1886.
Rizal asked the flowers to imaginatively go to the Philippines and convey love for his country and loved
ones.

Written on April 22, 1886 The Neckar River and the beautiful spring flowers blooming along its banks
reminded R of how dearly he missed Calamba

Matinding lungkot ni R and homesickness para sa kanyang bayan

He wanted the maidens to extend his message of love, longing and continuous safeguard to the native
land, which his humble heart remains faithful to the land where he grew up

He also articulated his unconditional love for his family, his countrymen, and the nation he dreams to
be.

Nevertheless, he only wished eternal peace for land, that no man shall be harmed and everyone adheres
to common good.

Pinaalalahanan din niya ang mga babae ng Pilipinas na maging matapang at malakas para sa mga
paghihirap na maaari nilang makatunggali

Interpretations:
1. Rizal used the Flowers as his symbol of his love for his motherland.
2. Flowers' reduced quality refers to Rizal's useless presence in another country.
3.He was homesick for his native Philippines.
4. "To the Flowers of Heidelberg" was not literally about flowers, he was referring to the frauleins. In
1882, Rizal left for Spain to pursue a medical degree. Rizal had a personal reason as well as an altruistic
reason for his decision to study abroad. He wanted to become an eye specialist in order to cure her
mother from an eye ailment. Poems are simply reflections of an author’s feelings based on his
experiences and present situation. Whilein Heidelberg experiencing the feeling of nostalgia for his
parents and his country, Rizal wrote the poem"To the Flowers of Heidelberg"
When Rizal soared to Heidelberg in 1886, he was fascinated with the bloom flowers he saw in the
NeckarRiver. Those flowers reminded him of the flowers in their home’s garden in Calamba because of
his mood of homesickness.
In Heidelberg, he was astound with the flowers along the Neckar River, especially the forget-me-nots,
which made him compose the poem, A Las Flores de Heidelberg (To the Flowers of Heidelberg), on April
22, 1886

His poem, To the Flowers of Heidelberg is simply an expression of his sadness as he remembered his
family whom he loves so much. Forget me not Flowers

It was published in the December 1896 issue of La Solidaridad.

SLIDE 1 & 2 RIZAL LONGING: Homesickness – Rizal poetically requests the flowers of Heidelberg to speak
of him and for him in the Philippines. Para sa mga mahal niya sa buhay, lalo na sa ina nyang si Doña
Teodora Alonzo na nanlalabo na ang mata. Kung kaya nga dahil dito nagsisikap si Dr. Jose Rizal na
maging dalubhasa sa medisinang pang-mata kasabay na rin dito ay yung pag-aaral ng kultura at iba’t
ibang bagay na maaaring makatulong para sa bayan. Pero sa kahit fueled by passion and inspiration si
Dr. Jose Rizal, dahil sa malayo siya sa pamilya niya at sa sariling bayan niya. Bilang tao natural lamang na
magkaroon longing si Rizal sa bayang tinubuan at sa pamilya nya.

SLIDE 3 RIZAL WISH: PEACE AND FERTILE SOIL FOR THE PHILIPPINES, FAITH TO ITS MEN AND VIRTUE TO
ITS WOMEN

 Ayon sa liham ni Rizal para sa kanyang kapatid na si Trinidad, ang Tinutukoy ni Rizal na Virtue
dito daw ay Virtue of Tenderness and Industry. (Pagiging Pino at Masigasig) (Sa Madrid kasi araw
araw may nag aaway na mga babae)
 He only wished eternal peace for land, that no man shall be harmed and everyone adheres to
common good.
 Pananampalataya para sa diyos ay mahalaga paring batayan para kay Rizal, sa katunayan sa
pakikipagpalitan niya ng ideya kay Karl Ulmer, nagsabi siya ng ilang mga rason na mas higit parin
ang pagiging katoliko kaysa sa pagiging protestante
o “More than by faith, more by reasoning and necessity, I firmly believe that a Creator
exists,” Dr. Rizal to Fr. Pablo Pastells – Jesuit Order in Dapitan City on Rizal’s Exile

SLIDE 4 RIZAL PARADOXES: GINAMIT NI RIZAL ANG BULAKLAK NG HEIDELBERG as his symbol of his love
for his motherland.

The beauty of the flowers is comparable to the way he looks at our country that anyone who will see the
flower may get in touch with Rizal's concern for his motherland.

Marangal na simbolismo pero, si Rizal sa last stanza nag reflect siya sa pagkawalang saysay nito kasi
hindi na magiging katulad iyon o mag iiba na siya kapag dumating siya sa bansa. Pero yung meaning
nya baliktad talaga, hindi siya Heidelberg to Pinas, kundi Pinas to Heidelberg.

Kasi yung tinutukoy na Ganda at Halimuyak ng bulaklak ay sumisimbolo sa mga nais ni Rizal para sa
bansa. At para sa kanya kapag lalong nagtagal, mawawala na ito. Bakit? Kasi wala siya mismo doon sa
bansang minamahal niya.

Sa France and Germany, Rizal ay kilala at ginagalang. Pero tinatanong niya kung anong saysay nito.
Ano ba madudulot nito sa Pilipinas?

Bawat stanza iisa lang yung simbolismo na ginagamit, yung bulaklak. Pero ang sinisimbolo ng bulaklak sa
totoo lang ay dalawa. Una, the flowers' beauty and fragrance symbolizes Rizal's love for his country,
and second, PAGKAWALA NG FRAGRANCE AT GANDA AY ANG PRESENSYA NI RIZAL SA IBANG BANSA
HABANG MALAYO SIYA SA BAYAN NIYA
SLIDE 5 RIZAL’S PLAN: Recall na yung bulaklak ay simbolo ng pagmamahal niya sa tinubuang lupa. At ito
ang plano niya, Dalhin sa bayan niya ang pagmamahal niya at ilalagay niya ito sa libro. Subtle hint ito ng
unang nobela ni Rizal. Ang Noli Me Tangere