A song from 1906
Music by J. de S. Hernandez
Lyrics by Dr. José Rizal
(English version by Charles Derbyshire)
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Spanish
Dulces las horas en la propia patria,
Donde es amigo cuanto alumbra el sol,
Vida la brisa que en sus campos vuela,
Grata la muerte y mas tierno el amor. [repeat]
Ardientes besos en los labios juegan,
De una madre en el seno al despertar,
Buscan los brazos a ceñir el cuello
Y los ojos sonriense al mirar. [repeat]
Dulce es la muerte por la propia patria,
Donde es amigo cuanto alumbra el sol.
Muerte es la brisa para quien no tiene
Una patria, una madre y un amor. [repeat]
Muerte es la brisa par quien no tiene,
Una patria, una madre y un amor.
English
Sweet are the hours in one’s native land,
Where all is dear, where all is dear the sunbeams bless;
Life-giving breezes sweep the strand,
And death is softened, death is softened by love’s caress. [repeat]
Warm kisses play on mother’s lips;
When on her tender breast we wake
While round her neck the soft arm slips,
And fond eyes in her love partake. [repeat]
It is sweet for one’s own land to die,
Where all is dear, where all is dear the sunbeams bless;
Dead is the breeze that sweeps the strand,
Without a home, a mother or love’s caress.
Dead is the breeze that sweeps the strand,
Without a home, a mother or love’s caress.
Sung here by Laurence Rubenstein: