Hymn to Work
by Dr. José Rizal
(English version of “Himno Al Trabajo”)
[Chorus]
For our country in war
For our country in peace
The Filipino will be ready,
While he lives and when he dies.
MEN:
As soon as the East is tinted with light
Forth to the fields to plow the loam!
Since it is work that sustains the man,
The motherland, family and the home.
Hard though the soil may prove to be,
Implacable the sun above,
For motherland, our wives and babes,
'Twill be easy with our love.
WIVES:
Courageously set out to work;
Your home is safe with a faithful wife
Implanting in her children, love
For wisdom, land, and virtuous life.
When nightfall brings us to our rest,
May smiling fortune guard our door;
But if cruel fate should harm her man,
The wife would toil on as before.