Classic Poem

To the Alpuxarres' exile
Rode the youthful Moorish monarch,
Heavy-hearted and in silence,
With his cavalcade behind him.

Seated high on ambling palfreys,
Or in gilded litters carried,
Came the women of his household;
On the mules the swarthy maidens.

And a hundred faithful servants
On their Arab horses followed;
Proud the steeds, but sad the riders,
Soiled and slouching in their saddles.

Not a drum and not a cymbal,
Neither song nor merry chorus;
Not a sound except the plaintive
Silver tinkle of the mule-bells.

On the summit where beneath one
Lies the green Duero valley,
And the last of fair Granada's
Mosques and minarets is seen.

From his horse the king dismounted,
And stood gazing on the city
In the glow of sunset gleaming,
As if decked in gold and purple.

What a sight was that, great Allah!
Gone the dear familiar crescent!
Spanish cross and standard glinting
On the towers of the Alhambra!

At the bitter sight the bosom
Of the king with sighs was riven,
And his tears fell like a torrent,
And his cheek was wet with weeping.

From her palfrey high, the mother
Of the king in gloomy anger
Watched her son's despair and sorrow;
Proudly, cruelly, she chid him.

Saying, “Boabdil el Chico,
Like a woman thou art wailing
O'er the town that with the courage
Of a man thou couldst not save.”

When the monarch's favourite mistress
Heard the mother's harsh upbraiding,
From her litter she alighted,
Threw her arms around her lord;

Said, “Nay, Boabdil el Chico,
Mourn not thus, my heart's beloved;
From thy sorrow's depth abysmal
Greenly yet will grow the laurel.

“Not alone the conquering hero
Crowned with victory, the darling
Of the blonde and smiling goddess,
But misfortune's bloody son—

“Also he, the valiant fighter,
Who succumbs to overwhelming
And relentless fate, forever
Shall be honoured and remembered.”

And the height from which the monarch
Saw the last of fair Granada
To this very day “The mountain
Of the Moor's last sigh” is called.

Time has long since brought fulfilment
Of the words of his beloved;
Proudly honoured is the glorious
Name of Boabdil el Chico.

Yea, his fame shall ring for ever
Down the ages, till asunder,
Jarring, snaps the last sweet string of
Andalusia's last guitar.