XVIII. Poor, paltry slaves! yet born 'midst noblest scenesWhy, Nature, waste thy wonders on such men ? Lo! Cintra's glorious Eden intervenes In variegated maze of mount and glen. Ah, me! what hand can pencil guide, or pen, To follow halfon which the eye dilates Through views more dazzling unto mortal ken Than those whereof such things the bard relates, Who to the awe-struck world unlock'd Elysium's gates ? XIX. The horrid crags, by toppling convent crown'd; xx. Then slowly climb the many winding way. XXI. And here and there, as up the crags you spring, Mark many rude carv'd crosses near the path : Yet deem not these devotion's offeringThese are memorials frail of murderous wrath : For wheresoe'er the shrieking victim hath Pour'd forth his blood beneath the assassin's knife Some hand erects a cross of mouldering lath; And grove and glen with thousand such are rife (3) Throughout this purple land, where law secures not life. XXII. On sloping mounds, or in the vale beneath, And yonder towers the Prince's palace fair: When wanton Wealth her mightiest deeds hath done, Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun. XXIII. Here didst thou dwell, here schemes of pleasure plan, Beneath yon mountain's ever beauteous brow; But now as if a thing unblest by Man, Thy fairy dwelling is as lone as thou! Here giant weeds a passage scarce allow To halls deserted, portals gaping wide: Fresh lessons to the thinking bosom, how Vain are the pleasaunces on earth supplied ; Swept into rocks anon by Time's ungentle tide ! XXIV. Behold the hall where chiefs were late conven'd! (4) A little fiend that scoffs incessantly, There sits in parchment robe array'd, and by Whereat the Urchin points and laughs with all his soul. XXV. Convention is the dwarfish demon styl'd XXVI. And ever since that martial synod met, How will posterity the deed proclaim ! Will not our own and fellow-nations sneer, To view these champions cheated of their fame, By foes in fight o'erthrown, yet victors here, [year? Where Scorn her finger points through many a coming XXVII. So deem'd the Childe, as o'er the mountain he To horse! to horse! he quits, for ever quits Or he shall calm his breast, or learn experience sage. XXIX. Yet Mafra shall one moment claim delay,(5) Where dwelt of yore the Lusian's luckless queen? And church and court did mingle their array, And mass and revel were alternate seen; Lordlings and freres-ill sorted fry I ween! But here the Babylonian whore hath built A dome, where flaunts she in such glorious sheen, That men forget the blood which she hath spilt, And bow the knee to Pomp that loves to varnish guilt. xxx. O'er vales that team with fruits, romantic hills, And life, that bloated Ease can never hope to share. XXXI. More bleak to view the hills at length recede, And all must shield their all, or share Subjection's woes. XXXII. Where Lusitania and her sister meet, Ne horrid crags, nor mountains dark and tall, XXXIII. But these between a silver streamlet glides, And scarce a name distinguisheth the brook, Though rival kingdoms press its verdant sides. Here leans the idle shepherd on his crook, And vacant on the rippling waves doth look, That peaceful still 'twixt bitterest foemen flow; For proud each peasant as the noblest duke; Well doth the Spanish hind the difference know 'Twixt him and Lusian slave, the lowest of the low. XXXIV. But e'er the mingling bounds have far been pass'd In sullen billow, murmuring and vast, So noted ancient roundelays among. Whilome upon his banks did legions throng Mix'd on the bleeding stream, by floating hosts oppress'd. XXXV. Oh, lovely Spain! renown'd, romantic land! Where is that standard which Pelagio bore, When Cava's traitor-sire first call'd the band That dy'd thy mountain streams with Gothic gore?(7) Where are those bloody banners which of yore Wav'd o'er thy sons, victorious to the gale, And drove at last the spoilers to their shore ? Red gleam'd the cross, and wan'd the crescent pale, While Afric's echoes thrill'd with Moorish matron's wail. XXXVI. Teems not each ditty with the glorious tale? Awake, ye sons of Spain ! awake! advance! |