United States or North Macedonia ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Oh! lovely lies he on the bier, above the purple pall, The flower of all Granada's youth, the loveliest of them all; His dark, dark eyes are closed, his rosy lip is pale, The crust of blood lies black and dim upon his burnished mail, And evermore the hoarse tambour breaks in upon their wailing, Its sound is like no earthly sound "Alas! alas for Celin!"
To her I was the favorite of all the maids she knew; And, ah! my royal mistress I loved, I loved her true! No closer tie I owned on earth than bound me to her side; No closer tie; I loved her more than all the world beside. But more I loved than aught on earth, the gallant Moorish knight, Brave Celin, who is solely mine, and I his sole delight.
In Palma there was little joy, so lovely Zara found; She felt herself a slave, although by captive chain unbound. In Palma's towers she wandered from all the guests apart; For while Palma had her body, 'twas Baza held her heart. And while her heart was fixed on one, her charms no less enthralled The heart of this brave cavalier, Celin Andalla called.
She calls her maidens all to mark how, from misfortune free, The gallant Celin comes again, the ladies' knight is he! They know the story of his fate and undeserved disgrace, And eagerly they gaze upon the splendor of his face. Needs not his exploit in the fields, his valorous deeds to tell The ladies of Granada have heard and know them well!
Him yesterday a Moor did slay, of Bencerraje's blood, 'Twas at the solemn jousting, around the nobles stood; The nobles of the land were by, and ladies bright and fair Looked from their latticed windows, the haughty sight to share; But now the nobles all lament, the ladies are bewailing, For he was Granada's darling knight. "Alas! alas for Celin!"
I see thee shining from afar, As in heaven's arch some radiant star. Granada, queen and crown of loveliness, Listen to my lament, and mourn for my distress." Now Celin would be merry, and appoints a festal day, When he the pang of absence from his lady would allay: The brave Abencerrages and Gulanes straight he calls, His bosom friends, to join him as he decks his stately halls.
I cast away this gaudy cap, it bears the purple dye; Not that my love is faithless, for I own her constancy; But for the fear that there may be, within the maiden's sight, A lover worthier of her love than this unhappy knight." With that he took his lance in hand, and placed it in its rest, And o'er the plain with bloody spur the mournful Celin pressed.
At the gate of old Granada, when all its bolts are barred, At twilight at the Vega gate there is a trampling heard; There is a trampling heard, as of horses treading slow, And a weeping voice of women, and a heavy sound of woe. "What tower is fallen, what star is set, what chief come these bewailing?" "A tower is fallen, a star is set. Alas! alas for Celin!"
There streams into Granada's gate a stately cavalcade Of prancing steeds caparisoned, and knights in steel arrayed; And all their acclamations raise, when Celin comes in sight "The foremost in the tournament, the bravest in the fight" And Moorish maiden Cegri straight to the window flies, To see the glittering pageant and to hear the joyous cries.
He sadly gazes back again upon those bastions high, The towers and fretted battlements that soar into the sky; And Celin, whom the King in wrath has from Granada banned Weeps as he turns to leave for aye his own dear native land; No hope has he his footsteps from exile to retrace; No hope again to look upon his lady's lovely face.
Word Of The Day