The noble blood of Gothic name, How, in the onward course of time, Some, the degraded slaves of lust, Others, by guilt and crime, maintain Wealth and the high estate of pride, Bid not the shadowy phantoms stay, These gifts in Fortune's hands are found; Her swift revolving wheel turns round, And they are gone! No rest the inconstant goddess knows, Even could the hand of avarice save Let none on such poor hopes rely; Earthly desires and sensual lust But, in the life beyond the tomb, The pleasures and delights, which mask But the fleet coursers of the chase, No foe, no dangerous pass, we heed, And, when the fatal snare is near, Could we new charms to age impart, As we can clothe the soul with light, How busily each passing hour Should we exert that magic power! What ardour show, To deck the sensual slave of sin, Yet leave the freeborn soul within, In weeds of woe! Monarchs, the powerful and the strong, Saw, by the stern decrees of fate, Who is the champion? who the strong? As heavily the hand of Death, As when it stays the shepherd's breath I speak not of the Trojan name, Nor of Rome's great and glorious dead, Little avails it now to know Our theme shall be of yesterday, Where is the King, Don Juan? Where Where are the courtly gallantries? Tourney and joust, that charmed the eye, And scarf, and gorgeous panoply, What were they but a pageant scene? Where is the song of Troubadour? Where is the mazy dance of old, And he who next the sceptre swayed, O, in what winning smiles arrayed, But O! how false and full of guile That world, which wore so soft a smile She, that had been his friend before, The countless gifts,-the stately walls, Plate with armorial bearings wrought, The noble steeds and harness bright, And gallant lord, and stalwart knight, In rich array, Where shall we seek them now? Alas! Like the bright dewdrops on the grass, They passed away. His brother, too, whose factious zeal What a gay, brilliant court had he, But he was mortal; and the breath Judgment of God! that flame by thee, Spain's haughty Constable,--the true And gallant Master, whom we knew Most loved of all. Breathe not a whisper of his pride,He on the gloomy scaffold died, Ignoble fall! The countless treasures of his care, What were they all but grief and shame, His other brothers, proud and high, Who made the bravest and the best What was their prosperous estate, What but a transient gleam of light, So many a duke of royal name, That might the sword of empire wield, Their deeds of mercy and of arms, O Death, thy stern and angry face, Unnumbered hosts that threaten nigh, High battlements intrenched around, Bastion, and moated wall, and mound, And palisade, And covered trench, secure and deep,All these cannot one victim keep, O Death, from thee, When thou dost battle in thy wrath, And thy strong shafts pursue their path Unerringly. O World! so few the years we live, Alas! thy sorrows fall so fast, Our days are covered o'er with grief, And sorrows neither few nor brief Veil all in gloom; Left desolate of real good, Thy pilgrimage begins in tears, And ends in bitter doubts and fears, Or dark despair; Midway so many toils appear, Thy goods are bought with many a groan, By the hot sweat of toil alone, And weary hearts; Fleet-footed is the approach of woe, And he, the good man's shield and shade, To whom all hearts their homage paid, Roderic Manrique,-he whose name His signal deeds and prowess high Why should their praise in verse be sung? The name, that dwells on every tongue, No minstrel needs. To friends a friend;-how kind to all The vassals of this ancient hall And feudal fief! To foes how stern a foe was he! And to the valiant and the free How brave a chief! What prudence with the old and wise: He showed the base and falsely brave His was Octavian's prosperous star, His, Scipio's virtue; his, the skill His was a Trajan's goodness,-his And righteous laws; The arm of Hector, and the might The clemency of Antonine, The eloquence of Adrian, In tented field and bloody fray, The faith of Constantine; ay, more, He left no well-filled treasury, He fought the Moors,-and, in their fall, City and tower and castled wall Upon the hard-fought battle-ground, And there the warrior's hand did gain And if, of old, his halls displayed So, in the dark, disastrous hour, After high deeds, not left untold, Such noble leagues he made, that more C These are the records, half-effaced, Which, with the hand of youth, he traced On history's page; But with fresh victories he drew By his unrivalled skill, by great He stood, in his high dignity, He found his cities and domains But by fierce battle and blockade, By the tried valour of his hand, Let Portugal repeat the story, And proud Castile, who shared the glory His arms deserved. And when so oft, for weal or woe, Had been cast down; When he had served with patriot zeal And done such deeds of valour strong Then, on Ocaña's castled rock, Saying, "Good Cavalier, prepare Let thy strong heart of steel this day "Since thou hast been in battle-strife, Let virtue nerve thy heart again; "Think not the struggle that draws near Nor let thy noble spirit grieve, "A life of honour and of worth And yet its glory far exceeds That base and sensual life, which leads To want and shame. "The eternal life, beyond the sky, Wealth cannot purchase nor the high The proud estate; The soul in dalliance laid,-the spirit "But the good monk, in cloistered cell, And the brave knight, whose arm endures Fierce battle, and against the Moors His standard rears. "And thou, brave knight, whose hand has poured The life-blood of the Pagan horde In heaven shalt thou receive, at length, "Cheered onward by this promise sure, Strong in the faith entire and pure Thou dost profess, Depart, thy hope is certainty,The third-the better life on high Shalt thou possess." "O Thou, that for our sins didst take A human form, and humbly make Thou, that to thy divinity "And in that form didst suffer here By thy redeeming grace alone, As thus the dying warrior prayed, Encircled by his family, Watched by affection's gentle eye His soul to Him, who gave it, rose; And though the warrior's sun has set, THE BROOK. FROM THE SPANISH. LAUGH of the mountain !-lyre of bird and tree! Than golden sands, that charm each shepherd's gaze. As the pure crystal, lets the curious eye Thy secrets scan, thy smooth, round pebbles count! Thou shun'st the haunts of man, to dwell in limpid fount! AND now, behold! as at the approach of morning, Appeared to me-may I again behold it!- And when there from I had withdrawn a little Thereafter, on all sides of it, appeared I knew not what of white, and underneath, My master yet had uttered not a word, |