THE times are big with tidings; every hour
From east and west and south the breathless scouts
Bring swift alarums in; the gathering foe,
Advancing from all quarters to one point,
Close their wide crescent. Nor was aid of fear To magnify their numbers needed now : They came in myriads. Africa had poured Fresh shoals upon the coast of wretched Spain; Lured from their hungry deserts to the scene Of spoil, like vultures to the battle-field, Fierce, unrelenting, habited in crimes,
Like bidden guests the mirthful ruffians flock To that free feast which in their Prophet's name Rapine and Lust proclaimed. Nor were the chiefs Of victory less assured, by long success
Elate, and proud of that o'erwhelming strength,
Which, surely they believed, as it had rolled Thus far uncheck'd, would roll victorious on, Till, like the Orient, the subjected West Should bow in reverence at Mahommed's name; And pilgrims, from remotest Arctic shores, Tread with religious feet the burning sands Of Araby and Mecca's stony soil. Proud of his part in Roderick's overthrow, Their leader Abulcacem came, a man Immitigable, long in war renowned.
Here Magued comes, who on the conquered walls Of Cordoba by treacherous fear betrayed, Planted the moony standard: Ibrahim here, He, who by Genil and in Darro's vales, Had for the Moors the fairest portion won Of all their spoils, fairest and best maintained, And to the Alpuxarras given in trust His other name, through them preserved in song. Here too Alcahman, vaunting his late deeds At Auria, all her children by the sword
Cut off, her bulwarks rased, her towers laid low, Her dwellings by devouring flames consumed. Bloody and hard of heart, he little weened,
Vain boastful chief! that from those fatal flames The fire of retribution had gone forth
Which soon should wrap him round.
Here too were seen, Ebba and Sisibert;
A spurious brood, but of their parents' crimes True heirs in guilt begotten, and in ill
Trained up. The same unnatural rage that turned Their swords against their country, made them seek, Unmindful of their wretched mother's end, Pelayo's life. No enmity is like
Domestic hatred! For his blood they thirst, As if that sacrifice might satisfy Witiza's guilty ghost, efface the shame
Of their adulterous birth, and, one crime more Crowning a hideous course, emancipate Thenceforth their spirits from all earthly fear. This was their only care; but other thoughts Were rankling in that elder villain's mind, Their kinsman Orpas, he of all the crew, Who in this fatal visitation fell,
The foulest and the falsest wretch that e'er
Renounced his baptism. From his cherished views
Of royalty cut off, he coveted
Count Julian's wide domains, and hopeless now To gain them through the daughter, laid his toils Against the father's life,.. the instrument
Of his ambition first, and now designed
Its victim. To this end with cautious hints, At favouring season ventured, he possessed The leader's mind; then, subtly fostering The doubts himself had sown, with bolder charge He bade him warily regard the Count,
Lest underneath an outward show of faith
The heart uncircumcised were Christian still : Else, wherefore had Florinda not obeyed
Her dear-loved sire's example, and embraced The saving truth? Else, wherefore was her hand, Plighted to him so long, so long withheld, Till she had found a fitting hour to fly
With that audacious Prince, who now in arms, Defied the Caliph's power; for who could doubt That in his company she fled, perhaps
The mover of his flight? What if the Count Himself had planned the evasion which he feigned
In sorrow to condemn? What if she went
A pledge assured, to tell the mountaineers
That when they met the Musslemen in the heat Of fight, her father passing to their side
Would draw the victory with him?... Thus he breathed Fiend-like in Abulcacem's ear his schemes Of murderous malice; and the course of things, Ere long, in part approving his discourse, Aidëd his aim, and gave his wishes weight. For scarce on the Asturian territory
Had they set foot, when, with the speed of fear, Count Eudon, nothing doubting that their force Would like a flood sweep all resistance down, Hastened to plead his merits;.. he alone, Found faithful in obedience through reproach And danger, when the maddened multitude Hurried their chiefs along, and high and low With one infectious frenzy seized, provoked The invincible in arms. Pelayo led
The raging crew,.. he doubtless the prime spring Of all these perilous movements; and 'twas said He brought the assurance of a strong support, Count Julian's aid, for in his company
From Cordoba, Count Julian's daughter came.
« PreviousContinue » |