The thirsty stag with widening nostrils there Invigorated draws his copious draught; And there amid its flags the wild-boar stands, Nor suffering wrong nor meditating hurt. Through woodlands wild and solitary fields Unsullied thus it holds its bounteous course; But when it reaches the resorts of men, The service of the city there defiles The tainted stream; corrupt and foul it flows Through loathsome banks and o'er a bed impure, Till in the sea, the appointed end to which Through all its way it hastens, 't is received, And, losing all pollution, mingles there In the wide world of waters. So is it
With the great stream of things, if all were seen; Good the beginning, good the end shall be, And transitory evil only make
The good end happier. Ages pass away, Thrones fall, and nations disappear, and worlds Grow old and go to wreck; the soul alone Endures, and what she chuseth for herself, The arbiter of her own destiny,
That only shall be permanent.
Thus having said, the pious sufferer sate, Beholding with fix'd eyes that lovely orb, Till quiet tears confused in dizzy light
The broken moonbeams. They too by the toil Of spirit, as by travail of the day Subdued, were silent, yielding to the hour. The silver cloud diffusing slowly past, And now into its airy elements
Resolved is gone; while through the azure depth Alone in heaven the glorious moon pursues Her course appointed, with indifferent beams Shining upon the silent hills around, And the dark tents of that unholy host, Who, all unconscious of impending fate, Take their last slumber there. The camp is still; The fires have moulder'd, and the breeze which stirs The soft and snowy embers, just lays bare At times a red and evanescent light, Or for a moment wakes a feeble flame. They by the fountain hear the stream below, Whose murmurs as the wind arose or fell, Fuller or fainter reach the ear attuned.
And now the nightingale, not distant far, Began her solitary song; and pour'd To the cold moon a richer, stronger strain Than that with which the lyric lark salutes The new-born day. Her deep and thrilling song Seem'd with its piercing melody to reach The soul, and in mysterious unison Blend with all thoughts of gentleness and love Their hearts were open to the healing power Of nature; and the splendour of the night, The flow of waters and that sweetest lay Came to them like a copious evening dew Falling on vernal herbs which thirst for rain.
THE MOORISH COUNCIL.
THUS they beside the fountain sate, of food And rest forgetful, when a messenger Summon'd Count Julian to the Leader's tent. In council there at that late hour he found The assembled Chiefs, on sudden tidings call'd Of unexpected weight from Cordoba. Jealous that Abdalazis had assumed A regal state, affecting in his court The forms of Gothic sovereignty, the Moors, Whom artful spirits of ambitious mould Stirr'd up, had risen against him in revolt: And he who late had in the Caliph's name Ruled from the Ocean to the Pyrenees, A mutilate and headless carcass now, From pitying hands received beside the road A hasty grave scarce hidden there from dogs And ravens, nor from wintry rains secure,57 She, too, who in the wreck of Spain preserved fler queenly rank, the wife of Roderick first, Of Abdalazis after, and to both Alike unhappy, shared the ruin now Her counsels had brought on; for she had led The infatuate Moor, in dangerous vauntery, To these aspiring forms,-so should he gain Respect and honour from the Musselmen, She said, and that the obedience of the Goths Follow'd the sceptre. In an evil hour She gave the counsel, and in evil hour He lent a willing ear; the popular rage
Fell on them both; and they to whom her name Had been a mark for mockery and reproach, Shudder'd with human horror at her fate. Ayub was heading the wild anarchy; But where the cement of authority
Is wanting, all things there are dislocate: The mutinous soldiery, by every cry Of rumour set in wild career, were driven By every gust of passion, setting up One hour, what in the impulse of the next, Equally unreasoning, they destroy'd: thus all Was in misrule where uproar gave the law, And ere from far Damascus they could learn The Caliph's pleasure, many a moon must pass. What should be done? should Abulcacem march To Cordoba, and in the Caliph's name Assume the power which to his rank in arms Rightly devolved, restoring thus the reign
Of order? or pursue with quicken'd speed The end of this great armament, and crush Rebellion first, then to domestic ills Apply his undivided mind and force Victorious? What in this emergency Was Julian's counsel, Abulcacem asked; Should they accomplish soon their enterprise? Or would the insurgent infidels prolong The contest, seeking by protracted war To weary them, and trusting in the strength Of these wild hills?
Julian replied, The Chief Of this revolt is wary, resolute,
Of approved worth in war: a desperate part He for himself deliberately hath chosen, Confiding in the hereditary love
Borne to him by these hardy mountaineers, A love which his own noble qualities Have strengthen'd, so that every heart is his. When ye can bring them to the open proof Of battle, ye will find them in his cause Lavish of life; but well they know the strength Of their own fastnesses, the mountain paths Impervious to pursuit, the vantages
Of rock, and pass, and woodland, and ravine; And hardly will ye tempt them to forego These natural aids wherein they put their trust As in their stubborn spirit, each alike Deem'd by themselves invincible, and so
By Roman found and Goth,-beneath whose sway, Slowly persuaded rather than subdued
They came, and still through every change retain'd Their manners obstinate and barbarous speech. My counsel, therefore, is, that we secure With strong increase of force the adjacent posts, And chiefly Gegio, leaving them so manned As may abate the hope of enterprise, Their strength being told. Time in a strife like this Becomes the ally of those who trust in him : Make then with Time your covenant. Old feuds May disunite the chiefs: some may be gained By fair entreaty, others by the stroke
Of nature, or of policy, cut off.
This was the counsel which in Cordoba
I offered Abdalazis: in ill hour
Rejecting it, he sent upon this war
His father's faithful friend! Dark are the ways Of Destiny! had I been at his side
Old Muza would not now have mourned his age Left childless, por had Ayub dared defy The Caliph's represented power. The case Calls for thy instant presence, with the weight Of thy legitimate authority.
Julian, said Orpas, turning from beneath His turban to the Count a crafty eye, Thy daughter is returned: doth she not bring Some tidings of the movements of the foe? The Count replied, When child and parent meet First reconciled from discontents which wrung The hearts of both, ill should their converse be Of warlike matters! There hath been no time For such inquiries, neither should I think To ask her touching that for which I know She hath neither eye nor thought.
Orpas with smile malignant thus replied, When in the progress of the Caliph's arms Count Julian's daughter had an interest Which touched her nearly! But her turn is served, And hatred of Prince Orpas may beget Indifference to the cause. Yet Destiny Still guideth to the service of the faith The wayward heart of woman; for as one Delivered Roderick to the avenging sword, So hath another at this hour betrayed Pelayo to his fall. His sister came At nightfall to my tent, a fugitive.
She tells me that on learning our approach,
The rebel to a cavern in the hills
Had sent his wife and children, and with them Those of his followers, thinking there concealed They might be safe. She, moved by injuries Which stung her spirit, on the way escaped, And for revenge will guide us. In reward She asks her brother's forfeiture of lands In marriage with Numacian: something too Touching his life, that for her services
It might be spared, she said :-an after-thought To salve decorum, and if conscience wake Serve as a sop: but when the sword shall smite Pelayo and his dangerous race, I ween That a thin kerchief will dry all the tears The Lady Guisla sheds!
'T is the old taint! Said Julian mournfully: from her mother's womb She brought the inbred wickedness which now In ripe infection blossoms. Woman, woman, Still to the Goths art thou the instrument Of overthrow; thy virtue and thy vice Fatal alike to them!
Say rather, cried The insidious renegade, that Allah thus By woman punisheth the idolatry
Of those who raise a woman to the rank
Of godhead, calling on their Mary's name
With senseless prayers. In vain shall they invoke Her trusted succour now! like silly birds
By fear betrayed, they fly into the toils! And this Pelayo, who in lengthened war, Baffling our force, has thought perhaps to reign Prince of the Mountains, when we hold his wife And offspring at our mercy, must himself Come to the lure.
Enough, the Leader cried: This unexpected work of favouring Fate Opens an easy way to our desires, And renders farther counsel needless now.
Great is the Prophet whose protecting power Goes with the faithful forth! the rebels' days Are numbered! Allah hath delivered them Into our hands!
So saying he arose; The Chiefs withdrew: Orpas alone remained Obedient to his indicated will. The event, said Abulcacem, hath approved Thy judgment in all points; his daughter comes At the first summous even as thou saidst; Her errand with the insurgents done, she brings Their well-concerted project back, a safe And unsuspected messenger;-the Moor,- The shallow Moor,-must see and not perceive;
Must hear and understand not; yea must bear, Poor easy fool, to serve their after mirth, A part in his own undoing! But just Heaven With this unlooked-for incident hath marred Their complots, and the sword shall cut their web Of treason.
Well, the renegade replied,
Thou knowest Count Julian's spirit, quick in wiles, In act audacious. Baffled now, he thinks Either by instant warning to apprise The rebels of their danger, or preserve The hostages when fallen into our power, Till secret craft contrive, or open force
Win their enlargement. Haply too he dreams Of Cordoba, the avenger and the friend Of Abdalazis, in that cause to arm Moor against Moor, preparing for himself The victory o'er the enfeebled conquerors. Success in treason hath emboldened him,
And power but serves him for fresh treachery, false To Roderick first, and to the Caliph now. The guilt, said Abulcacem, is confirmed, The sentence past; all that is now required
Is to strike sure and safely. He hath with him A veteran force devoted to his will, Whom to provoke were perilous; nor less Of peril lies there in delay: what course Between these equal dangers should we steer?
They have been trained beneath him in the wars Of Africa, the renegade replied;
Men are they who, from their youth up, have found Their occupation and their joy in arms; Indifferent to the cause for which they fight, But faithful to their leader, who hath won By licence largely given, yet tempered still With exercise of firm authority,
Their whole devotion. Vainly should we seek By proof of Julian's guilt to pacify Such martial spirits, unto whom all creeds And countries are alike; but take away Their head, and forthwith their fidelity Goes at the market price. The act must be Sudden and secret; poison is too slow. Thus it may best be done; the Mountaineers, Doubtless, ere long will rouse us with some spur Of sudden enterprise; at such a time A trusty minister approaching him May smite him, so that all shall think the Comes from the hostile troops.
spear Right, counsellor! Cried Abulcacem, thou shalt have his lands, The proper meed of thy fidelity:
His daughter thou mayest take or leave. Go now And find a faithful instrument to put Our purpose in effect!-And when 't is done, The Moor, as Orpas from the tent withdrew, Muttering pursued,—look for a like reward Thyself! that restless head of wickedness
In the grave will brood no treasons. Other babes Scream when the Devil, as they spring to life, Infects them with his touch; but thou didst stretch Thy arms to meet him, and like mother's milk Suck the congenial evil! Thou hast tried
Both laws, and, were there aught to gain, would prove A third as readily; but when thy sing
Are weighed, 't will be against an empty scale, And neither Prophet will avail thee then!
THE VALE OF COVADONGA.
THE camp is stirring, and ere day hath dawned The tents are struck. Early they rise whom hope Awakens, and they travel fast with whom She goes companion of the way. By noon Hath Abulcacem in his speed attained The vale of Cangas. Well the trusty scouts Observe his march, and fleet as mountain roes, From post to post with instantaneous speed The warning bear: none else is nigh; the vale Hath been deserted, and Pelayo's hall Is open to the foe, who on the tower Hoist their white signal-flag. 58 In Sella's stream The misbelieving multitude perform, With hot and hasty hand, their noontide rite, Then hurryingly repeat the Impostor's prayer. Here they divide; the Chieftain halts with half The host, retaining Julian and his men, Whom where the valley widened he disposed, Liable to first attack, that so the deed Of murder planned with Orpas might be done. The other force the Moor Alcahman led, Whom Guisla guided up Pionia's stream Eastward to Soto. Ibrahim went with him, Proud of Granada's snowy heights subdued, And boasting of his skill in mountain war; Yet sure he deemed an easier victory Awaited him this day. Little, quoth he, Weens the vain Mountaineer who puts his trust In dens and rocky fastnesses, how close Destruction is at hand! Belike he thinks
The Humma's happy wings have shadowed him, 59 And therefore Fate with royalty must crown His chosen head! Pity the scymitar With its rude edge so soon should interrupt The pleasant dream!
There can be no escape For those who in the cave seek shelter, cried Alcahman; yield they must, or from their holes Like bees we smoke them out. The Chief perhaps May reign awhile King of the wolves and bears, Till his own subjects hunt him down, or kites And crows divide what hunger may have left Upon his ghastly limbs. Happier for him That destiny should this day to our hands Deliver him; short would be his sufferings then; And we right joyfully should in one hour Behold our work accomplished, and his race Extinct.
Thus these in mockery and in thoughts Of bloody triumph, to the future blind, Indulged the scornful vein; nor deemed that they Whom to the sword's unsparing edge they doomed, Even then in joyful expectation prayed
To Heaven for their approach, and, at their post Prepared, were trembling with excess of hope. Here in these mountain straits the Mountaineer Had felt his country's strength insuperable; Here he had prayed to see the Musselman
With all his myriads; therefore had he looked To Covadonga as a sanctuary
Apt for concealment, easy of defence; And Guisla's flight, though to his heart it sent A pang more poignant for their mother's sake, Yet did it further in its consequence His hope and project, surer than decoy Well-laid, or best-concerted stratagem. That sullen and revengeful mind, he knew, Would follow to the extremity of guilt
Its long fore-purposed shame : the toils were laid, And she who by the Musselmen full sure Thought on her kindred her revenge to wreak, Led the Moors in.
Count Pedro and his son Were hovering with the main Asturian force In the wider vale to watch occasion there, And with hot onset when the alarm began Pursue the vantage. In the fated straits Of Deva had the King disposed the rest: Amid the hanging woods, and on the cliffs, A long mile's length on either side its bed, They lay. The lever and the axe and saw
Had skilfully been plied; and trees and stones, A dread artillery, ranged on crag and shelf And steep descent, were ready at the word Precipitate to roll resistless down.
The faithful maiden not more wistfully Looks for the day that brings her lover home;- Scarce more impatiently the horse endures The rein, when loud and shrill the hunter's horn Rings in his joyous ears, than at their post The Mountaineers await their certain prey. Yet mindful of their Prince's order, oft And solemnly enforced, with eagerness Subdued by minds well-mastered, they expect The appointed signal.
Hand must not be raised, Foot stirred, nor voice be uttered, said the Chief. Till the word pass: impatience would mar all. God hath delivered over to your hands His enemies and ours, so we but use The occasion wisely. Not till the word From man to man transmitted, « In the name « Of God, for Spain and vengeance,» let a hand Be lifted; on obedience all depends.
Their march below with noise of horse and foot, And haply with the clang of instruments, Might drown all other signal; this is sure. But wait it calmly; it will not be given Till the whole line hath entered in the toils. Comrades, be patient, so shall none escape Who once set foot within these straits of death. Thus had Pelayo on the Mountaineers With frequent and impressive charge enforced The needful exhortation. This alone He doubted, that the Musselmen might see The perils of the vale, and warily Forbear to enter. But they thought to find, As Guisla told, the main Asturian force Seeking concealment there, no other aid Soliciting from these their native hills; And that the babes and women having fallen In thraldom, they would lay their weapons down, And supplicate forgiveness for their sake. Nor did the Moors perceive in what a strait
Low on the mountain side
The fleecy vapour hung, and in its veil With all their dreadful preparations wrapt The Mountaineers :-in breathless hope they lay, Some blessing God in silence for the power This day vouchsafed; others with fervency Of prayer and vow invoked the Mother-Maid, Beseeching her that in this favouring hour She would be strongly with them. From below Meantime distinct they heard the passing tramp Of horse and foot, continuous as the sound Of Deva's stream, and barbarous tongues commixt With laughter, and with frequent shouts,-for all Exultant came, expecting sure success;
Blind wretches, over whom the ruin hung!
They say, quoth one, that though the Prophet's soul Doth with the black-eyed Houris bathe in bliss, Life hath not left his body, 60 which bears up By its miraculous power the holy tomb, And holds it at Medina in the air Buoyant between the temple's floor and roof: And there the Angels fly to him with news From East, West, North, and South, of what befalls His faithful people. If when he shall hear The tale of this day's work, he should for joy Forget that he is dead, and walk abroad,— It were as good a miracle as when
He sliced the moon! Sir Angel hear me now, Whoe'er thou be'st who art about to speed From Spain to Araby! when thou hast got The Prophet's ear, be sure thou tellest him How bravely Ghauleb did his part to-day, And with what special reverence he alone Desired thee to commend him to his grace!- Fie on thee, scoffer that thou art! replied His comrade; thou wilt never leave these gibes Till some commissioned arrow through the teeth Shall nail the offending tongue. Hast thou not heard How when our clay is leavened first with life, The ministering Angel brings it from that spot Whereon 't is written in the eternal book That soul and body must their parting take, And earth to earth return? 61 How knowest thou But that the spirit who compounded thee, To distant Syria from this very vale Bore thy component dust, and Azrael here Awaits thee at this hour?-Little thought he Who spake, that in that valley at that hour One death awaited both!
Thus they pursued Toward the cave their inauspicious way. Weak childhood there and ineffective age In the chambers of the rock were placed secure; But of the women, all whom with the babes Maternal care detained not, were aloft
To aid in the destruction; by the side
Of fathers, brethren, husbands, stationed there They watch and pray. Pelayo in the cave With the venerable primate took his post. Ranged on the rising cliffs on either hand, Vigilant sentinels with eye intent
Observe his movements, when to take the word And pass it forward. He in arms complete Stands in the portal: a stern majesty Reigned in his countenance severe that hour, And in his eye a deep and dreadful joy Shone, as advancing up the vale he saw The Moorish banners. God hath blinded them! He cried; the measure of their crimes is full! O Vale of Deva, famous shalt thou be From this day forth for ever; and to these Thy springs shall unborn generations come In pilgrimage, and hallow with their prayers The cradle of their native monarchy!
There was a stirring in the air, the sun Prevailed, and gradually the brightening mist Began to rise and melt. A jutting crag Upon the right projected o'er the stream, Not farther from the cave than a strong hand Expert, with deadly aim, might cast the spear, Or a strong voice, pitched to full compass, make Its clear articulation heard distinct.
A venturous dalesman, once ascending there To rob the eagle's nest, had fallen, and hung Among the heather, wonderously preserved: Therefore had he with pious gratitude Placed on that overhanging brow a Cross, Tall as the mast of some light fisher's skiff, And from the vale conspicuous. As the Moors Advanced, the Chieftain in the van was seen Known by his arms, and from the crag a voice Pronounced his name,-Alcahman, hoa! look up Alcahman! As the floating mist drew up, It had divided there, and opened round The Cross; part clinging to the rock beneath, Bovering and waving part in fleecy folds, A canopy of silver light condensed
To shape and substance. In the midst there stood A female form, one hand upon the Cross, The other raised in menacing act: below
Loose flowed her raiment, but her breast was armed, And helmeted her head. The Moor turned pale, For on the walls of Auria he had seen That well-known figure, and had well believed She rested with the dead. What, hoa, she cried, Alcahman! In the name of all who fell this hour
At Auria in the massacre,
On either side along the whole defile
The Asturians shouting in the name of God, Set the whole ruin loose! huge trunks and stones, And loosened crags, down down they rolled with rush And bound, and thundering force. Such was the fall As when some city by the labouring earth Heaved from its strong foundations is cast down, And all its dwellings, towers, and palaces
In one wide desolation prostrated.
From end to end of that long strait, the crash Was heard continuous, and commixt with sounds More dreadful, shrieks of horror and despair, And death, the wild and agonizing cry
Of that whole host in one destruction whelmed. Vain was all valour there, all martial skill; The valiant arm is helpless now; the feet Swift in the race avail not now to save; They perish, all their thousands perish there, - Horsemen and infantry they perish all,— The outward armour and the bones within Broken and bruised and crushed. Echo prolonged The long uproar: a silence then ensued, Through which the sound of Deva's stream was heard, A lonely voice of waters, wild and sweet: The lingering groan, the faintly-uttered prayer, The louder curses of despairing death, Ascended not so high. Down from the cave Pelayo hastes, the Asturians hasten down, Fierce and immitigable down they speed On all sides, and along the vale of blood The avenging sword did mercy's work that hour.
RODERICK AND COUNT JULIAN. THOU hast been busy, Death, this day, and yet But half thy work is done! The Gates of Hell Are thronged, yet twice ten thousand spirits more, Who from their warm and healthful tenements Fear no divorce, must ere the sun go down Enter the world of woe! the Gate of Heaven Is open too, and Angels round the throne Of Mercy on their golden harps this day Shall sing the triumphs of Redeeming Love.
There was a Church at Cangas dedicate To that Apostle unto whom his Lord Had given the keys: a humble edifice, Whose rude and time-worn structure suited well That vale among the mountains. Its low roof With stone plants and with moss was overgrown, Short fern, and richer weeds which from the eaves Hung their long tresses down. White lichens clothed The sides, save where the ivy spread, which bowered The porch, and clustering round the pointed wall, Wherein two bells, each open to the wind, Hung side by side, threaded with hairy shoots The double niche; and climbing to the cross, Wreathed it and half concealed its sacred form With bushy tufts luxuriant. Here in the font,- Borne thither with rejoicings and with prayers Of all the happy land, who saw in him The lineage of their ancient Chiefs renewed,— The Prince had been immersed: and here within
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