Young Lisaro was musing so, when onward
on the path,
He well could see them riding slow; then
pricked he in his wrath.
The raging sire, the kinsmen of Zayda’s
hateful house,
Fought well that day, yet in the fray
the Zegri won his spouse.
THE BRIDAL OF ANDALLA
[The following ballad has been often imitated by modern poets, both in Spain and in Germany:
“Pon te a las rejas azules, dexa
la manga que labras,
Melancholica Xarifa, veras al galan Andalla.”
etc.]
“Rise up, rise up, Xarifa, lay the
golden cushion down;
Rise up, come to the window, and gaze
with all the town.
From gay guitar and violin the silver
notes are flowing,
And the lovely lute doth speak between
the trumpet’s lordly blowing,
And banners bright from lattice light
are waving everywhere,
And the tall, tall plume of our cousin’s
bridegroom floats proudly in the
air:
Rise up, rise up, Xarifa,
lay the golden cushion down;
Rise up, come to the window,
and gaze with all the town.
“Arise, arise, Xarifa, I see Andalla’s
face,
He bends him to the people with a calm
and princely grace.
Through all the land of Xeres and banks
of Guadalquivir
Rode forth bridegroom so brave as he,
so brave and lovely never.
Yon tall plume waving o’er his brow
of purple mixed with white,
I guess ’twas wreathed by Zara,
whom he will wed to-night;
Rise up, rise up, Xarifa,
lay the golden cushion down;
Rise up, come to the window,
and gaze with all the town.
“What aileth thee, Xarifa, what
makes thine eyes look down?
Why stay ye from the window far, nor gaze
with all the town?
I’ve heard you say on many a day,
and sure you said the truth,
Andalla rides without a peer, among all
Granada’s youth.
Without a peer he rideth, and yon milk-white
horse doth go
Beneath his stately master, with a stately
step and slow;
Then rise, oh, rise, Xarifa,
lay the golden cushion down;
Unseen here through the lattice,
you may gaze with all
the town.”
The Zegri lady rose not, nor laid her
cushion down,
Nor came she to the window to gaze with
all the town;
But though her eyes dwelt on her knee,
in vain her fingers strove,
And though her needle pressed the silk,
no flower Xarifa wove;
One bonny rose-bud she had traced, before
the noise drew nigh—
That bonny bud a tear effaced, slow drooping
from her eye.
“No—no,”
she sighs—“bid me not rise, nor lay
my cushion down,
To gaze upon Andalla with
all the gazing town.”