Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland: Vols. XIV–XV. 1876–79. | | | | Spain: Gibraltar | | The Castle of Al Waled | | William Gibson (1826–1887) |
| | | UPON Gibraltar’s steep ascent there stands | |
| A castled ruin, built when first the Moor | |
| Crossed conqueror to the European shore,— | |
| Dashed helméd knighthood by his turbaned bands. | |
| No longer from its height the pile commands | 5 |
| The face of the colossal Rock; but tower | |
| And gate and partial battlements, though hoar, | |
| Are massive-standing; while the builders’ hands | |
| A thousand years ago were dust! The brunt | |
| Of battle bearing, scores of shot and shell | 10 |
| Show the endurance in the old time wont. | |
| What thronged romances in my bosom swell, | |
| Once haughty fortress of the infidel, | |
| O palpable millennium, front to front! | | | | |
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