Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland: Vols. XIV–XV. 1876–79. | | | | Spain: Granada | | The Alhambra | | Francisco Martinez de la Rosa (1787–1862) |
| | Anonymous translation
COME to my bidding, gentle damsels fair, | |
| That haunt the banks of Darro and Genil! | |
| Come, crowned with roses in your fragrant hair, | |
| More fresh and pure than April balms distil! | |
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| With long, dark locks adown your shoulders straying; | 5 |
| With eyes of fire, and lips of honeyed power; | |
| Uncinctured robes, the bosom bare displaying, | |
| Let songs of love escort me to the bower. | |
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| With love resounds the murmur of the stream; | |
| With love the nightingale awakes the grove; | 10 |
| O’er wood and mountain love inspires the theme, | |
| And Earth and Heaven repeat the strain of love. | |
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| Even there where, midst the Alcazar’s Moorish pride | |
| Three centuries of ruin sleep profound, | |
| From marble walls, with gold diversified, | 15 |
| The sullen echoes murmur love around. | |
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| Where are its glories now?—the pomps, the charms, | |
| The triumph, the emprise of proud display, | |
| The song, the dance, the feast, the deeds of arms, | |
| The gardens, baths, and fountains,—where are they? | 20 |
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| Round jasper columns thorns and ivy creep; | |
| Where roses blossomed, brambles now o’erspread: | |
| The mournful ruins bid the spirit weep; | |
| The broken fragments stay the passing tread. | |
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| Ye nymphs of Darro! to my words give heed; | 25 |
| Behold how transient pride and glory prove; | |
| Then, while the headlong moments urge their speed, | |
| Taste happiness, and try the joys of love. | | | | |
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