Moorish Literature

by René Basset

  And the square boss of metal bring,

  That circling boughs entwine

  With laurels, in whose leaves of gold

  The clustered emeralds shine.

  Adonis, hastening to the hunt,

  His heavenly mistress shuns,

  The mountain boars before him flee,

  And, 'Die,' the motto runs."

  'Twas thus the Moor Azarco spoke,

  Just as the war begun,

  To stout Almoralife

  Of Baza, Zelma's son.

  Almoralife, brave and wise,

  Full many a minstrel sings,

  A knight who in Granada

  Was counted with its kings.

  And when they bring the boss of gold

  He heaves a thousand sighs

  O'er brave Adonis and his doom,

  Who by the wild boar dies.

  "O Adelifa, soul of mine,

  Rejoice, and murmur not,

  Up to the end be merry,

  When worms shall be thy lot.

  My day of life must needs be short,

  Thy firmness must be long;

  Although thou art a woman,

  Unlike thy sex, be strong.

  Be not like Venus, tho' in form

  Thou art indeed her peer,

  For she forgot in absence,

  And did to death her dear.

  And when alone, upon my face

  And likeness fix thine eyes,

  And none admit to do me wrong,

  And thy soft heart surprise.

  'Twixt sadness and repining

  Love runs his changing way,

  The gay he oft makes sorrowful,

  The sorrowful makes gay.

  Then, mark, love, in my portrait mark,

  The wide eyes' mute appeal,

  For this enchanted painting

  Can speak and breathe and feel.

  Think how those eyes shed many a tear,

  When for thy face they yearn;

  And let those tears thy patience win

  To tarry my return."

  At this Galvano came to say

  That ship and favoring gale

  Awaited him, and all his host

  Were eager to set sail.

  The Moor went forth to victory,

  He was not pleasure's slave;

  His gallant heart was ever prompt

  To keep the pledge he gave.

  CELINDA'S COURTESY

  Azarco on his balcony

  With humble Cegri stood.

  He talked, and Cegri listened

  In a sad and listless mood;

  For of his own exploits he read,

  Writ in an open scroll,

  But envious Cegri heard the tale

  With rage and bitter dole.

  And thro' Elvira's gate, where spreads

  A prospect wide and free,

  He marked how Phoebus shot his rays

  Upon the Spanish sea;

  And bending to the land his eye

  To notice how the scene

  Of summer had its color changed

  To black from radiant green,

  He saw that, thro' the gate there passed

  A light that was not day's,

  Whose splendor, like a dazzling cloud,

  Eclipsed the solar rays.

  That presence changed the tint of earth,

  Drew off the dusky veil,

  And turned to living verdure

  The leafage of the dale.

  "Till now," Azarco said, "the scene

  Has filled my heart with pain;

  'Tis freshened by Celinda's face,

  Or passion turns my brain.

  Ah, well may men her beauty praise,

  For its transcendent might

  Elates the human spirit,

  And fills it with delight."

  And as he saw her coming in,

  The Moor his bonnet doffed,

  And bowed to do her honor,

  And spoke in accents soft.

  Celinda court'sied to the ground,

  Such favor was not slight,

  Her kindly greeting gratified

  The fond hopes of the knight.

  And glad and gloomy, each in turn,

  For such a quick success,

  He checked a thousand words of love,

  That might his joy express.

  And following her with eager eyes--

  "I owe thee much," said he,

  "Who dost reward with such a boon

  My merest courtesy.

  That favor, tho' unmerited,

  Sweet lady, shall remain

  Counted among those choicest gifts

  Our reckoning cannot gain.

  Its memory shall suffice to chase

  The grinding pangs of care;

  And softening turn the ills of life

  To glory's guerdon rare."

  On this Celinda took her leave,

  And vanished from his view,

  And, thinking proudly of her smile,

  Azarco straight withdrew.

  GAZUL'S DESPONDENCY

  Scarce half a league from Gelva the knight dismounted stood,

  Leaning upon his upright spear, and bitter was his mood.

  He thought upon Celinda's curse, and Zaida's fickle mind,

  "Ah, Fortune, thou to me," he cried, "hast ever proved unkind."

  And from his valiant bosom burst a storm of angry sighs,

  And acts and words of anguish before his memory rise.

  "Celinda's loss I count as naught, nor fear her wicked will;

  I were a fool, thus cursed by her, to love the lady still."

  In rage from out the sod he drew his spear-head, as he spoke,

  And in three pieces shivered it against a knotted oak.

  He tore away the housings that 'neath his saddle hang,

  He rent his lady's favor as with a lion's fang--

  The silken ribbon, bright with gold, which in his crest he bore,

  By loved Celinda knotted there, now loved by him no more.

  He drew, as rage to madness turned, her portrait from his

  breast;

  He spat on it, and to that face derisive jeers addressed.

  "Why should I dress in robes of joy, whose heart is wounded

  sore,

  By curses, that requite so ill the duteous love I bore?

  Stripped as I am of every hope, 'tis better I go bare,

  For the black mantle of my soul is but tormenting care;

  I vengeance take on yonder oak, pierced by my lance's steel--

  I dote, for, ah! the trees I wound, cannot, like women, feel."

  He took the bridle off his steed, "Roam as thou wilt," said he.

  "As I gave Zaida her release, I give release to thee."

  The swift horse galloped out of sight; in melancholy mood,

  The knight, unhorsed and helmetless, his lonely path pursued.

  GAZUL IN LOVE

  Not greater share did Mars acquire of trophies and renown,

  Than great Gazul took with him from Gelva's castled town;

  And when he to Sanlucar came his lady welcomed him,

  His cup of happiness at last was beaded to the brim.

  Alone the joyful lovers stood within a garden glade;

  Amid the flowers, those happy hours fled to the evening shade.

  With fingers deft Celinda wove a wreath, in which were set

  The rose's rudy petals and the scented mignonette.

  She plaited him a baldric, with violets circled round,

  For violets are for lovers, and with this his waist she bound.

  And then the flowery garland she tied upon his head,

  "Thy face is delicate and fair as Ganymede's," she said;

  "And if great Jove beheld thee now, he'd send his eagle down,

  To take thee to the palace halls that high Olympus crown."

  The brave Gazul his lady took and kissed her with a smile;

  "She could not be so
fair," said he, "the girl, who by her guile

  Brought ruin on the Trojan realm, and set its towers afire,

  As thou art, lady of my heart and queen of my desire."

  "If I, indeed, seem fair to thee, then let the bridal rite

  Me and the husband of my heart for evermore unite."

  "Ah, mine will be the gain," he said, and kissed her with delight.

  CELINDA'S INCONSTANCY

  Gazul, like some brave bull that stands at bay to meet his fate,

  Has fled from fair Celinda's frown and reached Sanlucar's gate.

  The Moor bestrides a sorrel mare, her housings are of gray,

  The desperate Moor is clad in weeds that shall his grief display.

  The white and green that once he wore to sable folds give room,

  Love's purple tints are now replaced by those of grief and gloom.

  His Moorish cloak is white and blue, the blue was strewn with stars,

  But now a covering like a cloud the starry radiance mars.

  And from his head with stripes of black his silken streamers flow,

  His bonnet blue he dyes anew in tints of grief and woe.

  Alone are seen the tints of green upon his sword-belt spread,

  For by that blade the blood of foes in vengeance shall be shed.

  The color of the mantle which on his arm he bore

  Is like the dark arena's dust when it is drenched in gore.

  Black as the buskins that he wears, and black his stirrup's steel,

  And red with rust of many a year the rowels at his heel.

  He bears not lance or headed spear, for that which once he bore

  Was shivered into splinters beside Celinda's door.

  He bears a rounded target, whose quarterings display

  The full moon darting through the clouds her ineffectual ray.

  For though her orb be full the clouds eclipse her silver light;

  The motto: "Fair but cruel, black-hearted though so bright."

  And as Celinda stripped the wings which on adventure brave

  Sustained his flight--no more shall plume above his helmet wave.

  'Twas noon one Wednesday when Gazul to Gelva's portal came,

  And straight he sought the market-place to join the jousting game;

  The ruler of the city looked at him with surprise,

  And never lady knew the knight, so dark was his disguise.

  As they had been as soft as wax, he pierced the targets through

  With javelins of the hollow cane that in the vega grew;

  Not one could stand before the Moor; the tilters turned and fled,

  For by his exploits was revealed the warrior's name of dread.

  The lists were in confusion, but calm was on his brow,

  As, lifting up his eyes to heaven, he breathed a desperate vow;

  "Would God the malediction of Celinda had come true!

  And the spears of my assailant had pierced my bosom through!

  And that the dames who pitied me had cursed me where I stand!

  And bravely falling I became a hero of the land!

  That never succor came to me, for that were rapture high

  To her the angry lioness who prays that I may die!"

  He spoke, he spurred his courser fleet, and started for the plain,

  And swore within Celinda's sight he'd ne'er return again.

  THE BULL-FIGHT

  The zambra was but ended, and now Granada's King

  Abdeli called his court to sit on Vivarrambla's ring;

  Of noble line the bride and groom whose nuptials bade prepare,

  The struggle between valiant knights and bulls within the square.

  And, when on the arena the mighty bull was freed,

  Straight to the deadly conflict one warrior spurred his steed;

  His mantle was of emerald of texture damascene,

  And hope was in his folded hood as in his mantle green;

  Six squires went with him to the ring beside their lord to stand;

  Their livery was brilliant green, so did their lord command.

  Hope was the augury of his love; hope's livery he wore;

  Yet at his side each squire of his a trenchant rapier bore.

  Each rapier true was black in hue and sheathed in silver ore;

  At once the people knew the knight from his audacious mien--

  Gazul the brave was recognized as soon as he was seen!

  With graceful dignity he took his station on the sand,

  And like a second Mars he seized his rapier in his hand;

  With courage strong he eyed the bull, who pawed the ground till high

  The dust of the arena was mingled with the sky.

  All at the sight were terrified, and now with deadly speed,

  His horns as keen as points of steel, he rushes at the steed.

  The brave Gazul was on the watch, to ward the threatened blow,

  And save his steed, and with one stroke to lay the assailant low.

  The valiant bull, with lowered head advancing to the strife,

  Felt from skilled hand the tempered brand pierce to his very life.

  Deep wounded to the gory ground, where he had stoutly stood,

  The horned warrior sank at last, bathed in his own heart's blood.

  Still, on his ruddy couch he lay, his courage quenched at last

  At this exploit the plaudits of the assembly filled the blast;

  They hailed the knight whose bravery and skill had done the deed,

  And slain the hero of the ring, and saved his goodly steed,

  And done such pleasure to the King, and to Celinda fair,

  To the Queen of Spain and all her train who sat assembled there.

  LOVERS RECONCILED

  Soon as in rage Celinda had closed her lattice fast

  And scorned the Moor ungrateful for his service in the past,

  Her passion with reflection turns and in repentance ends;

  She longs to see the Moor again and make to him amends;

  For in the dance of woman's love through every mood they range

  And those whose hearts are truest are given most to change.

  And when she saw the gallant knight before the people all

  Shiver his lance to splinters against her palace wall,

  And when she saw his cloak of green was changed to mourning gray,

  She straightway took her mantle with silver buttons gay,

  She took her hood of purple pleached with the gold brocade,

  Whose fringes and whose borders were all in pearls arrayed,

  She brought a cap with sapphires and emeralds bespread;

  The green was badge of hope, the blue of jealous rancor dead.

  With waving plumes of green and white she decked a snowy hood,

  And armed with double heads of steel a lance of orange-wood--

  For colors of the outer man denote the inner mood.

  A border too of brilliant green around a target set,

  The motto this, "Tis folly a true lover to forget."

  And first she learned where bold Gazul was entertained that day,

  And they told her how his coming had put off the tilters' play,

  And at her pleasure-house she bade him meet her face to face;

  And they told him how Celinda longed for his loved embrace,

  And thrice he asked the messenger if all were not a jest,

  For oft 'tis dangerous to believe the news we love the best,

  For lovers' hopes are often thorns of rancor and unrest.

  They told him that the words were true; and without further speech

  The glory of his lady's eyes he sallied forth to reach.

  He met her in a garden where sweet marjoram combined

  With azure violets a scent that ravished every wind.

  The musk and jasmine mingled in leaf and branch and flower,

  Building about the lovers a cool and scented bower.

  The white leaf ma
tched her lily skin, the red his bounding heart.

  For she was beauty's spotless queen, he valor's counterpart.

  For when the Moor approached her he scarcely raised his eye,

  Dazed by the expectation that she had raised so high.

  Celinda with a trembling blush came forth and grasped his hand;

  They talked of love like travellers lost in a foreign land.

  Then said the Moor, "Why give me now love's sweetest paths to trace,

  Who in thy absence only live on memories of thy face?

  If thou should speak of Xerez," he said with kindling eye,

  "Now take my lance, like Zaida's spouse this moment let me die,

  And may I some day find thee in a rival's arms at rest,

  And he by all thy arts of love be tenderly caressed;

  Unless the Moor whose slander made me odious in thy eyes

  In caitiff fraud and treachery abuse thine ear with lies."

  The lady smiled, her heart was light, she felt a rapture new;

  And like each flower that filled their bower the love between them grew,

  For little takes it to revive the love that is but true;

  And aided by his lady's hand he hastes her gems to don,

  And on his courser's back he flings a rich caparison,

  A head-stall framed of purple web and studded o'er with gold;

  And purple plumes and ribbons and gems of price untold;

  He clasped the lady to his heart, he whispered words of cheer,

  And then took horse to Gelva to join the tilting there.

  CALL TO ARMS

  What time the sun in ocean sank, with myriad colors fair,

  And jewels of a thousand hues tinted the clouds of air,

  Brave Gazul at Acala, with all his host, drew rein--

  They were four hundred noblemen, the stoutest hearts in Spain--

  And scarcely had he reached the town when the command was given:

  "Now let your shots, your cross-bows, sound to the vault of heaven!

  Let kettle-drums and trumpets and clarions blend their strain;

  Zulema, Tunis' King, now lands upon the coast of Spain,

  And with him ride, in arms allied, Marbello and his train."

  And though at night he entered no torch or lamp he hath,

  For glorious Celinda is the sun upon his path;

  And as he enters in the town at once the word is given:

  "Now let your shots, your cross-bows, sound to the vault of heaven!