lock deep in gore,
The great GONZALO [Footnote 3] battled with the Moor,
(What time the ALHAMBRA shook--soon to unfold
Its sacred courts, and fountains yet untold,
Its holy texts and arabesques of gold)
Tho' ROLDAN, [Footnote 4] sleep and death to him alike,
Grasp'd his good sword and half unsheath'd to strike.
"Oh born to wander with your flocks," he cried,
"And bask and dream along the mountain-side;
To urge your mules, tinkling from hill to hill;
Or at the vintage-feast to drink your fill,
And strike your castanets, with gipsy-maid
Dancing Fandangos in the chesnut shade--
Come on," he cried, and threw his glove in scorn,
"Not this your wonted pledge, the brimming horn.
Valiant in peace! Adventurous at home!
Oh, had ye vow'd with pilgrim-staff to roam;
Or with banditti sought the sheltering wood,
Where mouldering crosses mark the scene of blood!--"
He said, he drew; then, at his Master's frown,
Sullenly sheath'd, plunging the weapon down.

[Footnote 1: A luminous appearance of good omen.]

[Footnote 2: His public procession to the Convent of Rabida on the
day before he set sail. It was there that his sons had received
their education; and he himself appears to have passed some time
there, the venerable Guardian, Juan Perez de Marchena, being his
zealous and affectionate friend.--The ceremonies of his departure
and return are represented in many of the fresco-paintings in the
palaces of Genoa.]

[Footnote 3: Gonzalo Fernandez, already known by the name of The
great Captain. Granada surrendered on the 2nd of January, 1492.
Columbus set sail on the, 3rd of August following.]

[Footnote 4: Probably a soldier of fortune. There were more than one
of the name on board.]

CANTO VI.
The flight of an Angel of Darkness.

War and the Great in War let others sing.
Havoc and spoil, and tears and triumphing;
The morning-march that flashes to the sun,
The feast of vultures when the day is done;
And the strange tale of many slain for one!
I sing a Man, amidst his sufferings here,
Who watch'd and serv'd in humbleness and fear;
Gentle to others, to himself severe.

Still unsubdued by Danger's varying form,
Still, as unconscious of the coming storm,
He look'd elate! His beard, his mien sublime,
Shadow'd by Age;--by Age before the time, [Footnote 1]
From many a sorrow borne in many a clime,
Mov'd every heart. And now in opener skies
Stars yet unnam'd of purer radiance rise!
Stars, milder suns, that love a shade t