They tell her that the Moor's proud heart
Is pierced by grief's most poisoned dart,
And that he'd doffed, when flying from her side,
The tender colours that were once his pride;
That green, of hope the cherished emblem gay,
To sorrow's mournful hues had given way.
A badge of crape his lance's point now wears,
A blackened crown his shield as emblem bears!
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To proffer gifts with different meaning fraught,
Zelinda now her errant lover sought:
The blue of jealousy she had united
With all the hues most dear to lovers plighted;
A violet gem, entwined with gold,
Gleamed mid a broidered turban's fold,
And every silken riband that she bore,
Of lovely innocence the symbol wore.
Zelinda reached the soft retreat
Where Gonzulo his fate must meet!
O'erwhelmed with doubt, the dark-eyed maid
Reclined beneath a myrtle shade,
And sent a faithful page to guide
Her banished lover to her side.
Gonzulo scarce the message would receive,
For wo had taught his heart to disbelieve!
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But soon he flew, on wing of love,
To seek Zelinda's chosen grove.
Then tearful glances of regret
By words of tenderness were met;
And ne'er did guardian nymphs record
More ardent vows than there were poured!
'Twas thus triumphant love repaired
The cruel wrongs that each had shared!
The delicate and peculiar gallantry, which rendered the Moors of Grenada famous throughout Europe, formed a singular contrast to the ferocity that is so natural to all nations of African origin. These Islamites, whose chief glory it was dexterously to deprive their enemies of their heads, attach them to their saddle-bows, and afterward display them as trophies on the {168} battlements of their towers or at the entrance of their palaces; these restless and ungovernable warriors, who were ever ready to revolt against their rulers, to depose or to murder them, were the most tender, the most devoted, the most ardent of lovers. Their wives, though their domestic position was little superior to that of slaves, became, when they were beloved, the absolute sovereigns, the supreme divinities of those whose hearts they possessed. It was to please these idolized beings that the Moorish cavaliers sought distinction in the field; it was to shine in their eyes that they lavished their treasures and their lives—that they mutually endeavoured to eclipse each other in deeds of arms, in the splendour of their warlike exploits, and the Oriental magnificence of their fêtes.
It cannot now be determined whether the Moors derived this extraordinary union of softness and cruelty, of delicacy and barbarity—this generous rivalry in courage and in constancy from the Spaniards, or whether the Spaniards acquired these characteristics from the Moors. But when it is remembered that they do not belong to the Asiatic Arabs, from whom these gallant knights originally sprang; that they are {169} found, even in a less degree, if possible, among these followers of Mohammed in that portion of Africa where their conquests have naturalized them; and, that after their departure from Spain, the Grenadians lost every trace of the peculiarly interesting and chivalrous qualities by which they had previously been so remarkably distinguished, there is some ground for the opinion that it was to the Spaniards that their Moslem neighbours were indebted for the existence of these national attributes. In truth, before the invasion of Spain by the Arabs, the courts of the Gothic kings had already offered knightly examples of a similar spirit. And after that event we find the cavaliers of Leon, Navarre, and Castile equally renowned for their achievements in war and their romantic devotion to the fair sex. The mere name of the Cid awakens in the mind recollections alike of tenderness and bravery. It should be remembered, too, that, long after the expulsion of the Moors from the Peninsula, the Spaniards maintained a reputation for gallantry far superior to that of the French, some portion of the spirit of which, though extinct among every other European nation, still lingers in Spain.
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But, be this point decided as it may, it is not to be disputed that the daughters of Grenada merited the devotion which they inspired: they were perhaps the most fascinating women in the world. We find in the narrative of a Moorish historian, who wrote at Grenada during the reign of Mohammed the Old, the following description of his countrywomen: