‘Valencia, O Valencia,
Burn thou with evil fire!
Although the Christian holds thee now,
Thou wert the Moor’s before;
And if my lance deceive me not,
Thou’lt be the Moor’s once more!’...
There is still much to be said concerning the Cid romances which Southey dismissed too cavalierly; but my time is running out, and I must pass on to the next ballads translated by Lockhart. Garci Perez de Vargas is a rendering of
Estando sobre Sevilla el rey Fernando el tercero;[49]
and The Pounder, which was referred to by Don Quixote when he proposed to tear up an oak by the roots and use it as a weapon, is a version of
Jerez, aquesa nombrada, cercada era de cristianos.[50]