In form and feature, growing strength of limb,
A gentle heart, a soul affectionate,
A joyous spirit fill’d with generous thoughts,
And genius heightening and ennobling all;
The blossom of all manly virtues made
His boyhood beautiful. Shield, gracious Heaven,
In this ungenial season perilous, ...
Thus would Pelayo sometimes breathe in prayer
The aspirations of prophetic hope, ...
Shield, gracious Heaven, the blooming tree! and let