There Arista, best and bravest,
There Raguena, tried and true,
On the fatal field thou lavest,
Nobly did all men could do.
Vainly there those heroes rally,
Castile on Montezuma's shore,
"Rio Bravo"—"Roncesvalles,"
Ye are names blent evermore.
Weepest thou, lorn lady Inez,
For thy lover 'mid the slain,
Brave La Vega's trenchant falchion
Cleft his slayer to the brain.
Brave La Vega who all lonely,
By a host of foes beset,
Yielded up his sabre only
When his equal there he met.
Other champions not less noted
Sleep beneath that sullen wave;
Rio Bravo, thou hast floated
An army to an ocean grave.
On they came, those Northern horsemen,
On like eagles toward the sun,
Followed then the Northern bayonet,
And the field was lost and won.
Oh! for Orlando's horn to rally
His Paladins on that sad shore,
"Rio Bravo"—"Roncesvalles,"
Ye are names blent evermore.
Translated by
Charles Fenno Hoffman
from the Spanish of