XV.
“It may not—must not be conceal'd:
“Yea—Guzman! be thy shame reveal'd!
“Thou, fruitful in thine own disgrace,
“Vile mother of th' adulterous race
“On whom my sire all honours show'r'd.
Leonora de Guzman, called la Richa Donna, was descended from one of the
most noble families of Castile. “Alfonzo the XI. totally deserted his Queen,
and for the rest of his days devoted himself to the lovely Leonora. Besides
Henry Count of Trastamere, and Don Frederic de Castilla, master of the
military order of St. James, Leonora bore several other children to King
Alfonzo. Such were, at Pedro's accession, the inauspicious prospects of the
Castillians, over whom the influence of Leonora de Guzman prevailed, and to
whose friends a strong party was attached.” Dillon's History of Peter the
Cruel, vol. i. chap. i. passim.
“Fell serpents! that Castile devour'd!
“Such was my country's hapless doom
“What time I rais'd Alfonzo's tomb:
“Then treason, hydra-headed, rose,
“And Guzman's race were Pedro's foes.
“Tello and Frederic grasp'd the spear
“To crown aspiring Trastamere,
“And crush the boy—the youthful King,
“In blossom of his fifteenth spring.
“But, in his son, Alfonzo reign'd;
“I, the crown'd boy, my sway maintain'd.
“Mean-time, my states were met; their aim
“To raise my kingdom's ancient fame,
“And on the throne of Castile place
“A bride of Bourbon's high-born race.
“Then, while my conquering host repos'd,
“And war awhile its horror clos'd,
“I, o'er far lands, with hawk and hound,
“Oft in keen chase my bugle wound.
“It chanc'd, that following in his flight
“My falcon o'er the mountain's height,
“As from my train apart I stray'd,
“And sought, o'er-tir'd, a forest glade,
“All unadorn'd, in simple dress,
“In guise a mountain sheperdess,
“Yet beauteous as a Seraph bright,
“Maria glanc'd before my sight.
“Brief let me be:—of gentle race
“Her sire, amid those wood-lands wild,
“In that lone spot, his native place,
“Rear'd up in innocence his child,
“Where peace on his late evening smil'd.
“We met, we lov'd:—mind link'd to mind,
“And heart with heart were intertwin'd.
“And I, beneath a feigned name,
“(Say, was the youthful King to blame?)
“In secret union with my bride
“Cast, in her arms, the world aside.
“So months in dream of rapture fled,
“Ere yet a gathering rumour spread,
“That Gallia, at a nation's pray'r,
“Had sent the fairest of her fair,
“The high-born daughter of Bourbon,
“Blanche, to adorn Castillia's throne.
“I went, inflam'd by worldly pride,
“I woo'd—oh guilt accurst!—the bride—
“I to the altar Bourbon led;
“Horror o'ercanopied our bed.
“View'd I fair Bourbon with delight?
“No—'twas a fiend appall'd my sight,
“A threat'ning fiend that stood alone
“Between Maria and my throne.
“To love, to meek Maria's arms,
“I flew from pomp and Bourbon's charms.
“There, too, on meek Maria's breast
“Fell Blanche, disquieting my rest,
“Haunted my couch with dreams unblest.
“Year after year dissension reign'd,
“Yet still my pow'r its rule maintain'd:
“Seville, in distant times unknown,
“Shall bid her sons revere the stone,
“Where, thron'd beneath the golden day,
“Near the western entrance of the Alcazar, or royal palace of Seville, was
formerly to be seen a stone seat, with its canopy supported by four pillars,
where that severe judge, Don Pedro, sat to decide causes. His justice was so
very inflexible, that in those days of feudal anarchy, it was deemed cruelty and
tyranny: and hence, perhaps, much of the obloquy bestowed on him by historians.
In Andalusia, where he fixed his residence, his memory is not held in
abhorrence: and the Sevillian writers, instead of the appellation Pedro el
Cruel, distinguish him by that of El Justiciero.” Swinburne's travels through
Spain, p. 255.
“Firm Pedro bad the realm obey,
“And justice, at his sceptred hand
“Held her pois'd balance o'er the land.
“Now burst the storm: adulterous love
“And fraud their coil around me wove,
“Drew from the rocks fell Trastamere,
“And couch'd again war's rebel spear.
“My host, by traitorous Frederic led,
“Ingloriously the battle fled.
“Again his King in evil hour
“Arm'd him in plenitude of pow'r,
“When to my throne a rumour came
“Of Frederic's guilt, and Bourbon's shame.
“Don Pédre épouse Blanche de Bourbon; et la première nouvelle qu'il
apprend de sa femme quand elle est arrivée à Valladolid, c'est qu'elle est
amoureuse du grand-maitre de St. Jâques, l'un de ces mêmes batards qui lui
avaient fait la guerre. Il y a encore une famille en Espagne qui se vante
d'être issue de ce commerce, c'est celle des Henriques.” Voltaire, Essai sur les
Mœurs. Tome III. p. 179.
“These eyes beheld—spare, spare the rest!—
“I sheath'd my blade in Frederic's breast.
“Blanche o'er the base adulterer hung,
“Blanche to his bleeding bosom clung.
“My arm was rais'd in vengeful mood.
“—Oh! that this hand had shed her blood!
“I shed not blood—but—ere her hour—
“Blanche—perish'd—in Sidonia's tow'r—
“And the sharp curse that hangs o'er crime
“Yet haunts me from that fatal time.
“Lo the dire proof—this belt I wear,
“These drops of gore the curse declare.”
And Pedro back his mantle threw,
And gave the ensanguin'd belt to view.
His fixed eye-ball on the blood
Glar'd, and his hair uplifted stood.
And, fearfully, on all around
Amazement fell, and awe profound.
