 | Poems |  |
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TO SPAIN.
(1868–9.)
O, bright and balmy Spain!
Bright with the sun that decks thy clear blue skies—
Bright with the fire of maidens' wildering eyes;
Bright with the sheen that o'er thy record shines,
And gilds with fame thy mountains, clad with vines!
Bright with the deeds that paled thy ancient foe,
And bade Numantia's smoldering embers glow
In triumph o'er her slain!
Rival of Greece in peaceful ways and arts;
Rival of Rome in brave and warlike hearts;
The home of valor, history long hath told,
That flashed as flashed thy ancient mines of gold,
O, bright and balmy Spain!
Bright with the sun that decks thy clear blue skies—
Bright with the fire of maidens' wildering eyes;
Bright with the sheen that o'er thy record shines,
And gilds with fame thy mountains, clad with vines!
Bright with the deeds that paled thy ancient foe,
And bade Numantia's smoldering embers glow
In triumph o'er her slain!
Rival of Greece in peaceful ways and arts;
Rival of Rome in brave and warlike hearts;
The home of valor, history long hath told,
That flashed as flashed thy ancient mines of gold,
O, bright and balmy Spain!
O, dark and frowning Spain!
Dark with the ignorance and sin-born ills
That gloom and glower upon thy many hills;
Dark with the crime that taints each passing breeze,
From strong Gibraltar to the Pyrenees;
Red with the blood that meets the dagger's thrust;
Bent with the fruits of recklessness and lust,
And loathsome with their stain;
Trod by the feet of sycophants and slaves;
Festered and blotched by ignominious graves;
While hang above thy wayward, thorny path,
The thunder-heads of God's avenging wrath,
O, dark and frowning Spain!
Dark with the ignorance and sin-born ills
That gloom and glower upon thy many hills;
Dark with the crime that taints each passing breeze,
117
Red with the blood that meets the dagger's thrust;
Bent with the fruits of recklessness and lust,
And loathsome with their stain;
Trod by the feet of sycophants and slaves;
Festered and blotched by ignominious graves;
While hang above thy wayward, thorny path,
The thunder-heads of God's avenging wrath,
O, dark and frowning Spain!
O, grand and glorious Spain!
Grand with the tales thy children love to tell,
Of Ferdinand and peerless Isabel;
Grand as the center of the mighty powers
That humbled proud Grenada's glittering towers;
Land whence Columbus trained his eagle gaze,
And sailed to find a place for Freedom's blaze,
Across the rippling main!
A blaze of light that grows and brightens still,
Like to a watch-fire built upon a hill;
A thing of joy, that patriots love to see;
That shines abroad, and might illumine thee,
O, grand and glorious Spain!
Grand with the tales thy children love to tell,
Of Ferdinand and peerless Isabel;
Grand as the center of the mighty powers
That humbled proud Grenada's glittering towers;
Land whence Columbus trained his eagle gaze,
And sailed to find a place for Freedom's blaze,
Across the rippling main!
A blaze of light that grows and brightens still,
Like to a watch-fire built upon a hill;
A thing of joy, that patriots love to see;
That shines abroad, and might illumine thee,
O, grand and glorious Spain!
O, crushed and bleeding Spain!
Crushed by the battles of contending foes,
Raining upon thy head their mutual blows;
Crushed by the foreign soldier's reckless tread,
Crushed by the bodies of thy hapless dead;
Crushed by the pall that hid thee from the light;
Crushed by the Inquisition's damning blight,
And priests of lust and gain!
Gnawed by the worms that foul Corruption breeds;
Consumed and wasted by their strifes and greeds;
Upon thy brow humiliation's brand,
Traced by a sceptered harlot's withered hand,
O, crushed and bleeding Spain!
Crushed by the battles of contending foes,
Raining upon thy head their mutual blows;
Crushed by the foreign soldier's reckless tread,
Crushed by the bodies of thy hapless dead;
118
Crushed by the Inquisition's damning blight,
And priests of lust and gain!
Gnawed by the worms that foul Corruption breeds;
Consumed and wasted by their strifes and greeds;
Upon thy brow humiliation's brand,
Traced by a sceptered harlot's withered hand,
O, crushed and bleeding Spain!
Rouse to thy rights, O Spain!
Ay, thou hast roused, with anger in thy tone,
And hurled thy loathsome ruler from thy throne;
Ay, thou hast roused, with self-reliant trust,
And trod thy haughty nobles in the dust!
Resolve, that ne'er again, whate'er befalls,
Shall hateful Bourbon stand within thy halls,
Or Bourbon's hated train!
Show to the world, whoe'er thy ruler be,
He needs must stand the choice of thine and thee;
Show to the world that every nation's throne,
Whose e'er it be, must be that nation's own!
Show that, O quickened Spain!
Ay, thou hast roused, with anger in thy tone,
And hurled thy loathsome ruler from thy throne;
Ay, thou hast roused, with self-reliant trust,
And trod thy haughty nobles in the dust!
Resolve, that ne'er again, whate'er befalls,
Shall hateful Bourbon stand within thy halls,
Or Bourbon's hated train!
Show to the world, whoe'er thy ruler be,
He needs must stand the choice of thine and thee;
Show to the world that every nation's throne,
Whose e'er it be, must be that nation's own!
Show that, O quickened Spain!
Repent, O wicked Spain!
Pray to the God thou hast so long ignored,
Not to the virgin whom thou hast adored;
Let natural religion be thy guide,
And not the Pope on whom thou hast relied;
Let Art and Science chase away thy ills,
And perch themselves upon thy many hills,
Improving heart and brain;
Then with a firm but mild and bloodless stroke,
Throw from thy neck the temporary yoke;
And Virtue, Honor, Truth, and Right increased,
Stand forth the grand Republic of the East,
Redeemed, triumphant Spain!
Pray to the God thou hast so long ignored,
Not to the virgin whom thou hast adored;
Let natural religion be thy guide,
And not the Pope on whom thou hast relied;
Let Art and Science chase away thy ills,
119
Improving heart and brain;
Then with a firm but mild and bloodless stroke,
Throw from thy neck the temporary yoke;
And Virtue, Honor, Truth, and Right increased,
Stand forth the grand Republic of the East,
Redeemed, triumphant Spain!
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