LAMENT FOR GRENADA.
Reading edition
LAMENT FOR GRENADA.
Alas for thee, Grenada!
Thy Crescent waned away
When traitors leagued to shatter
Thy mace of royal sway.
Unworthy of the mother
That warmed them into life,
They heard the Gothic trumpet,
And armed not for the strife.
Look round! an earthly paradise
Is changed into a tomb,
A blight is on thy loveliness,
And mildew on thy bloom;
Where streamed the Moorish pennon
Triumphantly of old,
Decay and mournful silence
Divided empire hold.
Alas for thee, Grenada!
Thy chiefs are shadows now,
And ashes have been sprinkled
Upon thy crownless brow:
Thy glory is departed,
Thy day of pomp is o’er,
And “Allah illah Allah!”
Is a battle-cry no more.
Castilian valor vainly
To cloud thy glory strove
Ere Treachery within thy walls
His cunning web-work wove;
By bloody parricidal hands
Inflicted was the blow
That brought thee, gem of cities!
In all thy grandeur low.