• IX.

What means that bustle on the deck?
Those hurrying footsteps to and fro ?—
A storm that threatens sudden wreck?
A rock, that gores the ship below?
Some deadly foe approaching nigh ?—
Hark! list that wild and maddening cry!
Again! again! 'tis louder-nigher!

66

Stop! ho! fire! fire! the ship's on fire! Bring water! ho! bring water quick!

Clew up the sails !"--rings 'long the deck.
The minute guns boom o'er the wave;
None-none in mercy come to save;
But, as we in the forest see

The red blaze shooting up the tree—.
From limb to limb it leaping goes,
Until one livid sheet it glows;—
The flames are coiling up the mast,
And raging in the strengthening blast.
Now shrill and loud arise on high
The strong man's shriek of agony;
Some reckless by the hatches go,
And some as weak as children grow,
And feel how just th' avenging rod,
Then bend the knee and call on God;

Some headlong plunging in the sea,
Anticipate their destiny ;

Or, yet to shun a watery grave,
Wrestle with death upon the wave,

In fearful grasp and agony.

Some cling to slender planks and brands, Till death unclasps their crisping hands— Some in their deep despair are raving, Stern AIZEN still his pangs is braving,

When through the flaring smoke and flame,
With frantic bound a light form came,
With livid cheek and ghastly eye,

And brow elate, and hands on high,
Shrieking ""Twas I-dark AIZEN-I
That fired thy ship-'twas I-'twas I !

These flames are battling well for me--
Thy deed is black-thy guerdon sure !
And death is mine--but I am pure!"
Then, laughing, leaped into the sea,
Leaving not one to tell the tale
Of those who went that night to sleep
Beneath the unrelenting deep,

The victims of the fair ZEnel.

NOTES.

CANTO I

NOTE 1, Sect. II. p. 98.

"The summer moon is shining bright
Far o'er the dark Sierra's height."

"Who can do justice to a moonlight night in such a climate, and in such a place! The temperature of an Andalusian midnight in summer is perfectly ethereal.

*

*

"At such a time I have ascended to the little pavilion called the Queen's Toilette, to enjoy its varied and extensive prospect. To the right, the snowy summits of the Sierra Nevada would gleam like silver clouds against the darker firmament, and all the outlines of the mountain would be softened, yet delicately defined. My delight, however, would be to lean over the parapet of the tocador, and gaze down upon Granada, spread out like a map below me ; all buried in deep repose, and its white palaces and convents sleeping, as it were, in the moonshine."- Washington Irving's Alhambra.

NOTE 2, Sect. II. p. 98.

"The myrtle groves, and palms, and flowers."

"The most singular feature in the gardens of Cordova is the lofty palm, which is seen towering far above trees, walls, and house-tops.

"The palm is, indeed, among the first objects which the traveller discovers as he approaches Cordova, and for a moment he fancies that he is about to enter some African or Asiatic city. It is said that all the palm-trees in Spain-and they are very numerous in Andalusia, Murcia, and Valencia— proceeded from the one planted by the first Abderahman in his favorite garden upon the banks of the Guadalquivir."—A Year in Spain, by a Young American, Vol. III. p. 26.

NOTE 3, Sect. II. p. 98.

"Along the spicy-scented valo

Sings low and sweet the nightingale."

"The foliage of the trees was still tender and transparent; the pomegranate had not yet shed its brilliant crimson blossoms; the orchards of the Xenil and the Darro were in full bloom; the rocks were hung with wild flowers, and Granada seemed completely surrounded by a wilderness of roses, among which innumerable nightingales sang, not merely in the night, but all day long."-Washington Irving's Alhambra.

"About a mile from the sea, we came to a small river, skirted by silver poplars. These were merry with the music of the nightingale. This bird is always found in Andalusia upon the tops of mountains, and along the banks of rivers."-A Year in Spain, by a Young American, Vol. III. p. 26.

NOTE 4, Sect. II., p. 99.

"And on the Vega's moonlit green."

The Vega, the plain surrounding Granada, the scene of many actions between the Moors and Christians.

NOTE 5, Sect. II., p. 99.

"Trip small feet to the light guitar

And the low tinkling castanet."

"Sometimes I would hear the faint sounds of castanets from some party

of dancers lingering in the Alameda ; * at other times I have heard the dubious tones of a guitar and the notes of a single voice rising from some solitary street, and pictured to myself some youthful cavalier serenading his lady's window.

"As the sun declines, begins the bustle of enjoyment, when the citizens pour forth to breathe the evening air, and revel away the brief twilight in the walks and gardens of the Darro and the Xenil.

"Now break forth, from court and garden, and street and lane, the tinkling of innumerable guitars, and the clinking of castanets; blending, at this lofty height, in a faint but general concert."- Washington Irving's Alhambra.

NOTE 6. Sect II.. p. 99.

"The bright Xenil."

The Xenil, the principal stream that waters the Vega.

Norr 7, Sect. II., p. 100.

"And golden Darro's gentle tide."

"The Darro is a small stream running through Granada, and is the De Auro or Darra of the Romans, who procured gold from it by washing its sands. Particles of gold are still found in it; and when Philip the Second came to Granada, the city presented him with a crown made from the gold of the Darro."-Bourgoanne's Travels in Spain.

NOTE 8, Sect. II., p. 100.

"Nor blood from noble Zegri's vein."

The Zegris, one of the tribes of the Moors of Granada.

A pubiic walk on the Vega.