King Ramiro

Green grow the alder-trees, and close
To the water-ride by St Joam da Foz
From the castle of Gaya the Warden sees
The water and the alder-trees ;
And only these the Warden sees,
No danger near doth Gaya fear,
No danger nigh doth the Warden spy;
He sees not where the galleys lie
Under the alders silently ;
For the galleys with green are cover'd o'er,
They have crept by night along the shore,
And they lie at anchor, now it is morn,
Awaiting the sound of Ramiro's horn.

In traveller's weeds Ramiro sate
By the fountain at the castle-gate ;
But under the weeds was his breast-plate,
And the sword he had tried in so many fights,
And the horn whose sound would ring around,
And be known so well by his knights.

From the gate Aldonza's damsel came
To fill her pitcher at the spring,
And she saw, but she knew not, her master the King.
In the Moorish tongue Ramiro spake,
And begg'd a draught for mercy's sake,
That he his burning thirst might slake
For worn by a long malady,
Not strength enow, he said, had he
To lift it from the spring.

She gave her pitcher to the King,
And from his mouth he dropt a ring
Which he had with Aldonza broken
So in the water from the spring
Queen Aldonza found the token.
With that she bade her damsel bring
Secretly the stranger in.

" What brings thee hither, Ramiro? " she cried ;
The love of you," the King replied.
" Nay I nay I it is not so !" quoth she,
"Ramiro, say not this to me !
I know your Moorish concubine
Hath now the love which once was mine.
If you had loved me as you say,
You would never have stolen Ortiga away;
If you had never loved another,
I had not been here in Gaya to-day
The wife of Ortiga's brother
But hide thee here, . a step I hear,
King Alboazar draweth near."

In her alcove she bade him hide
" King Alboazar, my lord," she cried,
What wouldst thou do, if at this hour
King Ramiro were in thy power?"
This I would do," the Moor replied,
" I would hew him limb from limb,
As he, I know, would deal by me,
So I would deal by him."
"Alboazar ! " Queen Aldonza said,
" Lo ! here I give him to thy will ;
In yon alcove thou hast thy foe,
Now thy vengeance then fulfill"

With that up spake the Christian king :
" O Alboazar, deal by me
As I would surely deal with thee,
If I were you, and you were me !
Like a friend you guested me many a day,
Like a foe I stole your sister away ;
The sin was great, and I felt its weight,
All joy by day the thought opprest,
And all night long it troubled my rest ;
Till I could not bear the burden of care,
But told my Confessor in despair.
And he, my sinful soul to save.
This penance for atonement gave ;
That I before you should appear
And yield myself your prisoner here,
If my repentance was sincere.
That I might by a public death
Breathe shamefully out my latest breath.

King Alboazar, this I would do,
If you were I, and I were you ;
That no one should say you were meanly fed,
I would give you a roasted capon first,
And a good ring loaf of wheaten bread,
And a skinful of wine to quench your thirst
And after that I would grant you the thing
I Which you came to me petitioning.
Now this, O King, is what I crave,
That I my sinful soul may save :
Let me be led to your bull-ring,
And call your sons and daughters all,
And assemble the people both great and small,
And let me be set upon a stone.
That by all the multitude I may be known,
And bid me then this horn to blow,
And I will blow a blast so strong,
And wind the horn so loud and long
That the breath in my body at last shall be gone,
And I shall drop dead in the sight of the throng.
Thus your revenge, O King, will be brave,
Granting the boon which I come to crave,
And the people a holyday sight will have,
And I my precious soul shall save :
For this is the penance my Confessor gave.
King Alboazar, this I would do,
If you were I, and I were you."

This man repents his sin, be sure ! "
To Queen Aldonza said the Moor ;
"He hath stolen my sister away from me,
I have taken from him his wife ;
Shame then would it be when he comes to me,
And I his true repentance see,
If I for vengeance should take his life."

"O Alboazar !" then quoth she,
"Weak of heart as weak can be !
Full of revenge and wiles is he.
Look at those eyes beneath that brow,
I know Ramiro better than thou !
Kill him, for thou hast him now,
He must die, be sure, or thou.
Hast thou not heard the history
How, to the throne that he might rise,
He pluck'd out his brother Ordoño's eyes ?
And dost not remember his prowess in fight.
How often he met thee and put thee to flight.
And plunder'd thy country for many a day ;
And how many Moors he has slain in the strife,
And how many more carried captives away?
How he came to show friendship . . and thou didst believe him ?
How he ravish'd thy sister, . and wouldst thou for- give him
And hast thou forgotten that I am his wife,
And that now by thy side I lie like a bride,
The worst shame that can ever a Christian betide
And cruel it were when you see his despair,
If vainly you thought in compassion to spare,
And refused him the boon he comes hither to crave,
For no other way his poor soul can he save,
Than by doing the penance his Confessor gave."

As Queen Aldonza thus replies,
The Moor upon her fixed his eyes,
And he said in his heart, unhappy is he
Who putteth his trust in a woman !
Thou art King Ramiro's wedded wife,
And thus wouldst thou take away his life !
What cause have I to confide in thee ?
I will put this woman away from me.
These were the thoughts that pass'd in his breast,
But he call'd to mind Ramiro's might ;
And he fear'd to meet him hereafter in fight,
And he granted the King's request

So he gave him a roasted capon first,
And a skinful of wine to quench his thirst ;
And he called for his sons and daughters all.
And assembled the people both great and small
And to the bull-ring he led the king ;
And he set him there upon a stone,
That by all the multitude he might be known,
And he bade him blow through his horn a blast,
As long as his breath and his life should last

Oh then his horn Ramiro wound :
The walls rebound the pealing sound,
That far and wide rings echoing round ;
Louder and louder Ramiro blows,
And farther the blast and farther goes ;
Till it reaches the galleys where they lie close
Under the alders, by St Joam da Foz.
It roused his knights from their repose
And they and their merry men arose.
Away to Gaya they speed them straight ;
Like a torrent they burst through the city gate
And they rush among the Moorish throng,
And slaughter their infidel foes.

Then his good sword Ramiro drew,
Upon the Moorish King he flew,
And he gave him one blow, for there needed not two ;
They killed his sons and his daughters too
Every Moorish soul they slew ;
Not one escaped of the infidel crew ;
Neither old nor young, nor babe nor mother
And they left not one stone upon another.

They carried the wicked Queen aboard,
And they took counsel what to do to her ;
They tied a millstone round her neck.
And overboard in the sea they threw her.
But a heavier weight than that millstone lay
On Ramiro's soul at his dying day.