XCIII.—BERNARDO DEL CARPIO.MRS. HEMANS.The celebrated Spanish champion, Bernardo del Carpio, having made many ineffectual efforts to procure the release of his father, the Count Saldana, who had been imprisoned by King Alfonso of Asturias, at last took up arms in despair. The war which he maintained proved so destructive that the men of the land gathered round the king, and united in demanding Saldana’s liberty. Alfonso, accordingly, offered Bernardo immediate possession of his father’s person in exchange for his castle of Carpio. Bernardo, without hesitation, gave up his stronghold, with all his captives, and being assured that his father was then on his way from prison, rode forth with the king to meet him. “And when he saw his father approaching, he exclaimed,” says the ancient chronicle, “O God! is the Count of Saldana indeed coming?”“Look where he is,” replied the cruel king; “and now go and greet him whom you have so long desired to see.” The remainder of the story will be found related in the ballad. The chronicles and romances leave us nearly in the dark as to Bernardo’s history after this event.
MRS. HEMANS.
The celebrated Spanish champion, Bernardo del Carpio, having made many ineffectual efforts to procure the release of his father, the Count Saldana, who had been imprisoned by King Alfonso of Asturias, at last took up arms in despair. The war which he maintained proved so destructive that the men of the land gathered round the king, and united in demanding Saldana’s liberty. Alfonso, accordingly, offered Bernardo immediate possession of his father’s person in exchange for his castle of Carpio. Bernardo, without hesitation, gave up his stronghold, with all his captives, and being assured that his father was then on his way from prison, rode forth with the king to meet him. “And when he saw his father approaching, he exclaimed,” says the ancient chronicle, “O God! is the Count of Saldana indeed coming?”“Look where he is,” replied the cruel king; “and now go and greet him whom you have so long desired to see.” The remainder of the story will be found related in the ballad. The chronicles and romances leave us nearly in the dark as to Bernardo’s history after this event.
1. The warrior bowed his crested head, and tamed his heart of fire.And sued the haughty king to free his long imprisoned sire:“I bring thee here my fortress keys, I bring my captive train;I pledge my faith, my liege:[611]my lord, O, break my father’s chain!”2. “Rise, rise! even now thy father comes, a ransomed[612]man this day;Mount thy good horse, and thou and I will meet him on his way.”Then lightly rose that loyal son, and bounded on his steed,And urged, as if with lance in rest, the charger’s[613]foamy speed.3. And, lo! from far, as on they pressed, there came a glittering band,With one that ’midst them stately rode, as a leader in the land.“Now haste, Bernardo, haste! for there, in very truth, is he,The father, whom thy faithful heart hath yearned[614]so long to see.”4. His dark eye flashed, his proud breast heaved, his cheeks’ hue came and went;He reached that gray-haired chieftain’s side, and, there dismounting, bent;A lowly knee to earth he bent, his father’s hand he took—What was there in its touch that all his fiery spirit shook?5. That hand was cold! a frozen thing!—it dropped from his like lead:He looked up to the face above—the face was of the dead!A plume waved o’er the noble brow—the brow was fixed and white!He met, at length, his father’s eyes—but in them was no sight!6. Up from the ground he sprang, and gazed; but who could paint that gaze!They hushed their very hearts, that saw its horror and amaze:They might have chained him, as before that stony form he stood;For the power was stricken from his arm, and from his lip the blood.7. “Father!” at length he murmured low, and wept like childhood then—Talk not of grief till thou hast seen the tears of warlike men!—He thought on all his glorious hopes, on all his young renown:Then flung his falchion from his side, and in the dust sat down;8. And covering with his steel-gloved hands his darkly mournful brow,“No more, there is no more,” he said, “to lift the sword for now:My king is false! my hope betrayed! my father—O, the worth,The glory, and the loveliness are passed away from earth!”9. Then from the ground he sprang once more, and seized the monarchs rein,Amidst the pale and wildered looks of all the courtier train;And with a fierce, o’ermastering grasp, the rearing war-horse led,And sternly set them face to face—the king before the dead!10. “Came I not forth, upon thy pledge, my father’s hand to kiss?Be still, and gaze thou on, false king! and tell me, what is this?The voice, the glance, the heart I sought—give answer, where are they?If thou wouldst clear thy perjured[615]soul, send life through this cold clay!11. “Into these glassy eyes put light—be still! keep down thine ire;Bid these white lips a blessing speak—this earth is not my sire!Give me back him for whom I strove, for whom my blood was shed—Thou canst not?—and a king!—his dust be mountains on thy head!”12. He loosed the steed—his slack hand fell;—upon the silent faceHe cast one long, deep, troubled look, then turned from that sad place;His hope was crushed, his after-fate untold in martial strain;His banner led the spears no more amidst the hills of Spain!
1. The warrior bowed his crested head, and tamed his heart of fire.And sued the haughty king to free his long imprisoned sire:“I bring thee here my fortress keys, I bring my captive train;I pledge my faith, my liege:[611]my lord, O, break my father’s chain!”2. “Rise, rise! even now thy father comes, a ransomed[612]man this day;Mount thy good horse, and thou and I will meet him on his way.”Then lightly rose that loyal son, and bounded on his steed,And urged, as if with lance in rest, the charger’s[613]foamy speed.3. And, lo! from far, as on they pressed, there came a glittering band,With one that ’midst them stately rode, as a leader in the land.“Now haste, Bernardo, haste! for there, in very truth, is he,The father, whom thy faithful heart hath yearned[614]so long to see.”4. His dark eye flashed, his proud breast heaved, his cheeks’ hue came and went;He reached that gray-haired chieftain’s side, and, there dismounting, bent;A lowly knee to earth he bent, his father’s hand he took—What was there in its touch that all his fiery spirit shook?5. That hand was cold! a frozen thing!—it dropped from his like lead:He looked up to the face above—the face was of the dead!A plume waved o’er the noble brow—the brow was fixed and white!He met, at length, his father’s eyes—but in them was no sight!6. Up from the ground he sprang, and gazed; but who could paint that gaze!They hushed their very hearts, that saw its horror and amaze:They might have chained him, as before that stony form he stood;For the power was stricken from his arm, and from his lip the blood.7. “Father!” at length he murmured low, and wept like childhood then—Talk not of grief till thou hast seen the tears of warlike men!—He thought on all his glorious hopes, on all his young renown:Then flung his falchion from his side, and in the dust sat down;8. And covering with his steel-gloved hands his darkly mournful brow,“No more, there is no more,” he said, “to lift the sword for now:My king is false! my hope betrayed! my father—O, the worth,The glory, and the loveliness are passed away from earth!”9. Then from the ground he sprang once more, and seized the monarchs rein,Amidst the pale and wildered looks of all the courtier train;And with a fierce, o’ermastering grasp, the rearing war-horse led,And sternly set them face to face—the king before the dead!10. “Came I not forth, upon thy pledge, my father’s hand to kiss?Be still, and gaze thou on, false king! and tell me, what is this?The voice, the glance, the heart I sought—give answer, where are they?If thou wouldst clear thy perjured[615]soul, send life through this cold clay!11. “Into these glassy eyes put light—be still! keep down thine ire;Bid these white lips a blessing speak—this earth is not my sire!Give me back him for whom I strove, for whom my blood was shed—Thou canst not?—and a king!—his dust be mountains on thy head!”12. He loosed the steed—his slack hand fell;—upon the silent faceHe cast one long, deep, troubled look, then turned from that sad place;His hope was crushed, his after-fate untold in martial strain;His banner led the spears no more amidst the hills of Spain!
1. The warrior bowed his crested head, and tamed his heart of fire.And sued the haughty king to free his long imprisoned sire:“I bring thee here my fortress keys, I bring my captive train;I pledge my faith, my liege:[611]my lord, O, break my father’s chain!”
1. The warrior bowed his crested head, and tamed his heart of fire.
And sued the haughty king to free his long imprisoned sire:
“I bring thee here my fortress keys, I bring my captive train;
I pledge my faith, my liege:[611]my lord, O, break my father’s chain!”
2. “Rise, rise! even now thy father comes, a ransomed[612]man this day;Mount thy good horse, and thou and I will meet him on his way.”Then lightly rose that loyal son, and bounded on his steed,And urged, as if with lance in rest, the charger’s[613]foamy speed.
2. “Rise, rise! even now thy father comes, a ransomed[612]man this day;
Mount thy good horse, and thou and I will meet him on his way.”
Then lightly rose that loyal son, and bounded on his steed,
And urged, as if with lance in rest, the charger’s[613]foamy speed.
3. And, lo! from far, as on they pressed, there came a glittering band,With one that ’midst them stately rode, as a leader in the land.“Now haste, Bernardo, haste! for there, in very truth, is he,The father, whom thy faithful heart hath yearned[614]so long to see.”
3. And, lo! from far, as on they pressed, there came a glittering band,
With one that ’midst them stately rode, as a leader in the land.
“Now haste, Bernardo, haste! for there, in very truth, is he,
The father, whom thy faithful heart hath yearned[614]so long to see.”
4. His dark eye flashed, his proud breast heaved, his cheeks’ hue came and went;He reached that gray-haired chieftain’s side, and, there dismounting, bent;A lowly knee to earth he bent, his father’s hand he took—What was there in its touch that all his fiery spirit shook?
4. His dark eye flashed, his proud breast heaved, his cheeks’ hue came and went;
He reached that gray-haired chieftain’s side, and, there dismounting, bent;
A lowly knee to earth he bent, his father’s hand he took—
What was there in its touch that all his fiery spirit shook?
5. That hand was cold! a frozen thing!—it dropped from his like lead:He looked up to the face above—the face was of the dead!A plume waved o’er the noble brow—the brow was fixed and white!He met, at length, his father’s eyes—but in them was no sight!
5. That hand was cold! a frozen thing!—it dropped from his like lead:
He looked up to the face above—the face was of the dead!
A plume waved o’er the noble brow—the brow was fixed and white!
He met, at length, his father’s eyes—but in them was no sight!
6. Up from the ground he sprang, and gazed; but who could paint that gaze!They hushed their very hearts, that saw its horror and amaze:They might have chained him, as before that stony form he stood;For the power was stricken from his arm, and from his lip the blood.
6. Up from the ground he sprang, and gazed; but who could paint that gaze!
They hushed their very hearts, that saw its horror and amaze:
They might have chained him, as before that stony form he stood;
For the power was stricken from his arm, and from his lip the blood.
7. “Father!” at length he murmured low, and wept like childhood then—Talk not of grief till thou hast seen the tears of warlike men!—He thought on all his glorious hopes, on all his young renown:Then flung his falchion from his side, and in the dust sat down;
7. “Father!” at length he murmured low, and wept like childhood then—
Talk not of grief till thou hast seen the tears of warlike men!—
He thought on all his glorious hopes, on all his young renown:
Then flung his falchion from his side, and in the dust sat down;
8. And covering with his steel-gloved hands his darkly mournful brow,“No more, there is no more,” he said, “to lift the sword for now:My king is false! my hope betrayed! my father—O, the worth,The glory, and the loveliness are passed away from earth!”
8. And covering with his steel-gloved hands his darkly mournful brow,
“No more, there is no more,” he said, “to lift the sword for now:
My king is false! my hope betrayed! my father—O, the worth,
The glory, and the loveliness are passed away from earth!”
9. Then from the ground he sprang once more, and seized the monarchs rein,Amidst the pale and wildered looks of all the courtier train;And with a fierce, o’ermastering grasp, the rearing war-horse led,And sternly set them face to face—the king before the dead!
9. Then from the ground he sprang once more, and seized the monarchs rein,
Amidst the pale and wildered looks of all the courtier train;
And with a fierce, o’ermastering grasp, the rearing war-horse led,
And sternly set them face to face—the king before the dead!
10. “Came I not forth, upon thy pledge, my father’s hand to kiss?Be still, and gaze thou on, false king! and tell me, what is this?The voice, the glance, the heart I sought—give answer, where are they?If thou wouldst clear thy perjured[615]soul, send life through this cold clay!
10. “Came I not forth, upon thy pledge, my father’s hand to kiss?
Be still, and gaze thou on, false king! and tell me, what is this?
The voice, the glance, the heart I sought—give answer, where are they?
If thou wouldst clear thy perjured[615]soul, send life through this cold clay!
11. “Into these glassy eyes put light—be still! keep down thine ire;Bid these white lips a blessing speak—this earth is not my sire!Give me back him for whom I strove, for whom my blood was shed—Thou canst not?—and a king!—his dust be mountains on thy head!”
11. “Into these glassy eyes put light—be still! keep down thine ire;
Bid these white lips a blessing speak—this earth is not my sire!
Give me back him for whom I strove, for whom my blood was shed—
Thou canst not?—and a king!—his dust be mountains on thy head!”
12. He loosed the steed—his slack hand fell;—upon the silent faceHe cast one long, deep, troubled look, then turned from that sad place;His hope was crushed, his after-fate untold in martial strain;His banner led the spears no more amidst the hills of Spain!
12. He loosed the steed—his slack hand fell;—upon the silent face
He cast one long, deep, troubled look, then turned from that sad place;
His hope was crushed, his after-fate untold in martial strain;
His banner led the spears no more amidst the hills of Spain!
[611]Liege, sovereign.[612]Ranˊ-somed, redeemed from captivity or imprisonment by the payment of a ransom or price.[613]Chargˊ-er, a war horse.[614]Yearned, desired earnestly; longed.[615]Perˊ-jured, guilty of taking a false oath.
[611]Liege, sovereign.
[611]Liege, sovereign.
[612]Ranˊ-somed, redeemed from captivity or imprisonment by the payment of a ransom or price.
[612]Ranˊ-somed, redeemed from captivity or imprisonment by the payment of a ransom or price.
[613]Chargˊ-er, a war horse.
[613]Chargˊ-er, a war horse.
[614]Yearned, desired earnestly; longed.
[614]Yearned, desired earnestly; longed.
[615]Perˊ-jured, guilty of taking a false oath.
[615]Perˊ-jured, guilty of taking a false oath.