The Girl of Cadiz
Oh never talk again to meOf northern climes and British ladies;It has not been your lot to see,aLike me, the lovely Girl of Cadiz.Although her eye be not of blue,Nor fair her locks, like English lasses,How far its own expressive hueThe languid azure eye surpasses!
Prometheus-like from heaven she stoleThe fire that through those silken lashesIn darkest glances seems to roll,From eyes that cannot hide their flashes:And as along her bosom stealIn lengthened flow her raven tresses,You'd swear each clustering lock could feel,And curled to give her neck caresses.
Our English maids are long to woo,bAnd frigid even in possession;And if their charms be fair to view,Their lips are slow at Love's confession;But, born beneath a brighter sun,For love ordained the Spanish maid is,And who,--when fondly, fairly won,--Enchants you like the Girl of Cadiz?
The Spanish maid is no coquette,Nor joys to see a lover tremble,And if she love, or if she hate,Alike she knows not to dissemble.Her heart can ne'er be bought or sold--Howe'er it beats, it beats sincerely;And, though it will not bend to gold,'Twill love you long and love you dearly.
The Spanish girl that meets your loveNe'er taunts you with a mock denial,For every thought is bent to proveHer passion in the hour of trial.When thronging foemen menace Spain,She dares the deed and shares the danger;And should her lover press the plain,She hurls the spear, her love's avenger.
And when, beneath the evening star,She mingles in the gay Bolero,Or sings to her attuned guitarOf Christian knight or Moorish hero,Or counts her beads with fairy handBeneath the twinkling rays of Hesper,cOr joins Devotion's choral band,To chaunt the sweet and hallowed vesper;--
In each her charms the heart must moveOf all who venture to behold her;Then let not maids less fair reproveBecause her bosom is not colder:Through many a clime 'tis mine to roamWhere many a soft and melting maid is,But none abroad, and few at home,May match the dark-eyed Girl of Cadiz.d
Words in this poem
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- fondly adv.
- Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
- fairly adv.
- In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly.
- coquette n.
- A vain, trifling woman, who endeavors to attract admiration from a desire to grafity vanity; a flirt; -- formerly sometimes applied also to men. [F., fr. coquet, coquette, coquettish, orig., cocklike, strutting like a cock, fr. coq a cock. Cf. Cock, Cocket, Cocky, Cockade.]
- dissemble v. t.
- To hide under a false semblance or seeming; to feign (something) not to be what it really is; to put an untrue appearance upon; to disguise; to mask. [OF. dissembler to be dissimilar; pref. dis- (L. dis-) + F. sembler to seem, L. simulare to simulate; cf. L. dissimulare to dissemble. See Simulate, and cf. Diss]
- sincerely adv.
- In a sincere manner. Specifically: (a) Purely; without alloy.
- bolero n.
- A Spanish dance, or the lively music which accompanies it. [Sp.]
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- hesper n.
- The evening; Hesperus. [See Hesperian.]
- choral a.
- Of or pertaining to a choir or chorus; singing, sung, or adapted to be sung, in chorus or harmony. Choral service, a service of song. [LL. choralis, fr. L. chorus. See Chorus.]
- vesper n.
- The evening star; Hesper; Venus, when seen after sunset; hence, the evening. [L., the evening, the evening star, the west; akin to Gr. west. Cf. Hesperian, Vespers.]
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Girl of Cadiz is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3, Project Gutenberg ebook #21811; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Lord Byron, The Girl of Cadiz, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/the-girl-of-cadiz.html, id L23825.
Form and metre
The Girl of Cadiz is 56 lines in 7 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-ABCBC me · ladiesA · see,a · cadizA · blueB · lassesC · hueB · surpassesC
- 2 ABABCDCD stoleA · lashesB · rollA · flashesB · stealC · tressesD · feelC · caressesD
- 3 -A-AB-B- woo,b · possessionA · view · confessionA · sunB · is · wonB · cadiz
- 4 -A-ABCBC coquette · trembleA · hate · dissembleA · soldB · sincerelyC · goldB · dearlyC
- 5 ABABC-C- loveA · denialB · proveA · trialB · spainC · danger · plainC · avenger
- 6 A-A-B-B- starA · bolero · guitarA · hero · handB · hesper,c · bandB · vesper
- 7 A-A-B-B- moveA · her · reproveA · colder · roamB · is · homeB · cadiz.d
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Oh never talk again to me | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Of northern climes and British ladies; | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| It has not been your lot to see,a | 9 | ········· |
| Like me, the lovely Girl of Cadiz. | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| Although her eye be not of blue, | 8 | ········ |
| Nor fair her locks, like English lasses, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| How far its own expressive hue | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| The languid azure eye surpasses! | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Prometheus-like from heaven she stole | 9 | ˘/˘˘··/·· |
| The fire that through those silken lashes | 9 | ·/···/˘/˘ |
| In darkest glances seems to roll, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| From eyes that cannot hide their flashes: | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| And as along her bosom steal | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| In lengthened flow her raven tresses, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| You'd swear each clustering lock could feel, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And curled to give her neck caresses. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Our English maids are long to woo,b | 9 | //˘······ |
| And frigid even in possession; | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| And if their charms be fair to view, | 8 | ········ |
| Their lips are slow at Love's confession; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| But, born beneath a brighter sun, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For love ordained the Spanish maid is, | 9 | ··˘/·/˘·· |
| And who,--when fondly, fairly won,-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Enchants you like the Girl of Cadiz? | 9 | ˘/·····˘/ |
| The Spanish maid is no coquette, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Nor joys to see a lover tremble, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And if she love, or if she hate, | 8 | ········ |
| Alike she knows not to dissemble. | 9 | ˘/····˘/˘ |
| Her heart can ne'er be bought or sold-- | 8 | ········ |
| Howe'er it beats, it beats sincerely; | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| And, though it will not bend to gold, | 8 | ········ |
| 'Twill love you long and love you dearly. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| The Spanish girl that meets your love | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Ne'er taunts you with a mock denial, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| For every thought is bent to prove | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Her passion in the hour of trial. | 9 | ·/˘··/·/˘ |
| When thronging foemen menace Spain, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| She dares the deed and shares the danger; | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And should her lover press the plain, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| She hurls the spear, her love's avenger. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| And when, beneath the evening star, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She mingles in the gay Bolero, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Or sings to her attuned guitar | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| Of Christian knight or Moorish hero, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Or counts her beads with fairy hand | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Beneath the twinkling rays of Hesper,c | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Or joins Devotion's choral band, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| To chaunt the sweet and hallowed vesper;-- | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| In each her charms the heart must move | 8 | ········ |
| Of all who venture to behold her; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/· |
| Then let not maids less fair reprove | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Because her bosom is not colder: | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Through many a clime 'tis mine to roam | 8 | ·/······ |
| Where many a soft and melting maid is, | 9 | ·/···/˘·· |
| But none abroad, and few at home, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| May match the dark-eyed Girl of Cadiz.d | 10 | ·······˘/· |
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