Don Ramiro

"Donna Clara! Donna Clara!Hotly-loved through years of passion!Thou hast wrought me mine undoing,And hast wrought it without mercy!

"Donna Clara! Donna Clara!Still the gift of life is pleasant.But beneath the earth 'tis frightful,In the grave so cold and darksome.

"Donna Clara! Laugh, be merry,For to-morrow shall FernandoGreet thee at the nuptial altar.Wilt thou bid me to the wedding?"

"Don Ramiro! Don Ramiro!Very bitter sounds thy language,Bitterer than the stars' decrees are,Which bemock my heart's desire.

"Don Ramiro! Don Ramiro!Cast aside thy gloomy temper.In the world are many maidens,But us twain the Lord hath parted.

"Don Ramiro, thou who bravelyMany and many a man hast conquered,Conquer now thyself,--to-morrowCome and greet me at my wedding."

"Donna Clara! Donna Clara!Yes, I swear it. I am coming.I will dance with thee the measure.Now good-night! I come to-morrow."

"So good-night!" The casement rattled,Sighing neath it, stood Ramiro.Long he stood a stony statue,Then amidst the darkness vanished.

After long and weary struggling,Night must yield unto the daylight.Like a many-colored garden,Lies the city of Toledo.

Palaces and stately fabricsShimmer in the morning sunshine.And the lofty domes of churchesGlitter as with gold incrusted.

Humming like a swarm of insects,Ring the bells their festal carol.With sweet tones the sacred anthemFrom each house of God ascendeth.

But behold, behold! beyond there,Yonder from the market-chapel,With a billowing and a swaying,Streams the motley throng of people.

Gallant knights and noble ladies,In their holiday apparel;While the pealing bells ring clearly,And the deep-voiced organ murmurs.

But a reverential passageIn the people's midst is opened,For the richly-clad young couple,Donna Clara, Don Fernando.

To the bridegroom's palace-threshold,Wind the waving throngs of people;There the wedding feast beginneth,Pompous in the olden fashion.

Knightly games and open table,Interspersed with joyous laughter,Quickly flying, speed the hours,Till the night again hath fallen.

And the wedding-guests assembleFor the dance within the palace,And their many-colored raimentGlitters in the light of tapers.

Seated on a lofty dais,Side by side, are bride and bridegroom,Donna Clara, Don Fernando,--And they murmur sweet love-whispers.

And within the hall wave brightlyAll the gay-decked streams of dancers;And the rolling drums are beaten.Shrill the clamorous trumpet soundeth.

"Wherefore, wherefore, beauteous lady,Are thy lovely glances fastenedYonder in the hall's far corner?"In amazement asked Fernando.

"See'st thou not, oh Don Fernando,Yonder man in sable mantle?"And the knight spake, kindly smiling,"Why, 'tis nothing but a shadow."

But the shadow drew anear them,'Twas a man in sable mantle.Clara knows at once Ramiro,And she greets him, blushing crimson.

And the dance begins already,Gaily whirl around the dancersIn the waltz's reckless circles,Till the firm floor creaks and trembles.

"Yes, with pleasure, Don Ramiro,I will dance with thee the measure;But in such a night-black mantleThou shouldst never have come hither."

With fixed, piercing eyes, RamiroGazes on the lovely lady.Then embracing her, speaks strangely,--"At thy bidding I came hither."

In the wild whirl of the measure,Press and turn the dancing couple,And the rolling drums are beaten,Shrill the clamorous trumpet soundeth.

"White as driven snow thy cheeks are!"Whispers Clara, inly trembling."At thy bidding I came hither,"Hollow ring Ramiro's accents.

In the hall the tapers flicker,With the eddying stream of dancers,And the rolling drums are beaten,Shrill the clamorous trumpet soundeth.

"Cold as ice I feel thy fingers,"Whispers Clara, thrilled with terror."At thy bidding I came hither."And they rush on in the vortex.

"Leave me, leave me, Don Ramiro!Like a corpse's scent thy breath is."Once again the gloomy sentence,"At thy bidding I came hither."

And the firm floor glows and rustles,Merry sound the horns and fiddles;Like a woof of strange enchantment,All within the hall is whirling.

"Leave me, leave me, Don Ramiro!"All is waving and revolving.Don Ramiro still repeateth,"At thy bidding I came hither."

"In the name of God, begone then!"Clara shrieked, with steadfast accent.And the word was scarcely spoken,When Ramiro had evanished.

Clara stiffens! deathly pallid,Numb with cold, with night encompassed.In a swoon the lovely creatureTo the shadowy realm is wafted.

But the misty slumber passes,And at last she lifts her eyelids.Then again from sheer amazementHer fair eyes at once she closes.

For she sees she hath not risen,Since the dance's first beginning.Still she sits beside the bridegroom,And he speaks with anxious question.

"Say, why waxed thy cheek so pallid?Wherefore filled thine eyes with shadows?""And Ramiro?" stammers Clara,And her tongue is glued with horror.

But with deep and serious furrowsIs the bridegroom's forehead wrinkled."Lady, ask not bloody tidings--Don Ramiro died this morning."