The sword fell clattering to the ground, before that bloody band. And when the damsel saw herself within those caitiffs' power, And saw the city mantled in the darkness of the hour, No grief that ever woman felt was equal to her pain, And no despair like that of hers shall e'er be known again. Those villains did not see those locks, that shone like threads of gold; Only the summer sunlight their wondrous beauty told. They did not mark the glittering chain of gold and jewels fine, That in the daylight would appear her ivory throat to twine. But straight she took the scimitar, that once her lover wore, It lay amid the dewy grass, drenched to the hilt in gore. And, falling on the bloody point, she pierced her bosom through, And Tartagona breathed her last, mourned by that robber crew. And there she lay, clasping in death her lover's lifeless face, Her valor's paragon, and she the glass of woman's grace. And since that hour the tale is told, while many a tear-drop falls, Of the lovers of the vega by Antequera's walls. And they praise the noble lady and they curse the robber band, And they name her the Lucretia of fair Andalusia's land. And if the hearer of the tale should doubt that it be true, Let him pass along the mountain road, till Ronda comes in view, There must he halt and searching he may the story trace In letters that are deeply cut on the rocky mountain's face. TARFE'S TRUCE "Oho, ye Catholic cavaliers Who eye Granada day and night, On whose left shoulder is the cross, The crimson cross, your blazon bright. "If e'er your youthful hearts have felt The flame of love that brings delight, As angry Mars, in coat of steel, Feels the fierce ardor of the fight; "If 'tis your will, within our walls, To join the joust, with loaded reed, As ye were wont, beneath these towers The bloody lance of war to speed; "If bloodless tumult in the square May serve instead of battle's fray, And, donning now the silken cloak, Ye put the coat of steel away; "Six troops of Saracens are here; Six Christian troops, with targe and steed Be ready, when the day is fixed, To join the jousting of the reed. "For 'tis not right that furious war, Which sets the city's roofs in flames, Should kindle with a fruitless fire The tender bosom of our dames. "In spite of all we suffer here Our ladies are with you arrayed, They pity you in this fierce war, This labor of the long blockade. "Amid the hardships of the siege Let pleasure yield a respite brief; (For war must ever have its truce) And give our hardships some relief. "What solace to the war-worn frame, To every soul what blest release, To fling aside the targe and mail, And don one hour the plumes of peace! "And he who shall the victor be Among the jousters of the game, I pledge my knightly word to him, In token of his valorous fame,