El Muza

Excerpt from El Muza
Muse of the West, to eastern shores again
Direct thy flight, and view the distant day,
When in the groves or ancient halls of Spain,
Thy voice was heard with wild or plaintive lay,
In warlike strains on old Grenada's towers,
Or softer notes which floated light and gay,
To hail the dawn or cheer the twilight hours,
Or mountain shepherd's song or convent's vesper lay.
'Twas summer, and the sun's fierce rays
On old Grenada's turrets blaze,
As Don Rinaldo turned his eye
Backward its ancient towers to spy,
And mark the sun's declining beam
Cast lengthening shadows o'er the stream