XXIII. THE VALE OF COVADONGA.

The camp is stirring, and ere day hath dawn’d

The tents are struck. Early they rise whom hope

Awakens, and they travel fast with whom

She goes companion of the way. By noon

Hath Abulcacem in his speed attain’d

The vale of Cangas. Well the trusty scouts

Observe his march, and fleet as mountain roes,

From post to post with instantaneous speed

The warning bear: none else is nigh; the vale

Hath been deserted, and Pelayo’s hall

Is open to the foe, who on the tower

Hoist their white signal-flag. In Sella’s stream

The misbelieving multitudes perform,

With hot and hasty hand, their noontide rite,

Then hurryingly repeat the Impostor’s prayer.

Here they divide; the Chieftain halts with half

The host, retaining Julian and his men,

Whom where the valley widen’d he disposed,

Liable to first attack, that so the deed

Of murder plann’d with Orpas might be done.

The other force the Moor Alcahman led,

Whom Guisla guided up Pionia’s stream

Eastward to Soto. Ibrahim went with him,

Proud of Granada’s snowy heights subdued,

And boasting of his skill in mountain war;

Yet sure he deem’d an easier victory

Awaited him this day. Little, quoth he,

Weens the vain Mountaineer who puts his trust

In dens and rocky fastnesses, how close

Destruction is at hand! Belike he thinks

The Humma’s happy wings have shadow’d him,

And therefore Fate with royalty must crown

His chosen head! Pity the scymitar

With its rude edge so soon should interrupt

The pleasant dream!

There can be no escape

For those who in the cave seek shelter, cried

Alcahman; yield they must, or from their holes

Like bees we smoke them out. The Chief perhaps

May reign awhile King of the wolves and bears,

Till his own subjects hunt him down, or kites

And crows divide what hunger may have left

Upon his ghastly limbs. Happier for him

That destiny should this day to our hands

Deliver him; short would be his sufferings then;

And we right joyfully should in one hour

Behold our work accomplish’d, and his race

Extinct.

Thus these in mockery and in thoughts

Of bloody triumph, to the future blind,

Indulged the scornful vein; nor deem’d that they

Whom to the sword’s unsparing edge they doom’d,

Even then in joyful expectation pray’d

To Heaven for their approach, and at their post

Prepared, were trembling with excess of hope.

Here in these mountain straits the Mountaineer

Had felt his country’s strength insuperable;

Here he had pray’d to see the Musselman

With all his myriads; therefore had he look’d

To Covadonga as a sanctuary

Apt for concealment, easy of defence;

And Guisla’s flight, though to his heart it sent

A pang more poignant for their mother’s sake,

Yet did it further in its consequence

His hope and project, surer than decoy

Well-laid, or best-concerted stratagem.

That sullen and revengeful mind, he knew,

Would follow to the extremity of guilt

Its long fore-purposed shame: the toils were laid,

And she who by the Musselmen full sure

Thought on her kindred her revenge to wreak,

Led the Moors in.

Count Pedro and his son

Were hovering with the main Asturian force

In the wider vale to watch occasion there,

And with hot onset when the alarm began

Pursue the vantage. In the fated straits

Of Deva had the King disposed the rest:

Amid the hanging woods, and on the cliffs,

A long mile’s length on either side its bed,

They lay. The lever and the axe and saw

Had skilfully been plied; and trees and stones,

A dread artillery, ranged on crag and shelf

And steep descent, were ready at the word

Precipitate to roll resistless down.

The faithful maiden not more wistfully

Looks for the day that brings her lover home; ...

Scarce more impatiently the horse endures

The rein, when loud and shrill the hunter’s horn

Rings in his joyous ears, than at their post

The Mountaineers await their certain prey;

Yet mindful of their Prince’s order, oft

And solemnly enforced, with eagerness

Subdued by minds well-master’d, they expect

The appointed signal.

Hand must not be raised,

Foot stirr’d, nor voice be utter’d, said the Chief,

Till the word pass: impatience would mar all.

God hath deliver’d over to your hands

His enemies and ours, so we but use

The occasion wisely. Not till the word pass

From man to man transmitted, “In the name

“Of God, for Spain and Vengeance!” let a hand

Be lifted; on obedience all depends,

Their march below with noise of horse and foot

And haply with the clang of instruments,

Might drown all other signal, this is sure;

But wait it calmly; it will not be given

Till the whole line hath enter’d in the toils.

Comrades, be patient, so shall none escape

Who once set foot within these straits of death.

Thus had Pelayo on the Mountaineers

With frequent and impressive charge enforced

The needful exhortation. This alone

He doubted, that the Musselmen might see

The perils of the vale, and warily

Forbear to enter. But they thought to find,

As Guisla told, the main Asturian force

Seeking concealment there, no other aid

Soliciting from these their native hills;

And that the babes and women having fallen

In thraldom, they would lay their weapons down,

And supplicate forgiveness for their sake.

Nor did the Moors perceive in what a strait

They enter’d; for the morn had risen o’ercast,

And when the Sun had reach’d the height of heaven,

Dimly his pale and beamless orb was seen

Moving through mist. A soft and gentle rain,

Scarce heavier than the summer’s evening dew,

Descended, ... through so still an atmosphere,

That every leaf upon the moveless trees

Was studded o’er with rain-drops, bright and full,

None falling till from its own weight o’erswoln

The motion came.

Low on the mountain side

The fleecey vapour hung, and in its veil

With all their dreadful preparations wrapt

The Mountaineers; ... in breathless hope they lay,

Some blessing God in silence for the power

This day vouchsafed; others with fervency

Of prayer and vow invoked the Mother-Maid,

Beseeching her that in this favouring hour

She would be strongly with them. From below

Meantime distinct they heard the passing tramp

Of horse and foot, continuous as the sound

Of Deva’s stream, and barbarous tongues commixt

With laughter, and with frequent shouts, ... for all

Exultant came, expecting sure success;

Blind wretches, over whom the ruin hung!

They say, quoth one, that though the Prophet’s soul

Doth with the black-eyed Houris bathe in bliss,

Life hath not left his body, which bears up

By its miraculous power the holy tomb,

And holds it at Medina in the air

Buoyant between the temple’s floor and roof:

And there the Angels fly to him with news

From East, West, North, and South, of what befalls

His faithful people. If when he shall hear

The tale of this day’s work, he should for joy

Forget that he is dead, and walk abroad, ...

It were as good a miracle as when

He sliced the moon! Sir Angel hear me now,

Whoe’er thou be’st who art about to speed

From Spain to Araby! when thou hast got

The Prophet’s ear, be sure thou tellest him

How bravely Ghauleb did his part to-day,

And with what special reverence he alone

Desired thee to commend him to his grace!...

Fie on thee, scoffer that thou art! replied

His comrade; thou wilt never leave these gibes

Till some commission’d arrow through the teeth

Shall nail the offending tongue. Hast thou not heard

How when our clay is leaven’d first with life,

The ministering Angel brings it from that spot

Whereon ’tis written in the eternal book

That soul and body must their parting take,

And earth to earth return? How knowest thou

But that the Spirit who compounded thee,

To distant Syria from this very vale

Bore thy component dust, and Azrael here

Awaits thee at this hour?... Little thought he

Who spake, that in that valley at that hour

One death awaited both!

Thus they pursued

Toward the cave their inauspicious way.

Weak childhood there and ineffective age

In the chambers of the rock were placed secure;

But of the women, all whom with the babes

Maternal care detain’d not, were aloft

To aid in the destruction; by the side

Of fathers, brethren, husbands, station’d there

They watch and pray. Pelayo in the cave

With the venerable primate took his post.

Ranged on the rising cliffs on either hand,

Vigilant sentinels with eye intent

Observe his movements, when to take the word

And pass it forward. He in arms complete

Stands in the portal: a stern majesty

Reign’d in his countenance severe that hour,

And in his eye a deep and dreadful joy

Shone, as advancing up the vale he saw

The Moorish banners. God hath blinded them!

He said; the measure of their crimes is full!

O Vale of Deva, famous shalt thou be

From this day forth for ever; and to these

Thy springs shall unborn generations come

In pilgrimage, and hallow with their prayers

The cradle of their native monarchy!

There was a stirring in the air, the sun

Prevail’d, and gradually the brightening mist

Began to rise and melt. A jutting crag

Upon the right projected o’er the stream,

Not farther from the cave than a strong hand

Expert, with deadly aim, might cast the spear.

Or a strong voice, pitch’d to full compass, make

Its clear articulation heard distinct.

A venturous dalesman, once ascending there

To rob the eagle’s nest, had fallen, and hung

Among the heather, wonderously preserved:

Therefore had he with pious gratitude

Placed on that overhanging brow a Cross,

Tall as the mast of some light fisher’s skiff,

And from the vale conspicuous. As the Moors

Advanced, the Chieftain in the van was seen

Known by his arms, and from the crag a voice

Pronounced his name, ... Alcahman! hoa, look up,

Alcahman! As the floating mist drew up,

It had divided there, and open’d round

The Cross; part clinging to the rock beneath,

Hovering and waving part in fleecey folds,

A canopy of silver light condensed

To shape and substance. In the midst there stood

A female form, one hand upon the Cross,

The other raised in menacing act; below

Loose flow’d her raiment, but her breast was arm’d,

And helmeted her head. The Moor turn’d pale,

For on the walls of Auria he had seen

That well-known figure, and had well believed

She rested with the dead. What, hoa! she cried,

Alcahman! In the name of all who fell

At Auria in the massacre, this hour

I summon thee before the throne of God

To answer for the innocent blood! This hour,

Moor, Miscreant, Murderer, Child of Hell, this hour

I summon thee to judgement!... In the name

Of God! for Spain and Vengeance!

Thus she closed

Her speech; for taking from the Primate’s hand

That oaken cross which at the sacring rites

Had served for crosier, at the cavern’s mouth

Pelayo lifted it and gave the word.

From voice to voice on either side it pass’d

With rapid repetition, ... In the name

Of God! for Spain and Vengeance! and forthwith

On either side along the whole defile

The Asturians shouting in the name of God,

Set the whole ruin loose! huge trunks and stones,

And loosen’d crags, down down they roll’d with rush

And bound, and thundering force. Such was the fall

As when some city by the labouring earth

Heaved from its strong foundations is cast down,

And all its dwellings, towers, and palaces,

In one wide desolation prostrated.

From end to end of that long strait, the crash

Was heard continuous, and commixt with sounds

More dreadful, shrieks of horror and despair,

And death, ... the wild and agonizing cry

Of that whole host in one destruction whelm’d.

Vain was all valour there, all martial skill;

The valiant arm is helpless now; the feet

Swift in the race avail not now to save;

They perish, all their thousands perish there, ...

Horsemen and infantry they perish all, ...

The outward armour and the bones within

Broken and bruised and crush’d. Echo prolong’d

The long uproar: a silence then ensued,

Through which the sound of Deva’s stream was heard,

A lonely voice of waters, wild and sweet;

The lingering groan, the faintly-utter’d prayer,

The louder curses of despairing death,

Ascended not so high. Down from the cave

Pelayo hastes, the Asturians hasten down,

Fierce and immitigable down they speed

On all sides, and along the vale of blood

The avenging sword did mercy’s work that hour.