Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ALHAMBRA SONGS: 6. THE CARAVAN, by THOMAS WALSH


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ALHAMBRA SONGS: 6. THE CARAVAN, by                    
First Line: Dawn o'er the mountain is shaking
Last Line: Where the desert tents unfold.
Alternate Author Name(s): Gill, Roderick; Strange, Garrett
Subject(s): Brotherhood; Granada, Spain


DAWN o'er the mountain is shaking
The day in a petalled shower;
Hark, the Granada is waking
Under Alhambra's tower!
Up and away, O comrades mine,—
The muëzzin calls the hour!

Why should we linger while roses
And tangerines blossom and fade,
Yet never her gate uncloses?
Too long are my hopes betrayed,—
Up and away, O comrades mine,
My heart's last plea is made!

She only of all in Granada
Is careless that we part;
See, round each grey posada
Friend clasps friend to his heart;
Up and away, O comrades mine,
Our caravan must start.

Home where the roses of Tunis,
The lilies of Yemen, are fair;
O'er the sea where the silver moon is
Blanched on our white walls there,—
Up and away, O comrades mine,
To the golden domes of prayer.

To Oran by the coast,—to the cities
That jewel the desert sands,
Where night shall be filled with pities—
Dawn hold peace in its hands,—
Up and away, O comrades mine,
Let us home to our boyhood's lands.

Steed of my soul,—art thou neighing
At scent of the sea?—All in vain,
Comrades, I keep you delaying,—
Part we here,—say farewell once again,—
Up and away, O comrades mine,—
Let me turn back to her, and remain!

Seek ye the haunts that we cherished,
Where day hath the burnish of gold,
But forget not, alas, how I perished,
And at times let my story be told,—
Up and away, O comrades mine,
Where the desert tents unfold.





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