Poem for an anonymous Moorish Poet on the defeat at Seville November 1248
We have eaten rats during this siege
The Goths want us acquiesce to Christian suzerainty.
They never tell us why we should do so.
The Goths want us acquiesce to Christian suzerainty.
They never tell us why we should do so.
We have our music, poetry, wine, gardens and our beautiful women.
And beauty gives light like lamps to one travelling in the dark.
Makes one wake up, notice a spark, a jewel
A pearl from the deeps of a distant ocean
The rarity of dreams: creates a passion
That is large and does not fade
And beauty gives light like lamps to one travelling in the dark.
Makes one wake up, notice a spark, a jewel
A pearl from the deeps of a distant ocean
The rarity of dreams: creates a passion
That is large and does not fade
Hearts beat in harmony :
Mine and my lover's;
Her body wracked by childbirth and mine, war;
Christian indifference breaks my heart:
Stars burn in her eyes,
In the depths of night.
Mine and my lover's;
Her body wracked by childbirth and mine, war;
Christian indifference breaks my heart:
Stars burn in her eyes,
In the depths of night.
She loves her garden,
Spreads perfume, colour, texture, glaze
All is as summer dictates,
Mirroring my state of mind;
Desire might extinguish me.
Spreads perfume, colour, texture, glaze
All is as summer dictates,
Mirroring my state of mind;
Desire might extinguish me.
You must wait for a woman
Sometimes for a whole lifetime
Often for longer still
The world is sick of Christian hypocrisy-
Heaven knows. We must help each other
Die before the walls fall.
Sometimes for a whole lifetime
Often for longer still
The world is sick of Christian hypocrisy-
Heaven knows. We must help each other
Die before the walls fall.
