"O thou, that for our sins didst take A human form, and humbly make Thy home on earth; Thou, that to thy divinity A human nature didst ally "And in that form didst suffer here By thy redeeming grace alone, As thus the dying warrior prayed, Upon his mind; Encircled by his family, Watched by affection's gentle eye So soft and kind: His soul to Him, who gave it, rɔse; God lead it to its long repose, Its glorious rest! And, though the warrior's sun has set, *This poem of Manrique is a great favorite in Spain. No less than four poetic Glosses, or running commen. taries, upon it have been published, no one of which, however, possesses great poetic merit. That of the Car thusian monk, Rodrigo de Valdepenas, is the best. It is known as the Glosa del Cartujo. There is also a prose Commentary by Luis de Aranda. 99 The following stanzas of the poem were found in the author's pocket, after his death on the field of battle: "O World! so few the years we live, Would that the life which thou dost give Were life indeed! Alas! thy sorrows fall so fast, Our happiest hour is when at last The soul is freed. "Our days are covered o'er with grief, And sorrows neither few nor brief Veil all in gloom; Left desolate of real good, Within this cheerless solitude "Thy pilgrimage begins in tears And ends in bitter doubts and tears Or dark despair; Midway so many toils appear, That he who lingers longest here Knows most of care. с "Thy goods are bought with many a groan And weary hearts; Fleet-footed is the approach of wor |
