Dim drums throbbing, in the hills half heard,
Where only on a nameless throne a crownless prince has stirred,
Where, risen from a doubtful seat and half attainted stall,
The last knight of Europe takes weapons from the wall,
The last and lingering troubadour to whom the bird has sung,
That once went singing southward when all the world was young,
In that enormous silence, tiny and unafraid,
Comes up along a winding road the noise of the Crusade.
Strong gongs groaning as the guns boom far,
Don John of Austria is going to the war,
Stiff flags straining in the night-blasts cold
In the gloom black-purple, in the glint old-gold,
Torchlight crimson on the copper kettle-drums,
Then the tuckets, then the trumpets, then the cannon, and he comes.
Don John laughing in the brave beard curled,
Spurning of his stirrups like the thrones of all the world,
Holding his head up for a flag of all the free.
Love-light of Spain—hurrah!
Death-light of Africa!
Don John of Austria
Is riding to the sea.
 |
| Don Juan |
Christian commander and hero at the Battle of Lepanto. Illegitimate (hence 'crownless') son of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V and his mistress, Barbara Blomberg. Reared in Spain, his half-brother was King Philip II of Spain.
1566: invested with Order of Golden Fleece by Philip; 1568: made Captain-General of Spanish naval forces; 1571: made commander of Christian fleet at Lepanto, aged only 24. He died of typhus and was buried in the Escorial monastery.
Jooris van der Straeten [Public domain]
tuckets: In Act II, Scene i of Shakespeare's King Lear, a tucket sounds to alert the Earl of Gloucester of the arrival of the Duke of Cornwall. The word tucket is thought to derive from the obsolete English verb tuk, meaning 'to beat a drum' or 'to sound a trumpet.'
No comments:
Post a Comment