Alhambra
Welcome, the water’s voice To one whom black sand overwhelmed, Welcome, to the curved hand The smooth column of the marble, Welcome, slender labyrinths of water Between the lemon trees, Welcome the melodious zéjel, Welcome is love, welcome the prayer Offered to a God who is One, Welcome the jasmine. Vain the scimitar Against the long lances of the host, Vain to be the best. Good to know, foreknow, grieving king, That your courtesies are farewells, That the key will be denied you, The infidels’ cross eclipse the moon, The afternoon you gaze on prove your last.
Granada, 1976.Alhambra - form Summary
Welcome Turns to Prophecy
The poem is structured as a brief welcome followed by a stark reversal. Its opening catalogue receives the Alhambra's water, gardens, music, prayer, and jasmine as emblems of a cultivated Islamic world. The final section addresses a grieving ruler and turns hospitality into prophecy: the palace's beauty cannot prevent political defeat, exile, and the loss of Granada to Christian forces.
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