Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland: Vols. XIV–XV. 1876–79.
Cordova
By Conde de Villamediana (15801622)Translated by Edward Churton
A
A rich old bishop, traders poor as rats;
Fair horses, ambling slow, with such soft paces,
As well might teach the women better graces;
Women, whose gait and pace so strong and coarse is,
You ’d think they practised steps with stalking horses;
Rude shapeless houses, men like cornstalks tall,
Cobblers’ and stitchers’ work on every stall;
Stummed wine to drink, lean bread to feed upon;
A crowd of fools,—wise Góngora all alone,—
I found at Cordova;—if bad ’s the best,
Let him who finds aught better paint the rest.