Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland: Vols. XIV–XV. 1876–79.
Oropesa
By Robert Southey (1774–1843)T
(I well remember) hovered o’er the heath,
When with the earliest dawn of day we left
The solitary Venta. Soon the sun
Rose in his glory: scattered by the breeze
The thin mists rolled away, and now emerged
We saw where Oropesa’s castled hill
Towered in the dim light dark; and now we past
Torralva’s quiet huts, and on our way
Paused frequent, and looked back, and gazed around,
Then journeyed on, and paused, and gazed again.
It was a goodly scene. The stately pile
Of Oropesa now with all its towers
Shone in the sunbeam; half-way up the hill,
Embowered in olives, like the abode of Peace,
Lay Lagartina; and the cool fresh gale
Bending the young corn on the gradual slope
Played o’er its varying verdure. I beheld
A convent near, and my heart thought that they
Who did inhabit there were holy men,
For, as they looked around them, all they saw
Was very good.