The times they had kissed and parted
That night were over a score;
Each time that the cavalier started,
Each time she would swear him o'er:--
"Thou art going to Barcelona!--
To make Naxera thy bride!
Seduce the Lady Iona!--
And thy lips have lied! have lied!
"I love thee! I love thee, thou knowest!
And thou shalt not give away
The love to my life thou owest;
And my heart commands thee stay!
"I say thou hast lied and liest!--
For--where is there war in the State?--
Thou goest, by Heaven the highest!
To choose thee a fairer mate.
"Wilt thou go to Barcelona
When thy queen in Toledo is?--
To wait on the haughty Iona,
When thou hast these lips to kiss?"
And they stood in the balcony over
The old Toledo square;
And, weeping, she took for her lover
A red rose out of her hair.
And they kissed farewell; and, higher,
The moon made amber the air;--
And she drew, for the traitor and liar,
A stiletto out of her hair....
When the night-watch lounged through the quiet
With the stir of halberds and swords,
Not a bravo was there to defy it,
Not a gallant to brave with words.
One man, at the corner's turning,
Quite dead, in a moonlight band--
In his heart a dagger burning,
And a red rose crushed in his hand.