This poem was written shortly after the author's return from a visit to
Spain, and more than a twelvemonth before the overthrow of the
tyrannical government of Queen Isabella and the expulsion of the
Bourbons. It is not "from the Spanish" in the ordinary sense of the
phrase, but is an attempt to put into a poetic form sentiments and hopes
which the author frequently heard, during his visit to Spain, from the
lips of the natives. We are yet to see whether these expectations of an
enlightened government and national liberty are to become a reality
under the new order of things.