En la ciudad Granadina
This poem is a romance, which is a poetic form that has been part of Spanish literature for centuries, originating in the oral tradition of medieval Iberia. It is characterized by lines of eight syllables (with caveats), and rima asonante in the even-numbered lines, meaning that the final vowel sound in every other line will be the same throughout the poem. For example, the rhyming sound in this poem is ‘a’. Romances were performed by minstrels and the oldest among them originate from this oral tradition, a form in which some still survive today. They arose in an era when language was more fluid than today, and many of these romances viejos are attested in different forms across different languages.
Romances were very popular in their time, and from the Renaissance onward they would be composed by various authors, including some of the most prominent figures in Spanish literature, such as Lope de Vega. These poems differ from true romances viejos, however, in that they are not the product of an oral tradition and are instead penned by a single author. Though it is sometimes difficult to differentiate, this poem is demonstrably of the more recent sort, as it makes reference to 16th century literature. It likely did not pass through oral tradition.
More specifically, the poem is also a romance morisco in that it follows a Muslim or Moorish protagonist. This type of romance is written by Christian author(s) about Muslim subjects, and they are known for being far more charitable in their depiction than a modern reader might expect. For more on why I find these poems important, see Convivencia, Romances Moriscos, and Religious Conflict Today.
The poem follows Abindarráez and Jarifa, the famous lovers from Historia del Abencerraje y la hermosa Jarifa, a 16th century novela morisca commonly known in English as The Abencerraje. I love this poem because of its both elegant and over-the-top description of the unparalleled beauty of Jarifa. I also find it notable because the motif of the jealous lover, both male and female, is exceptionally common in romances that concern romantic relationships, so this poem stands out as one where the romantic partners are not in conflict.
En la ciudad Granadina
Anónimo
Traducido por Jasper Cunningham
En la ciudad Granadina,
En lo mejor de la plaza,
Que es la casa venturosa
Por Medoro celebrada,
Y la que pinta su pluma
De varias flores y plantas,
Vive allí una dama mora,
Flor de la flor de las damas,
La cual se llama Jarifa,
De la Torre y de la Alhambra.
A esta sirve un Bencerraje
Que le dió asiento en el alma,
Al cual le dan guerra celos,
Que los disimula y calla
En el turbante y divisa,
Que jamas muestra mudanza.
A un paje de quien se fia,
No suyo, mas que su dama,
Acordó de preguntalle
Si con su Jarifa habla
Un Cegrí que se pasea
Por delante sus ventanas:
Y el paje que es secretario,
De presto le desengaña,
Diciéndole que el Cegrí
Sirve á otra mora gallarda,
A quien se humilla el amor
Como á su madre sagrada.
Y con esto el Bencerraje
Aplacó su ardiente llama;
Pero no mitigó el fuego,
Que su corazon le abrasa,
Que quedando satisfecho
Mas el vivo amor le inflama,
Y del paje se despide,
Y va contento á su casa.
Y tiene razon el moro,
Porque la mora que ama
Puede hacer competencia
Con Vénus, Juno y Diana:
Que es tanta su discrecion,
Y su hermosura tan rara,
Que las musas del Parnaso
Tienen envidia á su fama.
Y si hace escura noche,
Rovoltosa y temeraria,
Con solo ella abrir sus ojos
La hace apacible y clara;
Y del sol los claros rayos
Los revoca y los contrasta,
Porque no es el sol mas de uno,
Y son dos los de su cara,
Cuya clarífica luz
Alumbra á toda Granada;
Y á dicho de todo el mundo
Es la hechura mas alta
Que ha hecho el pincel sutil
De naturaleza sabia;
Y es un retrato divino,
Por quien Alá nos declara
Las divinas hermosuras
De su corte soberana.
In the Grenadine city
Unknown
Translated by Jasper Cunningham
In the Grenadine city,
In the finest of plazas,
Is the well blessèd house
For Medoro so honored,11: Medoro is a Saracen knight from the
16th century Italian poem Orlando Furioso.
He is not typically associated with Jarifa,
but the author is mixing popular literary references.
And painting its plume
Of colored flowers and plants,
Is the Moor who there lives,
Bloom of blooms of all women,
The one they call Jarifa,
Of la Torre and Alhambra.
Courting her is a Bencerraje
For whom a seat is saved in her soul,
Against whom they wage a war of jealousy,
Though he conceals and quiets them
Within his turban and heraldry,
To betray no disturbance.
To a page whom he trusts,
Not his, but his lady’s,
He resolved to inquire
If his Jarifa speaks
With a Cegrí that strolls22: Cegrí, meaning a member of the Nasrid dynasty
which ruled Granada in the late Middle Ages
In front of her windows:
And the page, with a secret,
At once he reveals it,
Saying the Cegrí
Romances another lady,
Before whom love prostrates itself
As if she were its holy mother.
And with this the Bencerraje
Soothed his ardent name;
But unabated was the fire,
That ever chars his heart,
The burning, though placated
Inflames his love all the more,
And from the page he departs,
And goes happily to his home.
And the Moor has good reason,
For the woman he loves
Can truly contend
With Venus, Juno, and Diana:
So great is her discretion,
And her beauty so rare,
That the muses of Parnassus
Covet her renown.
And be the night dark,
Unruly and frightening,
With naught but op’ning her eyes
She makes it placid and clear;
And the pure rays of sun
She annuls and refutes,
For the sun is but one,
And her face it has two,
Whose purifying light
Brightens all of Granada;
And said of all the world
Is she the greatest creation
Made by the delicate brush
Of the wise universe;
And a divine portrait it is,
Through whom we are shown33: In this line the narrator explicitly refers to God
as Allah, which is notable, but I did not include
it in my translation for fluidity.
The beauties divine
Of His exalted court.
2: Cegrí, meaning a member of the Nasrid dynasty which ruled Granada in the late Middle Ages
3: In this line the narrator explicitly refers to God as Allah, which is notable, but I did not include it in my translation for fluidity.