In 1492, the Reconquista was completed with the fall of Granada. During the prior period, various Christian kingdoms and armies fought to wrest control of the Iberian peninsula from the Muslim rulers of Al-Andalus who had held the territory since the Umayyad conquest of the region in the early 8th century. The poem depicts the fall of the city of Valencia to a Christian army led by “El Buen Cid,” a Castilian knight immortalized in the medieval Spanish epic poem El Cantar de mio Cid. Valencia was sieged multiple times during the Reconquista, but the description of a successful conquest led by el Cid clarifies the events depicted as the 1092-1094 Siege of Valencia.
The poetic form is the romance, an octosyllabic and assonantly rhymed form of medieval Spanish poetry passed down through oral tradition and thought to have been performed by minstrels. For more on romances see On Romances Moriscos and Why They Matter.
Helo, helo, por dó viene
el moro por la calzada,
caballero a la jineta
encima una yegua baya;
borceguíes marroquíes
y espuela de oro calzada;
una adarga ante los pechos
y en su mano una azagaya.
Mirando estaba a Valencia,
cómo está tan bien cercada:
-¡Oh, Valencia, oh Valencia,
de mal fuego seas quemada!
Primero fuiste de moros
que de cristianos ganada.
Si la lanza no me miente,
a moros serás tornada;
aquel perro de aquel Cid
prenderélo por la barba,
su mujer, doña Jimena,
será de mí cautivada,
su hija, Urraca Hernando,
será mi enamorada,
después de yo harto de ella
la entregaré a mi compaña.
El buen Cid no está tan lejos,
que todo bien lo escuchaba.
-Venid vos acá, mi hija,
mi hija doña Urraca;
dejad las ropas continas
y vestid ropas de pascua.
Aquel moro hi-de-perro
detenémelo en palabras,
mientras yo ensillo a Babieca
y me ciño la mi espada.
La doncella, muy hermosa,
se paró a una ventana;
el moro, desque la vido,
de esta suerte le hablara:
-Alá te guarde, señora,
mi señora doña Urraca.
-Así haga a vos, señor,
buena sea vuestra llegada.
Siete años ha, rey, siete,
que soy vuestra enamorada.
-Otros tanto ha, señora,
que os tengo dentro en mi alma.
Ellos estando en aquesto
el buen Cid que asomaba.
-Adiós, adiós, mi señora,
la mi linda enamorada,
que del caballo Babieca
yo bien oigo la patada.
Do la yegua pone el pie,
Babieca pone la pata.
Allí hablara el caballo,
bien oiréis lo que hablaba:
-¡Reventar debía la madre
que a su hijo no esperaba!
Siete vueltas la rodea
alrededor de una jara;
la yegua, que era ligera,
muy adelante pasaba
hasta llegar cabe un río
adonde una barca estaba.
El moro, desque la vido,
con ella bien se holgaba,
grandes gritos da al barquero
que le allegase la barca;
el barquero es diligente,
túvosela aparejada,
embarcó muy presto en ella,
que no se detuvo nada.
Estando el moro embarcado,
el buen Cid que llegó al agua,
y por ver al moro en salvo,
de tristeza reventaba;
mas con la furia que tiene,
una lanza le arrojaba,
y dijo: -Recoged, mi yerno,
arrecogedme esa lanza,
que quizás tiempo vendrá
que os será bien demandada.
Look, look, this way comes
the Moor through the street,
riding with short stirrups
atop a cream-colored mare;
his boots Morrocan
and golden spurs on his feet;
a shield upon his chest
and in his hand a javelin.
He was looking to Valencia,
how it was so well captured:
“Oh Valencia, oh Valencia,
of ill fire may you be burned!
First you were of Moors
then by Christians won.
If the lance doesn’t lie to me,
to Moors you will be returned;
that dog, that Cid
I will grab him by the beard,
his woman, doña Jimena,
will be my captive,
his daughter, Urraca Hernando,
will be my lover,
after I’ve had my fill of her
I will turn her over to my companions.”
El buen Cid is not too far,
to have heard all this well.
“Come here, my daughter,
my daughter doña Urraca;
put away your everyday clothes
and dress in clothes of Easter.
That Moorish son of a bitch
halt him for me with words,
while I saddle Babieca
and gird my sword.”
The maiden, so lovely,
stood in a window;
the moor, from the moment he saw her,
by this arrangement spoke to her:
“May Allah protect you, my lady,
my lady doña Urraca.”
“The same to you, sir,
may your arrival be fortunate.
Seven years it’s been, O king, seven,
that I’ve been your lover.
“Even more it’s been, milady,
that I’ve had you in my soul.”
They were thus occupied
when el buen Cid appeared.
“Goodbye, goodbye, my lady,
my beautiful beloved,
from the horse Babieca
I clearly hear the footfalls.”
Where the mare puts her feet,
Babieca puts his hoof.
There spoke the horse,
you will hear well what he said:
“She must have burst, the mother
that did not expect her son!”
Seven times she circled
around a rockrose;
the mare, which was lithe
passed far ahead
until reaching a river
where a boat was.
The moor, from the moment he saw it,
was overjoyed,
he shouted loudly at the boatman
to bring the boat close;
the boatman was diligent,
he had it rigged,
he boarded quite quickly,
without stopping at all.
The moor was embarking,
el buen Cid arrived at the water,
and seeing the moor saved,
broke down in sorrow;
but with the fury that he has,
a spear he hurled,
and said: “Pick it up, my son,
pick up this spear for me,
for perhaps a time will come
when you will sorely need it.”