Library, Seville
ATTRIBUTED TO DON FRANCISCO DE QUEVEDO
In Praise of Military Virtue in the Person of Don Diego Alatriste
You, Diego, whose sword so nobly defends
The name and honor of your family,
As long as you are blessed with life to live,
You will battle every enemy.
You wear the tunic of an old brigade,
And with God's help, you wear it without stain.
Your scruples are so uncompromising
That you will never let it be profaned.
Courageous on the bloody battlefield,
In days of peace, still more honor you acquire.
And in your heart and mind there breathes such fire
That to empty boasting you will never yield.
In your faith and constancy you are so strong
You will embody virtue your whole life long.
On the Same Subject in the Satiric Mode
In Flanders soil he drove a pike.
He drove even more, to wit,
He drove a Frenchman to take flight,
Screaming that he'd been badly hit.
Oh, he made a sorry sight.
Piteous how that man ran.
A foe may suddenly appear,
But I find I have naught to fear:
For in Ghent there is no better man
Than Alatriste, our brave
CONDE DE GUADALMEDINA
On the Sojourn of Charles,
Prince 0f Wales, in Madrid
As he would win the fair infanta's hand,
The Prince of Wales came boldly to her land.
Whereon he found that such an enterprise
Is won not by the rash, but by the wise.
To win his suit, he swooped down one fine day,
Like an eagle, certain of his prey,
But found a troth, alas! will have no weight
When abrogated by affairs of state.
Thus Charles learned about diplomacy:
In the rough seas of the Spanish court
The most dauntless pilot may be brought up short.
As a dashing prince, similarly,
Will not wear upon his brow the wreath
Unless he persevere to his last breath.
FROM THE SAME HAND
