The Cathedral

Seven hundred years ago,
Moslems bade this structure grow;
The graven walls, the gilded roof.
Of their splendors are a proof;
Arabesque and pictured stone
Speak of Moslem art alone;
These mosaics, finely wrought,
Were designed by Moslem thought;
Here a thousand columns stand,
Moslems brought from many a land, —
Of marble and jasper and porphyry,
Precious all and fair to see;
The very lamps that round thee shine
Were bells at St. lago's shrine,
Which the glorious Almansor
Spoiled five hundred years before.