There was weeping in Granada on that eventful day,
One king in triumph entered in, one vanquished rode away,
Down from the Alhambra's minarets was every crescent flung,
And the cry of "Santiago!" through the jewelled palace rung.
And singing, singing, singing,
Were the nightingales of Spain.
But the Moorish monarch, lonely,
The cadences heard only.
"They sadly sing," said he,
"They sadly sing to me,"
And through the groves melodious
He rode toward the sea.
There was joy in old Granada, on that eventful day,
One king in triumph entered in, one slowly rode away.
Up the Alcala singing marched the gay cavaliers —
Gained was the Moslem empire of twice three hundred years.
And singing, singing, singing,
Were the nightingales of Spain.
But the Moorish monarch, lonely,
The cadences heard only.
"They sadly sing," said he,
"They sadly sing to me,
All the birds of Andalusia!"
And he rode toward the sea.
Through the groves of Alpuxarrus, on that eventful day,
The vanquished king rode slowly and tearfully away.
He paused upon the Xenil, and saw Granada fair
Wreathed with the sunset's roses in palpitating air.
And singing, singing, singing,
Were the nightingales of Spain.
But the Moorish monarch, lonely,
The cadences heard only.
"They sadly sing," said he,
"They sadly sing to me;
Oh, groves of Andalusia!"
He rode toward the sea.
The Verga heaped with flowers below the city lay,
And faded in the sunset, as he slowly rode away,
And he paused again a moment amid the cavaliers,
And saw the golden palace shine through the mist of tears.
And singing, singing, singing,
Were the nightingales of Spain.
But the Moorish monarch, lonely,
The cadences heard only.
"They sadly sing," said he,
"They sadly sing to me;
Farewell, O Andalusia!"
And he rode toward the sea.
The poem is about the conquest of Moorish Granada in 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. As he rode up over the Sierra Nevada, the defeated Moorish king, Boabdil turned, crying, for one last look at Granada and his lost Alhambra, the most beautiful building in the world. His mother scolded him and said, "You weep like a woman for what you could not defend like a man."