The whole garden has a look of ruin and neglect. Many of the fountains
are dry and broken; the streams have wandered from their marble
channels, and are choked by weeds and yellow leaves. The reed whistles
to the wind, where it had once sported among roses, and shaken perfume
from the orange-blossom. The convent-bell flings its sullen sound, or
the drowsy vesper-hymn floats along these solitudes, which once
resounded with the song, and the dance, and the lover's serenade. Well
may the Moors lament over the loss of this earthly paradise; well may
they remember it in their prayers, and beseech Heaven to restore it to
the faithful; well may their ambassadors smite their breasts when they
behold these monuments of their race, and sit down and weep among the
fading glories of Granada!
It is impossible to wander about these scenes of departed love and
gayety, and not feel the tenderness of the heart awakened. It was then
that Antonio first ventured to breathe his passion, and to express by
words what his eyes had long since so eloquently revealed. He made his
avowal with fervour, but with frankness. He had no gay prospects to
hold out: he was a poor scholar, dependent on his "good spirits to
feed and clothe him.
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