Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Holland: Vols. XIV–XV. 1876–79.

Spain: Tordesillas

For a Monument at Tordesillas

By Robert Southey (1774–1843)

SPANIARD! if thou art one who bows the knee,

Before a despot’s footstool, hie thee hence!

This ground is holy: here Padilla died,

Martyr of Freedom. But if thou dost love

Her cause, stand then as at an altar here,

And thank the Almighty that thine honest heart,

Full of a brother’s feelings for mankind,

Revolts against oppression. Not unheard

Nor unavailing shall the grateful prayer

Ascend; for honest impulses will rise,

Such as may elevate and strengthen thee

For virtuous action. Relics silver-shrined,

And chanted mass, would wake within the soul

Thoughts valueless and cold compared with these.