The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1848-05-27
From the Outre-Mer.
Granada and the ALEXANDRIA.
ny II. w. LoNGFELLow.

1Candud ana the AInaInDras
ny II. W. LoNGFELLow.
Is this reality aud not n drenm2 Am I in
deed in Granada? Am indeed within the
walls of that earthly paradise of the Moorish
kings? How my spirit is stirred within me!
How my heart is lifted up! How my thoughts
are rapt away III the visions of other days!
.9ue, Maria PiaiSsind! 1t is midnight. The
bell h as told the hour from the watch towers
of the Alhambra; and the silent street echoes
only TO the watchman's cry .Are, Maria, p,uiS-
Simd! | am alone in my chamber,-sleepless +,
-spelll bound by the genius ofthe place.
enhanced by the beauty of the starlit night.
AS gaze upon from my window, sudden
radiance brightens in the east. 1t is the moon
rising behind Alhambra. l can family dis
Germ the dusky and indistinct outline ola
massive tower, standing amid the uncertain
twilight, like gigantic shadow. II changes
with the rising moon, ms palace in the clouds,
and other towers and ba:tlements nrse,-ev-
cry moment more distinct more palpable, till
now they stand between me and the sky,
with sharp outline, distant, and yet so near
That seem 10 sit within their shadow.
Majestic spirit the night, ] recognize
thee! Thou hast conjured up this glorious
vision for thy votary. Thou hast nourished
my soul with fervent thoughts and holy aspi-
rations and ardent longings after the beauti-
full and true. Majestic spirit of the past,l re-
cogniZe theel Thou hast bid the shadow go
buck for me upon the dial plate oftime. Thou
hast taught me 10 read in thee the present and
the future.--a revelation ofman's destiny on
earth. Thou hast taught me TO sec in thee
the principle that unfods itself from century
to century in the progress of our r0ce,-the
germ in whose bosom lie unfolded the bud,
the leaf the tree. Generations perish, like
the leaves ofthe forest, passing away when
the mission is completed but at each succee-
ding spring, broader and higher spreads the
human mind unto its perfect stature, until
the fulflnIent oft destiny, unto the perfect
ion gifts nature. And i'll these high revela
tons, thou hast taught me 10 feel that ], too,
weak, humble, and unknown, feeble of pur-
pose and irresolute of good, have something
to accomplish upon earth,-like the falling
leaf like The passing wind, like the drop of
rain. o glorious thought! that lifts me above
The power of time and chance and tells me
that cannot pass away and leave no mark
of my existence. may not know the pur-
pose of being,--lhe end for which an all
wise Providence created me. ms am; hut !
do know-for in such things faith is knowl-
edge-tat my being has purpose in the ON
niscience ofmy Creator, ard that all my act
ions tend 10 the completion, TO the full nc
complishment ofthat purpose. Is this fatal
ity? No. feel that am free, though an
infinite and invisible power overrules me.
Man proposes, aud God dsposes. This is
one ofthe many mysteries in our being which
human reason cannot find out by searching.
Yonder towers, that stand so huge and
massive in the midnight air, the work of hu-
man hands that have long since forgotten
their cunning in the grave, and once The
home of human beings Immortal rs ourselves
and filed like us with hopes and fears, and
powers of good and ill,---are lasting memo
rials of their builders; inanimate material
forms, yet living with the impress of crea-
tive mind. These are landmarks of other
times. Thus from the distant past The histo-
~ of the human race is telegrapheI from
generation to generation, through the pres
ent TO all succeeding ages. These are mani
festations ofthe human mind ut IL remote pc
Rod gifts history, and amonga people who
came from another Eclime,--the children of
the desert, Their mission is accomplished,
and they are gone; yet leaving behind them
u thousand records of themselves and oftheir
ministry, not as yet fully manifest, but "seen
through glass darkly, "dimly Swallowed forth
in the language, and character, and manners,
and history of The nation, that was by turns
the conquered and the conquering. The
Goth sat ut the Arabs feet; and athwart the
ClOUu VI WAR IEh' VI
Oriental learning upon the Western World,
GAS when the autumnal sun,
Through travelling rain and mist,
Shines on the evening hills"
This morning visited the Alhambra; an
enchanted palace whose exquisite beauty
battles the power oflanguage to describe. Its
outlines may he drawp,-its galleries. its
court yards and its fountains, numbered, but
what skIihl thinner shall portray in words its
curious architecturet the grotesque ornaments
the quaint devices, the rich tracery of the
walls, the ceiling inlaid with pearl and tor
toise shell? WIat language can paint the
magic hues of light and shade, the simmer
of the sunbeam as it falls upon the marble
the brilliant pearls nlaid with
many colored stones? Vague recollections
Gil my mind, images dazzling but underlined,
like the memory ola gorgeous dream. They
crowd my brain confIsedy, but they will not
stay; they change and mngle, like the tremu-
lous sunshine on the waVe,Ill imagination IT.
selfis dazzled, --bewildered, -overpowered!
What most arrests the strangers foot with
in the walls of the Alhambra is the refine
nent ofiuxtiry which he sees at every step.
He fingers in the deserted bath,--he pauses