THE LAST INCA.
11
"Now where are the strangers?" the grave Inca calls,
As he sees but his train 'twixt the compassing walls;
"I have come, at their craving, to sup with them here
In my own Caxamalca, and what should they fear?"
As he sees but his train 'twixt the compassing walls;
"I have come, at their craving, to sup with them here
In my own Caxamalca, and what should they fear?"
Then forth strode Valverde, Pizarro's own priest,
Saint Dominic's friar, to bid to the feast;
A Bible, a crucifix, solemn he bears,
And straight through the throng to the Inca he fares.
With slightest obeisance, in sounding Castilian,—
While the monarch gazed calm from his golden pavilion,
And Philip, interpreter, stood at his side,—
"My commander has sent me to tell you," he cried,
"Of the Faith which is true and the King who is strong;
We have sailed the wide ocean to show you your wrong";—
And, deeming his creed would convince and appall,
Creation, the Trinity, Eden, the Fall,
The Saviour incarnate, his life, crucifixion,
Saint Peter, King Charles, and the Pope's malediction
Saint Dominic's friar, to bid to the feast;
A Bible, a crucifix, solemn he bears,
And straight through the throng to the Inca he fares.
With slightest obeisance, in sounding Castilian,—
While the monarch gazed calm from his golden pavilion,
And Philip, interpreter, stood at his side,—
"My commander has sent me to tell you," he cried,
"Of the Faith which is true and the King who is strong;
We have sailed the wide ocean to show you your wrong";—
And, deeming his creed would convince and appall,
Creation, the Trinity, Eden, the Fall,
The Saviour incarnate, his life, crucifixion,
Saint Peter, King Charles, and the Pope's malediction
