The Ballad of Count Arnaldos


(based on an old Spanish ballad)

On a summer’s day, upon a headland high

Young courageous Count Arnaldos happened, riding by,

To see a noble galleon beneath him in the bay,

Her sail of silk was taut aloft, and yet the galleon stayed

And on her deck a sailor, his smock of woven silk

Skin of golden parchment, hair as white as milk

Sang a bright enchantment, ballad of the seas

And all his incantations hypnotized and pleased

Charmed the Count Arnaldos, which made him pull the reins,

Manifold the melodies, ornament and plain,

All of them as memories of something heard before

Like echoes of a rolling surf breaking on a shore

Echoes of a summer wind plangent in a meadow

Winter gales above the hills, cavernous and hollow

Dreams of songs forgotten in shadows of the dawn

Lullabies of babyhood, belovéd still but gone

And as the sailor chanted, the pitching sea around

Began to mount beside the ship and form into a crown

And every ranging ocean bird circled round this hill

Of marvelous enchanted sea submissive to his will

And as the sailor chanted, the dolphins rose and spread

Their flanks of bright electrum and shook their bullish heads

And whales that slapped their brawny flukes exposed their sides to him,

He sang the birds that scout the seas, and everything that swims

Westward came the sweetest scents, as if at his command,

Rose and blooming lavender, perfumes of the land

So that the Count Arnaldos loved but could not see

The country of the far away, the song of what could be

Come teach me, called Arnaldos, the melody you sing

And I will bring you treasure, a phoenix on the wing,

A casket made of glass and gold, within a diamond crown,

A hawk with golden talons, a splendid hunting hound

Teach me what you sing, he called, and there will be reward,

This horse I ride, my cape of gold, my dagger and my sword,

Teach me what you sing, he cried, and there will be reward –

No, the sailor said to him, first you must come aboard

You must come aboard, young man, sail this ship with me,

Although I seem a common man, not of nobility,

Although I am a sailor I sing of paradise

And none may learn these melodies unless they pay the price

You may not learn to sing with me unless you board and sail

Across the sea of oceans, to find what never fails,

Across the rolling oceans until your hair turns white

And that will be just long enough to reach the end of night

Subscribe to CE
(It's free)

Go to Catholic Exchange homepage

MENU