I’d trade a kingdom

Lady of the darkened veil,

In purple robes devoutly clad,

For a kiss from you, so frail,

Boabdil would give all he had.

He’d trade his finest warrior’s lance,

Of Zenete’s boldest pride,

And with it, the fresh green glance

Of Darro’s riverbank beside.

[Chorus]

For a kiss from your lips, rare and true,

I’d trade a kingdom, all for you.

He’d give the joyous games of bulls,

And if it lay within his hand,

With the Moorish dance in full,

The courage of the Christian land.

Oriental rugs, the finest wares,

Helms and armor, incense rare,

And if your worth surpasses theirs,

Even forty riders there.

[Chorus]

For a kiss from your lips, rare and true,

I’d trade a kingdom, all for you.

For your eyes are stars that rise,

Dawn’s light stirs from their gaze;

They lift the Orient's bright guise,

And the world basks in their rays.

Your lips are a ruby bright,

Divided in grace, a gem in two;

They plucked it from God’s crown of light,

Fashioned wholly for you.

From your lips, that smile flows—

Your tongue, with peace it sings…

Soft as morning’s breeze, it shows,

On gentle, purple wings.

[Chorus]

For a kiss from your lips, rare and true,

I’d trade a kingdom, all for you.

 

Oh, how fair a Nazarene

For an Eastern harem’s delight,

With loose, dark hair’s lustrous sheen

Against a neck of crystal white.

On a bed of velvet lying,

In fragrant clouds she rests,

Wrapped in white veils softly sighing,

Of Mahomet’s daughters, blessed.

[Chorus]

For a kiss from your lips, rare and true,

I’d trade a kingdom, all for you.

Come to Córdoba, my Christian rose,

As sultana reign with grace;

And your sultan shall be, fair and close,

A humble slave before your face.

He’ll give you wealth beyond compare,

In Tunisian gowns adorned—

But with beauty, could you dare

To pay the worth he has sworn?

[Chorus]

Lady of the darkened veil,

For a kiss from you so frail,

Boabdil would give his land;

And I, my Christian queen, for you

Would gladly give a thousand heavens, too,

Were they in my hand.