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 LIFE AND WRITINGS 
 
 or 
 
 %ui& Dr Camocns. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN ADAMSON, F. S. A. 
 
 LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NFWCASTL1 UPON TVNK. 
 
 VOL I. 
 
 ILonDon : 
 
 PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, ALLS, 
 ORME, AND BROWN. 
 
 MDCCCXX 
 
 x> - u u o
 
 NEWCASTLE : PRINTED BY EDW. WALKER.
 
 10 
 
 Xijomas 2Dat)iDS0tt, esquire, 
 
 Clerk of tfje $mt for t&e 
 
 Count? of jQottimmbetlanD, 
 
 TIIRHK VOLUMES ARE INSCRIBED AS 
 
 A TOKEN OF RFSPECT AND ESTEEM 
 
 BY HIS FAITHFUL AND OBLI(iKI) 
 
 FRIEND AND SERVANT, 
 
 JOHN ADAMSON. 
 
 S'ewcattU mpon Tyne, 9th M-rrh, 1820. 
 
 a 2
 
 Camokxs, o'er thy bright immortal lays 
 
 Of mournful elegy or lyric song, 
 
 How fleetly glide the rapid hours nlong ! 
 I give to Tur.r. my nights, to Thh my days. 
 The harms of fortune and the woes of love. 
 
 The ch.tnges of thy destiny severe 
 
 f mark with sadly sympathetic tear, 
 And can but sigh for what was thine to prove. 
 For Thek mine eyes with bursting tears o'erflon-. 
 
 Majestic Poet ! whose undaunted soul 
 
 Brav'd the ill-omen'd stars of either Pole. 
 And found in other climes but change of woe. 
 What Hard of fickle fortune dare complain. 
 Who knows Thy fate, and high immortal strain ! 
 
 Sonrln de J. X. de Matins translated by Dr. ./. Isifdcn. 
 
 Preface. 
 
 The object of the present undertaking is to give 
 such information respecting the life and writings of 
 a S
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 Luis de Camoens, as could be collected from the 
 details of his former biographers assisted by a pe- 
 rusal of his own works, and by a diligent research 
 amongst articles of more than ordinarily rare oc- 
 currence. In pursuing this plan, the condition of 
 the University at which he studied, the state of 
 poetry at that time in Portugal, and the immediate 
 predecessors and contemporaries of the Bard seve- 
 rally became the subject of enquiry. 
 
 These volumes contain the Life of the Portuguese 
 Poet, with memoirs of his writings ; a bibliographi- 
 cal account of the several translations of the Lusiad, 
 with notices concerning the Translators ; and as 
 accurate a list of the Editions of the various works 
 of Camoens as the author had the means to procure. 
 
 From these preliminary observations it will be 
 seen, that the present work sets up for itself little, 
 if any, claim beyond thst of a compilation, in the 
 most material part of which, namely the Life of Ca- 
 moens, it has been endeavoured to make the poet as 
 much as possible his own biographer. 
 
 Camoens is generally known as the author or the 
 Lusiad, the most celebrated poem in the Portuguese 
 language ; and although the leading features of 
 his eventful life have been oftentimes submitted 
 to the British public, yet many interesting inci- 
 dents are to be met with in that part of his works
 
 PREFACE. VII 
 
 called his Rimas, which, until of late years, were 
 almost totally unknown in this country. 
 
 With respect to the Lusiad, after the able de 
 fence of it by Mr Mickle, and the various and 
 valuable information by which his version is pre- 
 ceded, it was originally intended to have inserted 
 merely a slight sketch of the poem itself, and to 
 have referred the reader to that work. The pub- 
 lication, however, of the splendid edition of this 
 poem by Dom Joze Maria de Souza altered that 
 intention ; and it was thought right to give pub- 
 licity to the Essay written by a personage who has 
 done not less honour to the memory of Camoeus 
 than to himself, and to the Portuguese nation. 
 
 In the account of the Rimas recourse has been had 
 to the elaborate work of Mr Bouterwek,* to whose 
 book Mr Sismondif acknowledges himself to have 
 been under considerable obligations ; to the Com- 
 mentaries of Faria e Sousa ; to the Observations of 
 Dom Joze Maria de Souza ; and to those of many 
 other authors. 
 
 The first who undertook to write the Lift- of 
 Camoens vus Manuel Sevcrim de Faria, Precentor 
 of the Church of Evora, and who, according to Ma- 
 
 O ehichtt dcr PoesJa und Bcredsamtuat. Gottingen, 
 
 1801. ^e. 
 
 f Df I* Littcreturc du Midi dr I' Europe, l'ariv 1*13. 
 H 1
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 noel de Faria e Sousa, bestowed much study and 
 care in its composition ; drawing his materials prin- 
 cipally from the works of his author. This memoir 
 was published in his " Discursos varios e politicos," 
 printed at Evora by Manoel Carvalho in 1624. 
 
 Manoel de Faria e Sousa* regretted that it had 
 fallen to the lot of Severim de Faria to publish this 
 account of Camoens ; as that circumstance had de- 
 prived him of the honour of being his earliest bio- 
 grapher, of which he had been very solicitous, 
 having, at the time it appeared, completed a second 
 copy in manuscript of his intended work. He 
 thanks Severim de Faria for the zeal and diligence 
 with which he had executed his undertaking, and, 
 observes, that adding his own labours to those al- 
 ready applied, he enters upon his narrative. 
 
 The Life of Camoens was twice written by Faria 
 e Sousa. The first Memoir was printed with the 
 Commentary on the Lusiad in 1639. Another, 
 wherein some of the errors of the former are cor- 
 rected and new information is given, appeared with 
 his Commentary on the Rimas in 1685. 
 
 It is forborne to repeat here the severe sentence 
 which has been pronounced upon the productions 
 
 * The reader will please to notice, that although he will 
 find the name of this Author frequently spelt Souza, it is be- 
 lieved the above is the proper mode of writing it.
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 both of Severim de Faria and Faria e Sousa by a late 
 biographer of the poet ; because, although they 
 may have taken liberties with their author, and not 
 have succeeded so happily as might have been wish- 
 ed by the admirers of Camoens, yet they may be 
 thought to be entitled to our thanks for those re- 
 cords of him, which they have preserved and hand- 
 ed down to us. 
 
 The next life of any importance precedes the 
 edition of the Lusiad published by Ignacio Garcez 
 Ferreira. It is, like most of those sketches by 
 which his works and translations are accompanied, 
 short and unsatisfactory. 
 
 In this condition the biography of Camoens rest- 
 ed until the fame and memory of the bard were 
 destined to receive the splendid and honourable 
 testimonial by the publication, in the year 1817, of 
 the edition of the Lusiad before alluded to. Had 
 this magnificent work been printed in a language 
 with which the English were conversant, it is more 
 than probable, that although the preset undertaking 
 had for many years occupied the attention of its au- 
 thor, he would have considered his plan anticipated, 
 and have given up the idea of prosecuting his en- 
 quiries ; under the circumstances, however, in which 
 that edition appeared, and from the information 
 which has been subsequently obtained, he docs not 
 regrot that his intention was not abandoned.
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 We have now to speak of the embellishments of 
 the present work : no pains have been spared, and 
 considerable expence has been incurred, to make 
 them as worthy of notice as possible. 
 
 The portrait at the commencement of the first 
 volume, is copied from the most authentic one 
 known, and which is preserved in the volume of 
 Severim de Faria. It is to Gaspar Severim de Fa- 
 ria, the nephew of that author, and Executor Mayor 
 del Reino, that we are indebted for the preserva- 
 tion of the likeness of Camoens. Gaspar, we are 
 informed by his uncle, had the portrait engraved 
 on copper, and placed below it an elegant tribute 
 of praise. " In order that such reward, as an in- 
 " dividual might be permitted to give, might not 
 " be wanting to his merit, my nephew Gaspar has 
 ** had engraved a portrait of the poet, which is 
 " in my Varios Discursos, with an accompanying 
 " inscription, and has made a brief notice of his 
 " life, adding to it a Latin eulogium." 
 
 This portrait* has been followed by several en- 
 gravers, but with such licence of the Burine, that in 
 
 * The author has preferred giving this portrait as it appears 
 in the volume of Severim de Faria, but with the arms brought 
 down from the corner of the picture, and placed below the en- 
 graving. The portrait in the work of D. Joze Maria de Souza 
 is from the same original, but has been altered for the purpose 
 of giving more ease to the appearance of the figure.
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 many instances a very different character is given 
 from that which is displayed in the original ; and so 
 careless have certain artists been, that in the prints 
 in 1 aria e Sousa's Commentary on the Lusiad, and 
 in Sir Richard Fanshaw's translation of that poem, 
 Camoens appears blind of the wrong eye, from the 
 plate having been reversed, a liberty too frequent- 
 ly taken by engravers. A fac simile of the portrait 
 in Faria e Sousa's work, with the exception of the 
 alteration as to the eye ; another of the Commen- 
 tator himself; one of a whole length figure of the 
 poet, from the folio edition of 1720; and various 
 wood cuts, will be found in the following pages. 
 
 The portrait of Donna Ignez de Castro is en- 
 graved from a print, in the '* Retratos e Elogios 
 dos Varoens e Donas que illustraram a nacao Por- 
 tugueza," concerning which the editors ot that 
 work have the following remark : '* The most an- 
 44 cient portrait, which we could discover and from 
 " which our print is taken, remains in the house 
 '* of the most excellent Senhor the Conde de Re- 
 " dondo, where it is much esteemed. The pic- 
 " ture is not of great size ; is of excellent gothic 
 " painting on board ; and represents her features 
 " so naturally, as to appear preferable to one sent 
 " us from Alcoba9a, copied from the figure on her 
 " tomb. This also preserves the mode oi' dress at
 
 XII PREFACE. 
 
 " that time, which makes it of so much the more 
 " value." 
 
 The number of those persons, to whom the au- 
 thor has been under literary obligations, and by 
 whose assistance he has benefited in his enquiries, 
 precludes his noticing them individually. He 
 trusts, therefore, that they will accept his thanks, 
 conveyed thus in general terms. It would, how- 
 ever, be unpardonable in him to omit the name 
 of his friend Mr Gooden, and that of Mr Heber, 
 to whose stores of Portuguese literature he has 
 had free access. His acknowledgments are also 
 particularly due to Mr Carlisle, of the Royal Li- 
 brary at Buckingham House ; to Mrs Cockle, who 
 obligingly versified his prose translations of those 
 pieces which bear her initial ; to Dr Halliday of 
 Edinburgh, for a portrait of the poet; to Lord Hol- 
 land, for his attention to a request that his Lordship 
 would allow the author to inspect the extremely rare 
 and curious copy of the first edition of the Lusiad 
 at Holland House ; and to Mr Hayley and Mr Sou- 
 they for permitting him to enrich his work with va- 
 rious translations of sonnets from the Portuguese of 
 Camoens. Nor can he conclude without declaring 
 how much he has been indebted to Dom Joze 
 Maria de Souza for the many communications 
 with which he has been favoured ; for personal
 
 PREFACE. Mil 
 
 civilities shewn in Paris; and for the lively in- 
 terest Dom Joze has evinced for the success of the 
 present undertaking. 
 
 The author has only now to request that the 
 reader will be pleased, before he commences the 
 perusal of these memoirs, to make the following 
 corrections and additions : 
 
 CORRECTIONS. 
 
 Vol. I. p. 7. line 5. dele him. 
 
 p. p. 12, \3.for A Ton so, read Aflbnso. 
 p. 59. 1. '20. for mein, read mien, 
 p. 126. 1. 1 3. for diaz, read dias. 
 p. 144. 1. 3. for loaded, read loaden. 
 p. 183. last line, for that of feeling, read that feeling, 
 p. 247. 1. 21. for Garci lasso, read Garcilaso. 
 p. 299. 1. 23. for interlude, read prelude. 
 Vol. II. p. 12. 1. 19. for I will say, read -lull I -ny, and 
 place ? at the end of the jniragraji/i. 
 p. 32. 1. 23. for em, read sem. 
 p. 1 88. 1. 2. for cm, read un. 
 
 p. 206. I. 3. for Buckhandlung, read Hurhhandlung. 
 p. 207. I. 18.y"or fruchtbarercn, read frurhtl>are. 
 p. 208. L 1 \>for una, read und ; I. 15. far den, read 
 
 dcr ; and I. 17. for dcun, read di-nn. 
 p. 209. 1. 1 1. for M'it, read Mit. 
 p. 210. 1. 2. for anguhlirken, read anziihlii-keu. 
 p. 215. 1. 7. for shciden. rtad scheith'ii. 
 p. 216. 1. 1 1. far soiiiu-iilirhi. read sonnenliihl. 
 p. 219. I. 1. for Schneededeckten, read Srhneehe- 
 
 deckten. 
 p. 221. I. 1 1, for in. read int. 
 p. 30X. I. 13. 14. far In the first volume of the-t- iik--
 
 XIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 moirs I have particularly mentioned this dedica- 
 tion. The author of it states, reed The author 
 of this dedication observes. 
 
 p. 329. 1. 14. for portraits, read portrait. 
 
 p. 329. 1. 19. after the word Commentator, add a 
 Prologo, the Life of the Poet, and the " Juizio 
 del Poema" precede the Commentary. 
 
 p. 344. 1. 24. for Guarino, Garcilasso, read Guarini, 
 Garcilaso. 
 
 p, 370. 1. 2. for Plateum, read Pluteum. 
 
 ADDITIONS. 
 
 An edition of the Lusiad 1623 is mentioned in Clarke's Pro- 
 gress of Maritime Discovery, p. 1 39. 
 
 A translation of Canto VII. of the Lusiad, stanza for stanza, 
 by Manoel de Oliveira Ferreira, who was a clergyman, and 
 the author of many works, as well published as in manu- 
 script, is mentioned by Machado, Tomo iii. p. 327. The 
 title of this work is 
 
 Liber VII. Lusiadum Camonii,
 
 gemotes 
 
 Huis Oe Camoens*
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 
 
 Ihe glorious reign of the King Dom Manoel 
 wus closed, and that of load III. who is justly 
 celebrated as the patron of learning and science, 
 had commenced, when Portugal gave birth 
 to Luis de Camoens. In the history of this 
 distinguished poet we find a life checkered with 
 vicissitudes, and clouded by misfortunes ; lat- 
 ter years embittered by the cruel neglect of 
 that country, to which he was so much attach- 
 ed, and to whose service and glory he had 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 dedicated his youth and manhood ; and his 
 writings securing for him the posthumous ap- 
 pellations of the " Apollo Portuguez," The 
 Prince of the Poets of Spain, The Great Luis 
 de Camoens, with others equally honourable. 
 
 The family of Camoens or Caamanos had 
 its origin in Gallicia, and possessed extensive 
 domains. The Abbot Ioao Salgado de Araujo 
 is said to have traced its antiquity in a work 
 on the Noble Houses of Gallicia, which he left 
 in manuscript. As, however, the object of his 
 present biographer is to give that account of 
 Camoens, which, being drawn from authentic 
 sources, will, for that reason, be the more 
 likely to be correct ; the researches of Manoel 
 de Faria e Sousa, and others, who have spe- 
 culated upon the origin of the family from 
 whence he descended, and their conjectures 
 grounded principally on etymologies, are en- 
 tirely dismissed from consideration ; and the 
 memoirs are proceeded with from the period 
 of the arrival of its founder in Portugal, un- 
 der the reign of Dom Fernando. 
 
 In this work, had the poet himself not men- 
 tioned in his Redondilhas a certain bird, the
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 3 
 
 extraordinary discrimination of which as to the 
 fidelity of its mistress has been celebrated by 
 other authors ; the idea as to the name of 
 Camoens being derived from its appellation, 
 might have been disregarded as unworthy of 
 notice. All that may be necessary to state is, 
 that the bird named Caniao, which never sur- 
 vived the infidelity of the wife of its Lord, has 
 been supposed by some to have supplied a 
 name to the ancestry of the poet. The pas- 
 sage referred to is 
 
 Expriraentou -so alguii hora 
 Da Ave que chamau Camao, 
 Que, se da Casa, onde mora, 
 Ve adultera, a Scnhora, 
 Morre de pura paixao.* 
 
 The founder of the family in Portugal was 
 Vasco Pircs de Camoens ; who, during the war 
 
 The more ancient name of this extraordinary bird ap- 
 |ears to have been l'oq>hyrio : 
 
 Porphyrin, domini si incestet in fed i bus uxor, 
 Despondetquc .minium, pnrque dolore peril. 
 UmIii.i in arcani* natwrir est causa : sit index 
 Sincere ha-c volucris certa pudicitia?. 
 
 Alciatm, Emblem. 47. 
 B 2
 
 i MEMOIRS OF 
 
 in the fourteenth century, between the kings 
 Henrique II. of Castile, and Fernando of Por- 
 tugal, together with other Fidalgos of Castile, 
 indignant at the conduct of Henrique towards 
 his brother Pedro, whose life he had taken, 
 and whose crown he had usurped, became a 
 voluntary exile from his country, and repaired 
 to the King of Portugal. To the Castilians, 
 who thus joined him, Fernando was lavish in 
 his favours, and, whilst to others he dispensed 
 rewards suited to their rank and condition ; 
 he gave to Vasco Pires de Camoens, whom 
 Faria e Sousa supposes, from the reception 
 he met with, to have been a person of high 
 consideration, and the head of the family, the 
 " Villas" of Sardoal, Punhete, Mara5, and 
 Amendoa, and appointed him one of the prin- 
 cipal Fidalgos of his Council, as a recompense 
 for the possessions which he had abandoned 
 in Castile. Nor did the favours of Fernando 
 rest here ; to him was afterwards confided, the 
 custody of the Castle of Alcanede; he was 
 presented with the Seigneury of Gestaco, and 
 other possessions in Avis and Estremoz, which 
 belonged to Dona Beatriz, the daughter of the
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 5 
 
 Portuguese monarch ;* and was also made 
 Alcaide M6r of Portalegre and Alenquer. 
 
 Vasco Pires de Camoens was united in mar- 
 riage with the daughter of Goncalo Tenreiro, 
 Senhor of Aljer, and other lands ; Commander 
 of the Portuguese Fleet under Fernando ; after- 
 wards, Captain General of Lisbon, under Ioao 
 I. when Protector of the Kingdom ; and who, 
 following the fortunes of Dona Beatrix, Queen 
 of Castile, and Daughter of Fernando, took 
 the title of Master of the Order of Christ. The 
 issue of this marriage were Goncalo Vaz de 
 Camoens, Ioa6 Vaz de Camoens, and Con- 
 stancy Pires de Camoens, Wife of Pero Se- 
 verim, a French Gentleman, who is mentioned 
 as being at the capture of Ceuta. 
 
 It is most probable, from the marks of fa- 
 vour which Fernando bestowed upon Vasco 
 Pins de Camoens, that the latter possessed the 
 confidence of that weak monarch until his 
 death, which happened at Lisbon, in 1383. 
 A short time previous to this event the Prin- 
 cess Dona Beatriz had been married to Don 
 
 ( lii<iiii> (U- Dora FiTimndo. p. '-'". edit. lc 1774. 
 H 3
 
 6 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Juan, who had succeeded Don Henrique as 
 King of Castile ; and certain agreements were, 
 upon this marriage, entered into between the 
 sovereigns, which afterwards made Portugal 
 the scene of foreign and domestic warfare. It 
 was in consequence of these treaties that the 
 Portuguese looked for a protector to the Mas- 
 ter of Avis, Dom load, the bastard son of the 
 late King Pedro ; whom, for his services in 
 their behalf, they afterwards elevated to the 
 throne. 
 
 When this difference of opinion as to the 
 Succession arose, we find Vasco Pires de Ca- 
 moens espousing the cause of Fernando's con- 
 sort Leonor, and that of his daughter the 
 queen of Castile. 
 
 The discontent of the people at her conduct, 
 and the movements of the partisans of the 
 Master of Avis having assumed a formidable 
 appearance, Leonor, apprehensive of danger 
 if she remained in Lisbon, set out for Alen- 
 quer, where she resided some time; until con- 
 sidering her safety there also precarious, she 
 left Camoens in the Castle, and, deputing Mar- 
 tini Goncales de Ataide guardian of the Town,
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEN'S. 
 
 departed for Sautarem. Juan, being apprised 
 by Leonor of tlie events then passing, and 
 being invited to her assistance, had invaded 
 Portugal with an army, by the successes of 
 which he was soon enabled him to make a 
 considerable inroad into the Kingdom, and to 
 join the Queen at Santarem. The name of 
 Vasco Pi res appears amongst the Fidalgos, 
 who were with the King of Castile at this time 
 at Santarem,* to which place he most probably 
 had repaired by order of Leonor. 
 
 Shortly after this the Queen is stated to have 
 relented that she had been the means of fur- 
 thering the views of Juan as to the Portuguese 
 throne, and of expediting the invasion. The 
 conduct of Juan towards her was not of the 
 nature she had expected, and that of his fol- 
 lowers was oppressive. It would appear that 
 she was concerned in a conspiracy to escape 
 from his power into Coimbra, whilst the King 
 was to be murdered without the City in a Mo- 
 nastery in which he lodged. On the discovery 
 of this plot, Juan issued orders that Leonor 
 
 Chronica <lc I), lomo I. p. 63 
 
 Jt 1
 
 xMEMOIRS OF 
 
 should be conducted a prisoner to the Monas- 
 tery of Tordesillas, near Valladolid.* Alen- 
 quer now declared for the Master of Avis, con- 
 trary to the wishes of Camoens; who still 
 held out in the castle for the King of Castile, 
 to whom he afterwards surrendered the Town, 
 as did the Governors of Torres Vedras and 
 Obidos, in opposition to the inclinations of 
 their respective inhabitants. Previous to this 
 the people of Alenquer had sent to load, to 
 request that fifty men might be dispatched to 
 their assistance, with which force they would 
 endeavour to take the castle, in which were 
 Camoens and his adherents. Two gallies were 
 accordingly sent, but were obliged to retreat 
 before a detachment, forwarded by Juan to the 
 relief of Camoens. Upon this happening, the 
 inhabitants, dreading the cruelty of the Cas- 
 tilians, fled with their wives, children, and 
 properties ; nor could they be induced by the 
 persuasions of Camoens to return, although 
 assured by him of protection. 
 
 The preparations for the siege of Lisbon 
 and for its defence next occupy the pages of 
 
 * Faria e Sousa Europa Portugueza Chronica de D. Ioao I.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 9 
 
 the Chronicle of Dom load. This important 
 proceeding, which might probably have deter- 
 mined the war, was stopped by a sickness, 
 which, pervading the Castilian army, rendered 
 a retreat necessary ; and the fall of Alenquer 
 was one of the consequences arising therefrom. 
 \ ;isco Pires de Camoens had at first made 
 preparations for defending the town; but seeing 
 the force which Ioao had with him, he sur- 
 rendered the Castle upon terms, that the garri- 
 son should evacuate the place with their pro- 
 perty, and go to Santarcm ; that if the Queen 
 Leonor, who had confided the castle to him, 
 should return to Portugal unaccompanied by 
 Castilians, it should be delivered up to her; 
 and that in the mean time its custody should 
 be entrusted to persons selected by him. These 
 terms being acceded to, he chose some of his 
 friends and companions to remain with him 
 in Alenquer. 
 
 Almost immediately after this capitulation, 
 Camoens is reported to have dishonourably 
 engaged in a conspiracy with the King of 
 Castile for the murder of the Master of Avis, 
 which was frustrated by the plot being clis-
 
 10 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 covered to him. The amount of force which 
 Camoens was expected to have ready, was one 
 hundred and fifty lancers. 
 
 Ioa5 was shortly afterwards proclaimed King, 
 and we read nothing further of Vasco Pires de 
 Camoens in his military career, until he was 
 taken prisoner, fighting for the King of Cas- 
 tile, at the famous battle of Aljubarrota. The 
 Chronicle of Dom Ioao* is almost conclusive 
 as to this event, and represents him, together 
 with Dom Pedro de Castro, as being near to 
 Ioao, when he was resting after the fatigues of 
 the battle. The assertions therefore, of Mickle, 
 and others of his biographers, that he perished 
 in that dreadful conflict, is incorrect, and the 
 time of his death left uncertain. 
 
 Camoens has, in the fourth Canto of the 
 Lusiad, silently censured the attachment of his 
 ancestor to the Castilian Cause, by lauding the 
 patriotism and efforts of the Portuguese at that 
 eventful period, and by celebrating the heroic 
 valour of Dom Ioao. 
 
 * Chronica de Ioao I. p. 258. Faria e Sousa, in the life 
 prefixed to the Itimas, uses the expression " perdiendose."
 
 LUIS DE CA.MOENS. 11 
 
 The greater part of the possessions of Vasco 
 was lost by his conduct to the Master of* Avis. 
 After the battle, though deprived of all com- 
 mand, he was permitted to retain his estates 
 at Estremoz and Avis, and some property at 
 Alen<]uer and Lisbon. With the produce of 
 the latter his descendants afterwards purchased 
 lands at Evora and Avis, which turned out to 
 advantage ; and which, when Severhn de Faria 
 wrote the life of the poet, were calletl Camo- 
 eyras, and were then in their possession.* 
 
 Mere a circumstance may be stated respect- 
 ing Vasco Pires de Camoens, which has hi- 
 therto escaped the notice of the biographers of 
 the Portuguese bard ; and which, coming from 
 respectable authority, is entitled to consider- 
 able credit. Sarmiento,f in Ins " Memorias 
 " para la 1 [istoria de la Poesia y Poetas Es- 
 " panoles," quotes a manuscript letter which 
 he had discovered, and which had been writ- 
 ten by the Marquess of Santillana, who lived 
 near the time of Vasco. This letter had been 
 
 Severim de Faria Disc Var. Villa do Camoetu, p. 9Q, 
 t Nob. 370, 683, Ac.
 
 12 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 addressed to the constable Dom Pedro, the son 
 of the Duke of Coimbra, and Regent during 
 the minority of Afonso V. Dom Pedro had 
 requested the Marquess to send hirn a Cancio- 
 nero, or Collection of his Poems, which was 
 accompanied by this letter, wherein is an ac- 
 count of the poets then known and celebrated. 
 After naming several, he writes " Despues de 
 " ellos vinieron Vasco Perez de Camoes" &c. 
 " After these came Vasco Pires de Camoens" 
 &c. In another part of his work, Sarmiento 
 refers to what he had given as a quotation, and 
 observes, that there could be no doubt if this 
 letter had been known when Faria e Sousa 
 wrote, he would have made mention of it to 
 the credit of Vasco. Neither the description 
 of poems which he wrote, nor the language in 
 which they were composed, were known to 
 Sarmiento, who supposes, that as Vasco was a 
 Gallician, he most probably wrote in the lan- 
 guage of that country. He is of opinion the 
 poems of Vasco were contained in a Cancio- 
 nero, which the Marquess mentions to have 
 been in the possession of his grandmother, 
 Dona Mencia de Cisneros, and which he states
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 13 
 
 to have been composed of " Canticas Serranas, 
 " Decires Portugueses, y Gallegos" which were 
 much praised at that time. 
 
 The descendants of the eldest son of Vasco 
 Pires were of some account, as may be inferred 
 from their marriages into the rich and power- 
 ful families, mentioned by Severim de Faria. 
 Ioao Vaz de Camoens, the second son, was 
 " Vassallo" of the King Afonso V.; a title 
 then of importance ; and served that monarch 
 in the wars in Africa and against Castile; in 
 all which he particularly distinguished himself. 
 His residence was in the City of Coimbra, 
 which place he represented at the Cortes, held 
 during Afonso's minority. He was also Cor- 
 regedor of that District, an office of which the 
 jurisdiction was very extensive, there being 
 only six similar situations in the kingdom, 
 and they usually filled by Fidalgos of rank. 
 
 Ioao Vaz de Camoens married Ignez Gomes 
 da Silva, bastard daughter of Iorge da Silva, 
 who was the grandson of Diogo Gomes da 
 Silva, whose brother was Alfcrrs-Mor, or Chief 
 Ensign of the King Dom Ioao I. and possessed 
 manv lands. Ioao Vaz de Camoens was buried
 
 14 MEMOIRS O* 
 
 in the Chapel of the Cloister in the Cathedral 
 of Coimbra, wherein a marble monument was 
 erected to his memory. Antao Vaz de Camo- 
 ens, the son of Ioao Vaz, was united to Guimar 
 Vaz da Gama, of the family of the Gamas of 
 Algarve, descended from that of Alemtejo, by 
 whom he had issue, Simao Vaz de Camoens, 
 the father of the poet. 
 
 The mother of Luis was Dona Anna de Sa 
 e Macedo, of noble descent ; and sprung from 
 the Macedos of Santarem. The residence of 
 the poet's parents was in Lisbon, in the district 
 " da Mouraria," in the parish of San Sebas- 
 tia5, where Luis was most probably born ; and 
 who, dying a bachelor, the family in this line 
 failed " like an expiring lamp previous to its 
 final extinction, emitting a brighter and more 
 dazzling gleam."* 
 
 The period at which Camoens lost his father 
 has not been clearly defined by the biogra- 
 phers of the poet. By some writers, that event 
 is alleged to have occurred during the infancy 
 of his son ; and by others a much later time 
 
 * Retratos e Elogios dos Varoes e Donas Portug. Vid. de 
 Cam.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 15 
 
 has been assigned as the date of this misfor- 
 tune. At tiiis day, those arguments can only 
 be adduced, winch have been urged in favour 
 of the latter period ; and, adding any ideas, 
 which may have arisen from a perusal of the 
 works of the various writers, left with the 
 reader, in order that he may form his own 
 judgment. It is agreed that he was educated 
 for the sea service ; that, sailing to India, he 
 lost the ship, of which he was the commander, 
 on the coast of Goa ; and that, escaping from 
 the wreck, he died soon afterwards in that city. 
 Manoel de Faria e Sousa states, in the life 
 which accompanies his Commentaries on the 
 Lusiad, that, when Camoens received the 
 wound which deprived him of the sight of 
 his eye, he was fighting by the side of his 
 father, who commanded one of the Portuguese 
 \ -<cls. This account has been judged worthy 
 of credit, and has l>een followed by the latest 
 biographer of the poet, Doni Joze Maria de 
 Sou/a. Anxious to obtain every information 
 relating to Camoens, I have been obligingly 
 furnished, since the publication of his work, 
 with the reasons, which induced that writer to
 
 16 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 suppose that the account of the death of the 
 father of Camoens, during the poet's infancy, 
 was incorrect. These reasons rest chiefly upon 
 the entries in the Book at the Portuguese In- 
 dia House, which will be shortly afterwards 
 noticed. In the former of these, the father 
 is mentioned as the surety for his son, while 
 his name does not appear in the latter; from 
 whence it is inferred, as the case most pro- 
 bably was, that the misfortune of the ship- 
 wreck, and subsequent death, took place in the 
 interval between the dates of the two entries. 
 In support of this opinion Dom Joze is in- 
 clined to think, that had the father been alive 
 in India, on the arrival of his son in that coun- 
 try, Camoens would have noticed that circum- 
 stance in the first letter which he sent home, 
 and which has been preserved to us. Faria e 
 Sousa is disposed to consider, that if the ship- 
 wreck had happened when Camoens was an 
 infant, he would have taken some opportunity 
 in his writings to lament this early deprivation 
 of his parental care. 
 
 In the absence of any notice by the poet, 
 of the death of Simao, had not the entries at
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 17 
 
 the India House been discovered, it would have 
 been difficult to have set aside the assertions 
 made by Severim de Faria, and the other 
 writers, who mention the former period; and 
 with respect to the affair, in which Camoens 
 was wounded, we have the poet's allusion to it 
 in his cancao, commencing 
 
 " Vinde c& meu tao certo secreUrio." 
 
 In composing which an opportunity was given 
 him, not very likely to have been neglected, 
 of introducing the fact of his father being near 
 him when this event happened. Besides what 
 is offered above, the shipwreck of the father, 
 and the character he might leave behind him, 
 might probably have had due weight with the 
 Portuguese Authorities, to whom these circum- 
 stances would be accurately known ; and these 
 might have been deemed such sufficient secu- 
 rity for the son, as was then usually demanded 
 previous to undertaking the voyage to India. 
 
 Whatever difference of opinion respecting 
 the birth-place of Camoens may have been 
 formerly entertained, it is now universally ad- 
 
 vol. i. c
 
 18 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 mitted, that the city of Lisbon is justly entitled 
 to that enviable honour ; and that the preten- 
 sions of Coimbra, Santarem, and other places, 
 to this distinction, were without foundation. 
 The exact period when the event took place 
 was long involved in doubt, but it has been 
 of late years generally allowed to have occur- 
 red during the year 1524, in the then parish 
 of San Sebastiao. That the residence of his 
 parents, and the place of the birth of Ca- 
 moens, a person nobly descended, of splendid 
 genius, whose military achievements and lite- 
 rary compositions were well known and ac- 
 knowledged at the time, should be at all a 
 matter of uncertainty, sufficiently discover the 
 little regard felt by his country for a man, 
 who was one of her brightest ornaments : 
 whose name and writings ought then to have 
 been, as they now are, her pride and boast; 
 and whose miserable death has left a stain 
 upon her character, which the painful labour 
 and research since bestowed to elucidate his 
 history, and shew honour to his memory, have 
 not been able to efface. 
 
 The first authority for the date of the birth
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 19 
 
 of Camoens was that of Manoel Correa, the 
 friend and contemporary of the poet. Correa, 
 who was a native of Elvas, was Synodal Ex- 
 aminer of the Archbishopric of Lisbon, and 
 the Curate of the parish in which the parents 
 of Camoens resided. He was skilled in lite- 
 rature, and in the knowledge of the Latin, 
 Greek, and Hebrew languages, and was also 
 the correspondent of many celebrated scholars 
 of that period.* In a life of the poet which he 
 wrote, and which was published by Pedro de 
 Mariz after the death of Correa, along with his 
 Commentary on the Lusiad, which Machado 
 states to have been made at the instance of 
 Camoens, it is asserted that he was born in the 
 year 1517. To this authority, which was con- 
 
 Among these was Justus Lipdttt, who, in a letter 
 made uo of these affectionate expressions of friendship for 
 him : " Te, mi Correa, videam, pectori applicer, collo ad- 
 " stringar, atquc ipsa hac cogitatione lique&co, & moveor : 
 " quid si re frui detur." Correa wrote, besides the Com- 
 mentary on the Lusiad, verses in praise of the " Arte de 
 Musiea" of Duarte I.obo, and on the " Aferimos" of Am- 
 brosio Nunis ; and left in MS. " Principios dc Grammatics" 
 and " Cornelio Tacito traduxido em Portuguex. 4to." Ma- 
 chado Itibl. I.usit. Tom. iii. p. '-'.3'.'. 
 
 C 2
 
 20 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 sidered indisputable, credit was given by the 
 biographer of Camoens, Severim de Faria; 
 and Manoel de Faria e Sousa, who next un- 
 dertook the life of the poet, coincided with 
 him, merely stating, " Verdad es, que dize el 
 " Licenciado Manoel Con*ea, persona de cre- 
 " dito, i de la edad del Poeta, i su amigo, 
 " que nacio en Lisboa per los annos 1517." 
 The truth is, that the Licenciate Manoel Cor- 
 rea, a person of credit, contemporary with the 
 poet, and his friend, says, that he was born in 
 Lisbon, in 1517. 
 
 Faria e Sousa states, in the second life of 
 Camoens, which he wrote, and which appeared 
 with the Commentaries on the Rimas, that he 
 afterwards discovered by an examination made 
 of the lists of the Portuguese India House, 
 that the year 1524 was the true date of the 
 birth of the poet. Of the result of this search 
 he gives the following account : " Pero el ano 
 " 1643 vino a mis manos un Registro de la 
 " Casa de la India de Lisboa de todas las 
 " personas mas principales que passaron a ser- 
 " vir en la India, desde el ano 1500 hasta 
 " estes nuestros anos; y en la lista de el de
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 21 
 
 " 1550 halle este assiento. Luis de Camoens, 
 " hijo de Simon Faz, y Ana de So", Moradores 
 " en Lisbon a la Mouraria , Esctuiero de viente 
 " y cinco atios, barbirubio : trotixe por jiador 
 " a su padre : vd en la nave de San Pedro de 
 " los Burgalezes." In the year 1643, a Re- 
 gister of the Portuguese India House, of the 
 principal persons who sailed to India, from 
 the year 1500 up to the then present time, was 
 examined by me; and in the list for 1550, I 
 found this entry : Luis de Camoens, son of 
 Simao Vaz and Anna de Sa, residents in Lis- 
 bon, in the district of the Mouraria; Escu- 
 deiro:* aged 25; with a red beard ; surety his 
 father: sails in the ship San Pedro dos Burga- 
 lezes. f 
 
 Camoens, however, did not proceexl to India 
 until 1553, in which year he sailed in the fleet 
 of four ships, commanded by Fernando Alvarcs 
 Cabral : and, in the account containing the 
 particulars of their crews, is this entry under 
 
 A uili' formerly given to the noblemen now railed 
 Hidalgo* Vieyra. 
 
 + In this ship the Viceroy. Dom Aflbnto Ae Noronh 
 
 ctiib.nUii for India. 
 
 C 3
 
 22 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the title of Gente de Guerra : " Fernando 
 " Casado, hijo de Manoel Casado y de Blanca 
 " Queymada, Moradores en Lisboa, Escu- 
 " dero. Fue en su lugar Luis de Camoens, 
 " hijo de Simon Vaz, y Ana de Sa, Escudero, 
 " y recibio 2,400 Reis, corao los demas." 
 Fernando Casado, son of Manoel Casado, and 
 of Branca Queimada, residents in Lisbon, Es- 
 cudeiro. Luis de Camoens, soil of Simad Vaz 
 and Anna de Sa, Escudeiro, went in his place, 
 and received 2,400 Reis. 
 
 From these two entries, Faria e Sousa fixed 
 upon the year 1524 for the birth of Camoens, 
 and explains any difficulty which might arise 
 from his mother being denominated Anna de 
 Sa, by stating that her name was Anna de Sa 
 e Macedo, and that the secretary, for the sake 
 of brevity, had left out the word Macedo, as 
 he did that of Camoens in the description of 
 her husband, calling him only Simao Vaz. 
 
 This discovery by Faria e Sousa was not, 
 when imparted, considered conclusive ; by some 
 it was urged that the vicissitudes in the life of 
 Camoens previous to his departure for India 
 must have required a longer period, than from
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 23 
 
 1524 to 1553; whilst others asserted that the 
 certificates produced were satisfactory evidence 
 in support of that period as the date of his 
 birth. Machado contents himself with stating 
 merely, that from the list, it appeared he was 
 twenty-five years of age.* With those, who 
 consider the entries given by Faria e Sousa 
 satisfactory, is Dom Joze Maria de Souza : he, 
 however, infers from them, that Camoens must 
 have been born in 1525, if he was twenty five 
 years of age in 1550; and that his father was 
 absent, or probably dead in 1552. It is not 
 possible, at this day, to account for the reasons 
 which might incline Faria e Sousa to state the 
 year 1524, or which have induced subsequent 
 biographers to follow him in assigning this 
 date for the birth of the poet. They may have 
 considered that Camoens would not be de- 
 scribed as twenty-five years old, until he had 
 completed his twenty-fifth, and entered into the 
 twenty-sixth year of his age; and that, as it 
 
 * l'or i-oiutnr da List* das pessoas que passarao niilit.u 
 na India cm o anno dc 1.5.50. Contar '25 anno* uY idade 
 Luis dc Camoens quando sc alistou para csta Jornada. Tom. 
 iii. p. TO. 
 
 C 4
 
 24 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 was more than likely that some time had 
 elapsed over such completion when the entry 
 was made, it was therefore fair to place the 
 period of his birth within the year 1524. 
 
 The pretensions of Coimbra to the honour 
 of having given birth to the poet rested chiefly 
 upon the fact of his ancestors* having resided 
 in that flourishing city, which at the time was 
 frequently visited by the court; and upon the 
 seeming delight with which Camoens so often 
 mentions the river Mondego, the ornament of 
 Coimbra and its neighbourhood. These pre- 
 tensions are not borne out by the passages al- 
 luded to, for in them he never applies the term 
 " paternal" to it, which he uses when writing 
 of the Tagus. His affection, however, for the 
 Mondego is sufficiently shewn, and he cele- 
 brates it with the ardour which his mind had 
 imbibed as a school-boy, when, pursuing his 
 studies, he passed his early years (the only 
 ones which afforded him any happiness or plea- 
 sure) upon its banks, and amidst the beautiful 
 scenery which surrounded him. The circum- 
 
 * The tomb in the Church of Coimbra to the memory of 
 Ioao Vaz de Camoens has been mentioned.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 25 
 
 stance, if correct, which I believe hai l)een 
 related for the first time in the life of Camoens 
 given in a modern publication,* of his relative 
 I). Bento de Camoens, First General of the 
 Order of Concgos Ilegrantes, or Regular Ca- 
 nons, and principal Chancellor of the Univer- 
 sity there, being a native of Coimbra, may 
 have afforded formerly considerable grounds 
 for the supposition that the birth of the poet 
 took place in that city. 
 
 Santarem, and other Towns, have laid claim 
 to this honour: the first being the native place 
 of Anna de Sa e Macedo, the mother of the 
 poet, and being also the place in which, when 
 banished from Lisbon, he passed the tedious 
 hours of his weary exile. By the supporters 
 of the pretensions of Santarem, and amongst 
 others by Faria e Sousa, it was contended 
 that the epithet " paternal" used by Camoens in 
 writing of the Tagus, applied equally to San- 
 tarem and to Lisbon, both towns being situ- 
 ated on that river. This ground Faria e Sousa 
 afterwards abandoned, and joined in giving to 
 
 Retratm, e Bustnt <!<* Vur. c Don. quo Must:, a na*,-. 
 Portug. I.i-lx.n IHOfi.
 
 26 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Lisbon the honour of having produced the 
 poet. The strongest objection which could be 
 made, if such were needful after what has been 
 written concerning this event, against the claim 
 of Santarem, might be furnished by the works 
 of Camoens himself. In the Elegy which he 
 wrote on his banishment, when comparing his 
 fate to that of the poet Ovid, he states that 
 like him he was an exile. As the place of 
 his exile was known to be Santarem, and 
 the city he was to leave was acknowledged to 
 be Lisbon, the conclusion to be drawn is, that 
 the latter was the place of his birth. 
 
 The abettors of the claim of Alenquer had 
 very futile grounds for giving to it their sup- 
 port. This claim was founded merely upon 
 an expression of Camoens, in a sonnet which 
 he wrote in the Indian Seas, and which com- 
 mences 
 
 " No mundo poucos anno'- e cansados," &c. 
 
 In this sonnet is the following passage : 
 
 Criou-me Portugal, na verde e chara 
 u Patria minha Alenquer."
 
 LUI8 DE CAMOENS. 27 
 
 Camoens evidently wrote this sonnet to the 
 memory of some soldier, who died probably 
 either from the effects of the climate, or by ac- 
 cident, when accompanying the armada which 
 sailed from Goa for the Red Sea. In this 
 composition the poet makes the deceased relate 
 his misfortunes, -and lament that his death 
 should take place so far disUmt from his coun- 
 try, to which he was attached. Some of the 
 Commentators on the Rimas of Camoens have 
 stated their opinion, that the sonnet had re- 
 ference to tlu- punishment of death, by drown- 
 ing, inflicted upon a soldier named Ruy Diaz, 
 by Affonso d'Albiujuenjue, for having seduced 
 one of his slaves. Doin Jo/.e Maria de Sou/a 
 writes, that it was composed on the death of 
 a soldier then navigating the Red Sea, but did 
 not allude to the misfortune of Ruy Diaz. 
 
 Lord Strangford has translated this sonnet, 
 and in a note, certainly entertains the idea, 
 that in it the poet refers to his own sufferings. 
 His lordship considered the expression 
 
 ' Me fez manjur de jxixet em ti bruto 
 " Mar, qui- h.itcs .1 Abasia fcra, c avara,"
 
 28 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 (made me food for fishes) as not very grace- 
 ful ; and accordingly changed it " to combat 
 " perils strange" 
 
 Faria e Sousa, however, quotes similar ex- 
 pressions in Ovid and Tasso; and Camoens 
 himself, in Canto iv. st. 90. has 
 
 
 
 " Onde seja de peixes mantimento." 
 
 In the following passages, amongst many 
 others, Camoens particularly celebrates the 
 River, which ran past his native City: 
 
 E vos, Tagides Minium, pois creado 
 Tendes em mi hum novo engenho ardente ; 
 Se sempre em verso humilde celebrado 
 Foi de mi vosso rio alegremente ; 
 Dai-me agora hum som alto, e sublimado; 
 Hum estylo grandiloquo, e corrente; 
 
 Lusiad. Canto I. st. 4. 
 
 And you, fair Nymphs of Tugus, parent stream ! 
 If e'er your meadows were my pastoral theme, 
 While you have listened, and by moonshine seen 
 My footsteps wander o'er your banks of Green, 
 O come auspicious, and the song inspire. 
 Mickle.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 29 
 
 Poem tu, Nympha, em efleito meu Jeeji>, 
 
 Coino merecc a gentc Lusitaiia ; 
 
 Que vija e saiba o mundo que do Tejo 
 
 licor de Aganippe corre, e maua. 
 Deixa as flores dc Pindo, que ja vejo 
 Banhar-mc Apollo na agua soberana ; 
 Senao direi. qua tens algum recvio. 
 Que se escureca o ten querido Orpheio. 
 
 Lusiad. Cant. III. si. 2. 
 
 Then aid, O fairest Nymph, my fond desire, 
 And give my verse the Lusian warlike fire : 
 Fired by the song, the listening world shall know 
 That Aganippe's streams from Ta%us flow. 
 Oh, let no more the flowers of Pindus shine 
 On thy fair breast, or round thy temples twine : 
 On Togo's banks a richer chaplct blows 
 And with the tuneful God my bosom glows . 
 
 1 feel, I feel the mighty power infuse, 
 And bathe my spirit in Aonian dews. 
 
 MiciU. 
 
 mas o cego 
 
 Eu ! que cometto insano, c temerario. 
 Sem von, Xi/mjihas do Ttjo, e do Mondego. 
 
 Lusiad. Canto I'll. si. 7S. 
 
 But I, fond man 
 
 Where would I speed, as uiad'ning in a dream, 
 Without your aid, yt Nymphs of Togo's stream I 
 Or yours, yi Dryads of Mondego'* 1m>wit^. 
 
 Nictlt.
 
 30 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Neither Severim de Faria, nor Faria e Sousa, 
 gives us any information respecting Camoens, 
 from the period of his birth until he was sent 
 to the University of Coimbra ; nor has the time 
 at which he arrived in that city been ascertain- 
 ed. It has however been generally supposed, 
 and has been stated by modern biographers of 
 the poet to have taken place when he was 
 twelve years old. I regard this date as rather 
 too remote ; because, if the circumstances be 
 correct that the University was only removed 
 to Coimbra, and finally re-established there in 
 1537; allowing him to have been one of the 
 earliest students, he would be in his fourteenth 
 year; which period I would prefer to assign for 
 his becoming a member. 
 
 The University of Coimbra was founded 
 during the reign of the King Dom Diniz; a 
 patron of learning, and a vernacular poet. 
 The life of this Monarch was truly dedicated to 
 the welfare of his kingdom, and to the people 
 over whom he was ordained to rule; yet amidst 
 the duties which this solicitude imposed upon 
 him, he managed his arrangements so admi- 
 rably, as to have time to cultivate poetry, and
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 31 
 
 to instil into his subjects, that love of learning 
 and science of which he was himself a devoted 
 admirer. So far back as the year 1288, he had 
 assembled, at Montemor o Novo, the heads of 
 the principal Monasteries and Churches in the 
 Kingdom, in order to apply to Pope Nicholas 
 IV. for a sjR'cial grant for an University in 
 Portugal.* The application was attended to; 
 in the year 1290, a Bull was published for its 
 establishment in Lisbon, and ample privileges 
 were conceded to it. 
 
 The object of Diniz, in instituting in Portu- 
 gal a fixed seat of learning, was to remedy the 
 inconvenience which its natives experienced in 
 travelling, to learn from strangers that, in 
 which they might be instructed at home. 
 
 The University had been established in Lis- 
 bon eighteen years, when Diniz, representing 
 to Clement V. the numerous disagreements and 
 quarrels which arose between the inhabitants 
 and the scholars, suggested that the city of 
 Coimbra, from its delightful situation, and the 
 
 Tlic representation made by the ALhot of Alroba^a. the 
 l'rior of Snt:i Crux, and many other Eeeleataatics, i- fjiveti 
 in tlu Mon.irihia I usit.in.i, p.irt V. no iip|>end. Kscrit lli.
 
 32 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 luxuriance of its neighbourhood, from whence 
 abundant supplies could be drawn, as also 
 from its being in the centre of the kingdom, 
 presented a preferable place for the seat of 
 the University. Clement readily admitted that 
 the suggestion of Diniz.was correctly founded, 
 and ordered the publication of a Bull, on the 
 twenty-sixth day of February, 1308, to carry 
 it into effect; at the same time appropriating, 
 for the support of the University and its pro- 
 fessors, the emoluments of six churches which 
 he suppressed.* 
 
 Civil and ecclesiastical Law, Logic, Gram- 
 mar, Medicine, and Music, had been taught 
 the students at Lisbon. Religion was confined 
 to the care of the Convents, into which scholars 
 were taken to be instructed. The Hebrew and 
 Greek Languages and Mathematics had not as 
 yet been introduced amongst the studies of the 
 University. 
 
 The character of Diniz is dwelt upon with 
 gratitude by Camoens, who probably compo- 
 sed the following tribute to his memory, with 
 
 * Cunha Hist. Eccles. de Lisboa, quoted by Castro in tlit 
 Mappa de Portugal.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEN8. S3 
 
 a thankful recollection of the services "which 
 the monarch had rendered to the cause of lite- 
 rature ; not only by his individual merit as an 
 author, but also by the assiduity which he had 
 shewn, in rewarding liberally able masters in 
 the various departments of science, which were 
 immediately the objects of study in the Uni- 
 versity : 
 
 Eis despois vcm Diniz, que l>cm parece 
 Do bravo Afonso estirpe nobre e dina; 
 Com qucm a fama grande se escurcce 
 Da liberalidaile Alcxandrina. 
 Com cstc o Reino prospcro florece, 
 ( Alcancada ja a paz aurea tlivi n.i j 
 Em constituicoes, leis, e costumes 
 Na terra ja tranquilla claros lumes. 
 
 Fez primeiro em Coimbra exercitar-*e 
 O valeroso officio cle Minerva ; 
 E de Helicona as Musas fez passar-se 
 A pizar de Mondego a fertil hcrva. 
 Quanto podc de Athenas desejar-ae, 
 Tudo o soberbo Apollo aqui reserva : 
 A(|iii as capellas da tccidas de ouro, 
 Do baccharo, e do sempre verde louro. 
 
 I.utiad, Canto III. /. 9>i, 97. 
 
 Vow brave Diniz reigns, whose noble fire 
 
 Hrvpokc the genuine lineage of liis -ire. 
 VOL. I. I>
 
 34- MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Now heavenly peace wide wav'd her olive bougff, 
 Each vale display'd the labours of the plough, 
 And smil'd with joy : the rocks on every shore 
 Resound the dashing of the merchant-oar. 
 Wise laws are formed and constitutions weigh'dy 
 And the deep-rooted base of Empire laid. 
 Not Amnion's son with larger heart bestow'd, 
 Nor such the grace to him the Muses ow'd. 
 From Helicon the Muses wiHg their way; 
 Mondego's tlow'ry banks invite their stay. 
 Now Coimbra shines Minerva's proud abode;; 
 And, fir'd with joy, Parnassus' bloomy God 
 Beholds another dear-lov'd Athens rise, 
 And spread her laurels in indulgent skies." 
 
 Mickle. 
 
 In the year 1338, Dom Affonso IV. resolv- 
 ing to hold his Court at Coimbra, directed 
 that the establishment should be removed to 
 Lisbon, in order that the affairs of the state, 
 and those attendant on the court, might not 
 interfere with the studies of the scholars.* The 
 business of the University was transacted at 
 Lisbon until 1354, when, by order of the same 
 king, it was again settled at Coimbra. 
 
 * Leit. Ferr. na Notic. Chronology da Univ. quoted by 
 Castro in the Mappa de Portugal.
 
 Ltm i>e camoens. $3 
 
 Under the Reign of Dom Fernando, and in" 
 the year 1377, another change took place, in 
 consequence of the refusal to give lectures at 
 Coimbra by some of the Masters, who, at the 
 request of the King, had visited Portugal* 
 The University, therefore, continued at Lis- 
 bon for a considerable time, and enjoyed va- 
 rious privileges granted to it by the Monarch. 
 A visible decline now became apparent, caus- 
 ed by the funds appropriated for the profes- 
 sors being inadequate to the support of such 
 scholars as were properly qualified to hold 
 these situations, and which, in consequence of 
 such inadequateness, were filled by persons of 
 minor consideration and talent. The scholars, 
 disgusted with the proceedings, withdrew ; and 
 the University gradually sunk into disrepute 
 from 14*0 until 1480.* 
 
 On the succession of Dom Manoel, in 1+95* 
 the ruined state of the University was in>me- 
 d lately taken into consideration ; and several 
 statutes were, in the following year, enacted 
 for it>- government; new schools were erected} 
 
 " Ioui> dv ll.nr>>-. mi Duacrip. do Minho, ijuoU'd by Castro* 
 o 2
 
 36 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 and the number of Professors increased.* It 
 was reserved, however, for Dom Ioao III. who, 
 on the death of Manoel, ascended the Portu- 
 guese throne, to raise it to an enviable state of 
 splendour and excellence. 
 
 Ioao, following the example of Diniz, no 
 sooner attained the regal power, than he set 
 about the restoration of this celebrated seat of 
 learning. Convinced that Coimbra was pre- 
 ferable in every respect to Lisbon, he broke up 
 the establishment in the latter, and transferred 
 it to the former City. In order to secure its 
 prosperity, and viewing prospectively as well 
 as immediately the advantages to be derived 
 from its success, he founded several new Col- 
 leges ; and, at his own expence, invited the 
 most able Professors and Masters, native and 
 foreign, which Europe could then furnish, for 
 its complete re-establishment, f 
 
 * Goes Chronic, del Rey D. Manoel. 
 
 f Of the exertions of Ioao III. Clenardus thus wrote : 
 
 Omitto reliqua, quo properemus Conimbricam, ubi Rex 
 noram turn moliebatur Academiam. Hie opus est multis 
 laudibus, quando sese ipsa in dies, magis ac magis commendat 
 
 . . . E' quibus auspiciis, si fas est divinare florentissima 
 erit Conimbrica linguarum studiis. 
 
 Clen. apud Notit. Chronol. num. 1 166, quoted by Castro.
 
 LUIS HE CAMOENS. 37 
 
 The endeavours of Ioao to ensure the pros- 
 perity of the University, and his having insti- 
 tuted the new Colleges, have inclined some 
 writers to style him its founder; and to state, 
 that previous to his reign, Coimbra possessed 
 only public schools. The assertion of this 
 opinion has induced me to enter more minute- 
 ly into its history than might perhaps other- 
 wise have been deemed necessary. The ab- 
 solute expressions in the Chronicle of Dom 
 Diniz, and those used by Ioao Bautisto de 
 Castro, added to the authority of the writers 
 which he quotes in their support, will, it is 
 imagined, be accounted sufficient to restore 
 that honour to Dom Diniz. 
 
 Although the University received a consider- 
 able acquisition of knowledge by the arrival of 
 Andre de Gouvea, and of those scholars,* who, 
 in 154-7, accompanied him, by the request of 
 Ioao, at a period when the studies of Camoens 
 were, if not entirely, yet nearly completed ; 
 his writings testify the progress which he made 
 under the care and instructions of those pro- 
 
 Buchanan \a> one of the literary cliaractrrN !><> veiled 
 I'orlng^l witli (iouven. 
 
 i) :5
 
 38 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 fessors and scholars, which the munificence of 
 the Monarch had provided immediately on its 
 restoration. 
 
 He paid marked attention to acquaint him- 
 self thoroughly with the Latin Language ; and 
 read with great diligence the best authors, 
 from whose works he acquired a fund of learn- 
 ing, as well historical as mythological, by 
 which he afterwards profited. He was also 
 carefully instructed in Modern History, espe- 
 cially in that of his own country, Philosophy 
 and Polite Literature; and it was at Coimbra 
 that his Muse first evinced to those, who view- 
 ed his productions with a steady judgment, the 
 promise of great poetical attainment. 
 
 To write elegantly in Latin was, at this 
 period, esteemed by the University, and by 
 the whole literary world, one of the most de- 
 sirable accomplishments ; and the memory of 
 Camoens ought to be fondly cherished by Por- 
 tugal, from the circumstance of his departure 
 from this general prejudice, in which he was 
 followed by Antonio Ferreira, 
 
 The first poet of any consideration, who 
 broke through this practice, was Francisco de
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEN8. 39 
 
 Sa de Miranda. He preceded Camoens about 
 thirty years, and rendered gnat service to his 
 country by purifying and fixing its language. 
 Francisco Dias, in his Analysis of the Portu- 
 guese Language, thus writes of him: " When 
 " I entered upon this composition, I judged 
 " that I ought to fix some point from whence 
 " to deduce this Analysis, and that Sa de Mi- 
 " randa should undoubtedly form that point, 
 " being the real founder of Portuguese Poct- 
 " ry."* The language up to that time had 
 been rude and uncultivated, the necessity of 
 refinement being superseded by the prevailing 
 practice of the times, the Latin being consider- 
 ed the language of poetry in Portugal. This 
 custom he opposed and overcame. Without 
 any other assistance than the models of the 
 Italian metres, he extended the field of, and 
 gave new laws to Portuguese Poetry. Miguel 
 Leite Perreira observes, in the preface to his 
 father's poems: " With the singular softness 
 " of his verses, he began to expose the neg- 
 " ligence (f past ages; and to shew, that 
 
 Memonas tic f.ii. l'ortug. pclu Acad. Ileal dc Lisb, 
 4to. 1793. 
 
 1) t-
 
 40 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " the language was sufficiently harmonious." 
 And he afterwards adds : " by which example 
 " my father, then a student, endeavoured in 
 " the variety of his compositions, to manifest 
 " that the Portuguese language was not infe- 
 " rior to any other, either in copiousness of 
 " diction or gravity of style."* 
 
 Sa de Miranda, to whom Portugal was so 
 much indebted, was born at Coimbra in 1495 ; 
 and, having made rapid progress in his early 
 years, directed his attention to the study of the 
 Law, less from any predilection which he felt 
 for that study, than in obedience to the wishes 
 of the king; and in compliance with the in- 
 clination of his father, who had chosen that 
 profession, and to whose will he paid the strict- 
 est deference. 
 
 His assiduity was rewarded with merited 
 success. He left the University, and, taking 
 the degree of Doctor, commenced Lecturer. 
 The death of his father, however, closed his 
 legal career; for, on this event happening, he 
 discontinued his lectures ; refused the office of 
 
 * Obras de Fcrreira. 4to. 1598.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEN8. 41 
 
 Desembargador, which was several times offered 
 to him ; and devoted himself entirely to the 
 study of Philosophy. For the better cultiva- 
 tion of this science, he resolved to travel, and 
 set out for Italy, visiting in his route the most 
 celebrated places in Spain. Having viewed 
 with an observing discrimination, and lingered, 
 with the tardy step of an enquiring and atten- 
 tive traveller, in the cities of Rome, Venice, 
 Naples, Milan, and Florence, and in the Island 
 of Sicily, he returned to Portugal, and resided 
 for some time in the Court, where his engaging 
 manners and poetical talent obtained for him 
 the particular notice of load III. and of the 
 Prince Dom Ioao. 
 
 He was, by the king's liberality, Commen- 
 dator of the Benefice named The two Churches 
 of the Order of Christ, in the Archbishopric of 
 Braga. His hopes of further advancement 
 were, however, blasted by the influence of a 
 person of rank, to whom an ambiguous ex- 
 pression introduced into an Eclogue was dis- 
 pleasing, and of which he refused to give any 
 explanation. He therefore retired to his coun- 
 try residence, the Quinta da Tapada, near
 
 42 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Ponte tie Lima, forsaking the luxuries of the 
 court; the converse of his friends; together 
 with the preferment, of which, from his princely 
 benefactors, he had reason to entertain hopes. 
 
 Enjoying in quiet the fruits of his studies, 
 and removed from insult, he passed the re- 
 mainder of his life in this delightful retire- 
 ment. The following singular circumstance is 
 recorded as having preceded his marriage with 
 Dona Briolanja de Azevedo, of whom Macha- 
 do writes, that nature had liberally endowed 
 her with discretion, but had denied her the 
 gift of personal charms. The father of Dona 
 Briolanja was dead, and the overtures for the 
 marriage were made by Sa de Miranda to her 
 brothers ; who, aware that their sister had nei- 
 ther beauty nor youth to attract his attention, 
 refused to complete any contract until he 
 should have been introduced to his intended 
 bride. An interview was accordingly arrang- 
 ed, and the first salutation which he made use 
 of was, " Chastise me, Lady ! with this staff", 
 " for having come so late."* Her amiable 
 
 * Castigay-me, Senhora, coin esse bortlad, porque vim tao 
 tarde.
 
 LU18 DE CAMOENS. *3 
 
 mind, however, fully compensated for her de- 
 ject in pergonal beauty. 
 
 Dona Briolanja died in 1.555, and so much 
 had her attentions to his habits and com- 
 forts, and her care of his children endeared 
 her to her husband, that, sorrowing, he only 
 survived her for three years. Relinquishing 
 all his former pursuits, he never quitted his 
 house, except to hear mass at a neighbouring 
 convent; never shaved his beard; never paired 
 his nails ; never answered the letters of his 
 friends ; and only composed the following son- 
 net to commemorate the mournful occasion : 
 
 Aquelle K-pirito ja tambcm pagado 
 Como elle merecia, claro. e puro, 
 Di-ixou de Ikmi vontade o vnlle c^curo, 
 I)c tudo o que ca vio como anojado. 
 
 Aqui'lU- sprito que do mar irado 
 
 Dcsta vida mortal |H)sto em sogtiro, 
 
 Da gloria que la tern de herdade, c juro, 
 
 C.i nos dcixou <> tamiiilio abalisado. 
 
 Alma aqui vinda in-sta nossa idade 
 IV iVrro, que tornaste a antiga d'ouro 
 Km mianto ca rcgeste a humaiudadv.
 
 44 MEMOIRS or 
 
 Em chegando ajuntaste tal thcsouro, 
 Que para sempre dura, ah vaydade ! 
 Uicas areas dcte Tejo, e Douro !* 
 
 Sa de Miranda is represented to have been 
 strong, though not tall; his countenance is 
 said to have been pale; his hair black; his 
 beard long; his nose prominent; his deport- 
 
 * From the latter part of this sonnet we may infer, that 
 virtuous actions, and not extensive wealth, were the charac- 
 teristics of that period, denominated by the ancients, the 
 Golden Age; and that, in the opinion of Sa de Miranda, 
 while the cities of Lisbon and Oporto, from their commercial 
 intercourse, were the scats of opulence and luxury, it was not 
 likely that the golden age would be restored in Portugal. 
 The commencement of the sonnet where he alludes to the 
 virtues of his wife is very pathetic, especially if we consider 
 the circumstances under which it was written : 
 
 That spirit pure, in realms above now paid 
 For all the good by it on earth display'd, 
 Contented journey'd from this vale of woe, 
 As if 'twere weary grown of scenes below. 
 
 Through life's vex'd sea, its course perform'd, at last 
 That gentle mind an harbour safe hath gain'd ; 
 And left to us the rout by which it past 
 To that pure glory it of right obtain'd.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 4/> 
 
 merit grave. He was free in conversation, pla- 
 cid, and of condescending manners : strongly 
 attached to the chase of the wolf, and the game 
 of draughts ; but above all, he is asserted to 
 have delighted in music ; to have performed 
 on the guitar, and, when even his funds were 
 low, to have entertained masters to instruct his 
 son Jeronymo in the art. He died at the age 
 of sixty-three, and was buried near to his wife, 
 in the church of Sam Martinho de Carrazedo. 
 
 Sa de Miranda had two sons ; the elder of 
 these was sent when a boy, to Africa, whither 
 most of the Portuguese youth resorted to com- 
 mence their military career. Here, having 
 arrived at considerable rank, he fell by the 
 side of Dom Antonio de Noronha, the friend 
 of Camoens. The virtuous qualities which 
 litis youth possessed, and the great expecta- 
 tions which his father anticipated from his ex- 
 cellent conduct, made him feel very sensibly 
 his loss. The poet Antonio Ferreira address- 
 ed a letter to the disconsolate par bU couched 
 in terms so appropriate, that Sa de Miranda 
 dedicated to him the Elegy, which he com- 
 posed on the death of his son ; wherein, thank- 
 ing him for bin kindness, he says
 
 46 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 mals cm tal sasao, tempo tad avard 
 
 De louvores alheios, em tal dano 
 
 Dos engenhos, que se alhao sem emparo, &C. 
 
 Jeronymo, his other son, married a lady of 
 
 good family, and a daughter, the issue of this 
 marriage, became the wife of Dom Fernando 
 Cores de Sotomayor, who received with her, 
 as her marriage dowry, the original manuscript 
 of her grandfather's poems.* 
 
 The successor of Sa de Miranda, in the 
 
 * The works of Sa de Miranda consist of Sonnets, Elegies, 
 Redondilhas, and two Comedies, " Os Estrangeiros" and 
 " Os Vilhalpandos." Machado, oh the authority of Mont- 
 faucon, writes, that the original MS. was then preserved in 
 the Royal Library at Paris. The works were first printed at 
 Lisbon, by Manoel de Lyra, in 4to. 159.5 ; afterwards in Lis- 
 bon, by Vicente Alvares, in 4to. 1614 ; an edition which was 
 improved by a reference to the original, then in the possession 
 of Sotomayor; again in Lisbon, by Pedro Craesbeeck, 32mo. 
 1632 ; again, by Antonio Leyte Pereira, in 8vo. 1677. The 
 Comedy of " Os Vilhalpandos" was first printed at Coimbra, 
 by Antonio de Mariz. in 12mo. 1560r The Comedy of " Os 
 Estrangeiros" was also first printed at Coimbra, by Ioao de 
 Barreira, in 8vo. 1569. The Comedies were thus printed by 
 order of the Cardinal D. Henrique, before whom they were, 
 by his own desire, frequently acted. An edition of all the 
 works appeared at Lisbon, in 2 vols. 8vo. in 1784.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 47 
 
 same commendable path of enriching the lan- 
 guage of his country, was Antonio Ferreira, 
 another distinguished Portuguese poet. Fer- 
 reira was born at Lisbon in 1528, and was the 
 son of Martini Ferreira, a Knight of the Order 
 of Santiago, and auditor of accounts to Dom 
 Jorge, Duke of Coimbra, and of Mexia Froes 
 Yarella, who gave to t\eir children that edu- 
 cation which their birth demanded. Froes 
 followed the profession of arms, while Antonio 
 entered upon those studies which afterwards 
 conduced so much to his own advantage, and 
 to the honour of Portugal. 
 
 He was placed at the University of Coimbra 
 under the immediate care of Diogo de Teive, 
 the friend of Buchanan, who is so feelingly al- 
 luded to in an Elegy composed by that writer, 
 and addressed, while its author was oppressed 
 with an attack of the gout, about the year 
 1544, to Teive, and another of his colleagues. 
 
 tii(|iie 
 
 Altera pars nnimir, TeviJacorH-, mcv. 
 
 Ferreira, under this master, who filled the 
 second chair of philosophy, studied the Hi*-
 
 48 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 tories of Antiquity, and read the works of the 
 Greek and Roman poets. The writings of Ho- 
 race so particularly attracted his attention, as 
 to induce him to become a close imitator of 
 his style. His progress was rapid, and his 
 gratitude to his tutor never deserted him; on 
 the contrary, he has frequently mentioned him 
 in terms equally honourable to the master and 
 the scholar.* 
 
 Diogo Bernardes has, in his Elegy on the 
 death of Ferreira, alluded to his merits in op- 
 posing the custom of writing in Latin. He 
 says, that he presented to his country " many 
 " beautiful verses, and all in its proper lan- 
 " g ua g e *" 
 
 A patria tantos verses raros, 
 
 Hum so nunca lhe deo em lingua alheia. 
 
 This novel method of writing, on the part of 
 Ferreira, soon gained him the esteem of Sa de 
 Miranda, whose example he had followed. Not 
 content, however, with only treading in the 
 steps of Miranda, Ferreira forcibly recommend- 
 
 * Eclogue V. Letter V. Book II.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 49 
 
 ed the practice;* and, in a letter to Camin- 
 ha, a contemporary poet, he thus describes the 
 Portuguese language: 
 
 Floreca, fle, cante, ouca-se, e vira 
 A Portugueza lingua, e ja onde for 
 Senbora va de li soberba, e altiva. 
 Se tequi esteve bail a, e sem louTor, 
 Culpa be dos que a mal exercitarao : 
 Esquecimento nosso, e detain or. 
 
 Warmed with the praiseworthy design of 
 ennobling, by his compositions, his national 
 language, he eagerly pursued his inclination : a 
 feeling, which he cherished from his earliest 
 years, and from which he received the purest 
 delight. In the epigram, which is given as the 
 preface to the first part of his verses, he thus 
 expresses himself: 
 
 " Eu desta gloria so fico contente, 
 
 " Que a minha terra amei, e a minba gente." 
 
 Sonnet xxxn. Book ii. Ode i. Book i. wherein he - 
 hnrts the Portuguese Poets to cultivate their own language^- 
 Letter iii. Book i. to Pero de Andrade Catninha^ Letter 1. 
 Hook ii. to U. Simao da Silveira. 
 
 VOL. !. E
 
 50 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 By an epitaph, which is preserved by Fr. 
 Manoel de Sa,* it is ascertained that Fer- 
 reira was a professor at the University of Co- 
 imbra ; from whence he went to Lisbon to 
 enter upon the office of " Desembargador na 
 Relacao." 
 
 He had previously taken the degree of Doc- 
 tor of Civil Law ; and, after this event, receiv- 
 ed repeated marks of patronage, and was ap- 
 pointed a Fidalgo of the Royal Household. 
 
 Although his services to the king prevented 
 him from giving that attention to the Muses, 
 which he would otherwise have done, he never 
 deserted them ; many of his letters are dated 
 from Lisbon, and were most probably written 
 after his advancement ; particularly that, which 
 he addressed to the Cardinal Dom Henrique, 
 then Regent of the Kingdom, in praise of Li- 
 terature.f 
 
 Ferreira had married previous to his leaving 
 Coimbra; and he paints, in glowing colours, 
 in a letter, written to his friend Manoel de 
 
 * Memorias da Provincia do Carmo de Portugal. Livr. ii. 
 Cap. xi. p. 253. 
 
 f Obras de Ferreira. Tom. ii. p. 67.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 51 
 
 Sampayo, before he commenced his journey, the 
 lovely retirement of that city ; and his prefer- 
 ence of quiet enjoyment, in the country, at a 
 distance from court, to the honours which 
 awaited him. From this marriage sprung one 
 son, Miguel Leite Ferreira, the editor of his 
 father's works ; whose tender age at Ferrei- 
 ra's death, precluded him from receiving the 
 attentions, or knowing the virtues of such a 
 parent. 
 
 If the writings of men are the testimonies of 
 their feelings, none represent their author more 
 faithfully than those of Ferreira. His man- 
 ners were such as a good disposition generally 
 imbibes from cultivation of talent, and from 
 literature. He was humane as a judge, yet 
 unbiassed in the distribution of justice ; and 
 the friends of his youth were the friends of his 
 whole life. Francisco de Sa de Menezes, 
 Francisco de Sa de Miranda, and Diogo de 
 Teive, were by him denominated his masters : 
 and a perusal of his works will shew, that the 
 first and best poets of the age were his inti- 
 mates ; and that Monarchs, Princes, and No- 
 bles, were alike his patrons and his friend'.. 
 E 2
 
 52 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Enjoying the most marked distinctions and 
 the highest reputation, he was cut off, by the 
 plague, which raged in Lisbon in 1569, in the 
 forty-first year of his age ; an event universally 
 regretted, but more particularly lamented by 
 those who had partaken of his friendship. He 
 was buried in the " Convento do Carmo" in 
 Lisbon, where a monument was erected to his 
 memory ; to which memory the most gratifying 
 and lasting honours have been paid. The Poets, 
 who were his contemporaries, have mourned 
 over his death in elegies and sonnets, while 
 Historians and other writers have been loud 
 and lavish in his praise.* 
 
 The writings of Antonio Ferreira consist of 
 almost every species of minor poetical composi- 
 tion; Castro, a Tragedy; and two Comedies 
 in prose. So early as his twenty-ninth year, 
 he had corrected and arranged them for pub- 
 lication, and his first sonnet was to have been 
 the preface to the volume. This collection did 
 not contain all his works, many of them, and 
 
 * Antonio dos Reis no Enthusiasmo Poetico. Nich. An- 
 tonio. Severim de Faria Disc, da Ling. Port. Machado na 
 Biblioth. Lusit. &c. &c.
 
 LU18 LL ( A.MuLNi. 53 
 
 particularly his Tragedy, were the fruits of his 
 maturer years. His works remained in MS. 
 until 1598, when his son Miguel edited and 
 published them at Lisbon, in a quarto volume.* 
 The greater part of the poems of Ferreira 
 were composed in his youth, and among them, 
 nearly all his sonnets, in many of which he 
 directs his discourse to the Mondego. In 
 these compositions we are shewn the attach- 
 ments which engaged his youthful mind, and 
 in which he was unfortunate. The object of 
 his first passion, the stages of which may be 
 traced from the earliest up to the forty-fifth 
 sonnet, resided at Lisbon, and to her were 
 addressed some of Ferreira's sweetest strains. 
 Why this connection was broken off' we are 
 not informed ; but it appears from the following 
 
 * Machado mentions a second part which remained in 
 manuscript, and which was praised by Ant. de Sousa de Ma- 
 cedo in hi* " Luait Liberal." The edition of 1598 contained 
 only his poetical works, and was printed at the press of Pedro 
 Crasbeeck, at the expense of Estevan Lopez, with a dedication 
 to Philip of Spain. The Comedies were published jointly 
 with those of S.i de Miranda, in 4 to, by Antonio Alvaro, 
 Lisbon, 165*. 
 
 E 3
 
 54 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 sonnets that he had recovered that liberty, 
 which he was soon again doomed to lose, and 
 almost as soon to weep the death of the lady, 
 who had ensnared his heart. This melancholy 
 event forms the subject of nearly the whole of 
 his second book of sonnets. 
 
 SONETO. 
 
 A ti torno, Mondego, claro no, 
 
 Com outr' alma, outros olhos, e outra vida : 
 Que foy de tanta lagryma perdida, 
 Quanta em ti me levou hum desvario ? 
 
 Quando eu co rosto descorado e frio 
 Soltava a voz chorosa, e nunca ouvida 
 Daquella mais que serra endurecida, 
 A cuja lembranca inda tremo, e esfrio. 
 
 Doc 'engano d' Amor ! que m'escondia 
 
 Debaixo de vas sombras, que passaram 
 
 Outro ditoso fim, qu' alma ja via. 
 Ja a minha noite amanheceo hum dia, 
 
 Ja rim os olhos, que tanto choraram ; 
 
 Ja repouso em boa paz, boa alegria. 
 
 SONNET. 
 
 To thy bright streams, Mondego ! I return 
 
 With renovated life, and eyes now clear ; 
 
 How fruitless in thy waters fell the tear, 
 When Love's delirium did with me sojourn !
 
 LUIS DE CA.MOLNS. 55 
 
 When I, with face betraying anguish deep, 
 
 Sent forth my sighs, which mourn'd a lot so drear. 
 And unsuspecting knew not of the steep, 
 Whereon I stood, of which my frame with fear 
 The inem'ry chills Seducing wiles of love ! 
 
 'neath what vaiu shadows did yc hide my fate 
 Shadows that, clouding, pass'd the happier state, 
 Which now my breast enjoys Now peace I prove, 
 For smiling day succeeds the glooms of night, 
 And sweet repose brings joy, and prospect- bright. 
 
 SONETO. 
 
 O alma pura, em quanto c.t vivias 
 
 Alma la onde vivos ja mais pura, 
 
 Porque me desprezaste ? quetn tarn dura 
 
 Te tor in at ao amor, que me devias ? 
 Isto era, o que mil vezes protnettias, 
 
 Em que minh' alma cstava tarn segura, 
 
 Que ambos juntos hiia hora desta escura 
 
 Noite nos soberia aos claros dias ? 
 Como em tarn triste career me deixaste ? 
 
 ( 'onio pude eu sem niiiii deixar partir-te ? 
 
 Como vive este corpo sem sua alma? 
 Ah que o carainho tu betn me mostraste, 
 
 Porque correste a gloriosa palma ! 
 
 Triste de quern nao mcreceo seguir-te.* 
 
 The Eclogues of Ferreira, and his Comedy 
 of Bristo, were also the productions of his ju- 
 
 The Lady, whose fate is thus pathetically deplored, was 
 E *
 
 56 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 venile years, while he yet wandered along the 
 banks of the Mondego. 
 
 Sa de Miranda had introduced the sonnet 
 on the Italian model, the elegy and Horatian 
 epistle; and to these were added, the epigram, 
 ode, and epithalamium, by Ferreira. The Co- 
 medies of " Bristo," and " O Cioso," or the 
 Jealous Man, are written with ability, if we 
 look to the period at which they were com- 
 posed; but it is upon his Tragedy, detailing 
 the story of the beautiful and unfortunate Dona 
 Ignes de Castro, that the fame of Ferreira prin- 
 cipally rests. The " Castro" of Ferreira shews 
 the attention which its author had paid to the 
 rules of the Grecian writers in this department 
 of literature. He is said to have taken Tris- 
 sino for his model, whose Sofonisba was the 
 first Tragedy of modern times; and on this 
 production, which is called the second modern 
 Tragedy, Diogo Bernardes wrote a beautiful 
 sonnet, to which Ferreira made a suitable 
 reply.* 
 
 named Maria Pimentel. She was a native of Oporto, as 
 Ferreira, in his sonnet 52, composed in that City, informs us. 
 * An enlarged and improved edition of the works of Fer- 
 reira, issued from the press at the expence of Du Beux, in
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. ' 57 
 
 It has been urged by some writers, that, 
 even from the period of his being at the Uni- 
 versity of Coimbra, that neglect of his country- 
 men, which was apparent during great part of 
 the life of Camoens, had its commencement. 
 It has also been remarked that his productions, 
 when at Coimbra, did not gain for him the 
 notice of several distinguished persons, who 
 were students there, and whose writings have 
 since appeared ; amongst whom the name of 
 Ferreira has been particularly mentioned. This 
 seeming neglect has been partly accounted for 
 by the same writers, who conjecture that the 
 persons alluded to, and who were united in one 
 common and laudable pursuit after classical 
 correctness, evinced but little of that fire which 
 characterises Camoens.* The time when Ca- 
 moens arrived at the University has been shewn 
 to have been in 1537 or in 1538; and, upon 
 referring to the account transmitted to us re- 
 specting Ferreira, we find that poet was not 
 
 Lisbon, in 1771, in i> vol*. 8vo. To this edition m pre6xed, 
 a life, from which the principal information contained in the 
 foregoing sketch hits heen t>tained. 
 
 ' Houterwck. Gen. Hi*u of Poetry.
 
 58 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 born until 1528, and that he was four years 
 younger than Camoens. Hence it is probable, 
 that Ferreira might not enter the University 
 at so early a period in life as Camoens ; and, 
 being at all events four years his junior, little, 
 if any, knowledge of each other might have 
 existed at the time. It may also be remarked, 
 in support of this supposition, that the students 
 resident at Coimbra were numerous; and we 
 find further, that Ferreira died at the early age 
 of 41, in 1569, in the year in which Camoens 
 returned from India, and before the publica- 
 tion of the Lusiad. 
 
 Camoens makes repeated mention of his re- 
 sidence at Coimbra, in terms, which decidedly 
 mark his attachment to the place, and the plea- 
 sure he experienced during his sojourn there. 
 In the following song, which gives a specimen 
 of his earliest compositions, he pictures as well 
 the sweet retirement of the Mondego, which 
 flows past Coimbra, as the remembrance of 
 some real or fancied attachment which had 
 engaged his attention there :
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 59 
 
 Vmu as serenas agoas 
 
 Do Mondego descendo, 
 
 man&amente ate o mar nao par&m : 
 
 Por ondc as minhas magoas 
 
 Pouco a pouco crescendo, 
 
 Para nunca acabar se comeijarnin. 
 
 Alii se me mostrnram 
 
 Neste lugar ameno, 
 
 m que inda agora mouro, 
 
 Testa de neve, e de ouro ; 
 
 Riso brando, e suave ; olhar sereno ; 
 
 Hum gesto delicado, 
 
 Que sempre na alma me estara pintado. 
 
 Soft from its crystal bed of rest 
 Mondego's tranquil waters glide ; 
 
 Nor stop, till lost on Ocean's breast, 
 They, swelling, mingle with the tide. 
 
 Encreasing still as still they flow, 
 
 Ah ! there commene'd my endless woe. 
 
 There Beauty shew'd, with angel mein, 
 Whate'er is Beauty's loveliest mould, 
 
 TV enchanting smile the brow serene 
 And ivory forehead wreath'd with gold. 
 
 A countenance, which Love's soft art 
 
 Has grav'n for ever on my heart.
 
 60 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Nesta florida terra, 
 Leda, fresca, e serena, 
 Ledo, e contente para mi vivia ; 
 Em paz com minha guerra, 
 Glorioso co' a pena 
 Que de tao bellos olhos procedia. 
 De hum dia em outro dia, 
 O esperar me enganava. 
 Tempo longo passei : 
 Com a vida folguei, 
 
 So porque em bem tamanho se empregava. 
 Mas que me presta ja, 
 Que tao formosos olhos nao os ha ? 
 
 Content and glorious with the pain 
 That shot from Beauty's radiant eyes, 
 
 From day to day I hugged my chain, 
 
 And play'd with life amidst my sighs : 
 
 E'en with my fervent war at peace, 
 
 Nor bade the dear illusions cease. 
 
 Tho' still those beaming orbs unclose, 
 For me their fires no longer shine : 
 
 Can those avail to soothe my woes ; 
 
 If these bright beams no more are mine ? 
 
 For radiant howsoe'er they be 
 
 Alas ! they are not bright for me.
 
 LUIS OE CAMOENS. 61 
 
 Oh quem me alii dissera ! 
 Que de amor tao profundo 
 O fim pudeste ver eu algum' hora ! 
 E quem cuidar pudera, 
 Que houvesse abi no mundo 
 Apartar-me cu de vos, miuha Senbora ! 
 Para que desde agora, 
 J a perdida a esperanca, 
 Visse o vao pensamento, 
 Desfeito em hum momento, 
 Sem me poder ficar mais que a lembranca, 
 Que sempre estara firme 
 Ate no derradeiro despedir-me. 
 
 Ah ! who might guest of Lore so deep 
 I ere th' unfathom'd end should see ? 
 
 Or dare to tell that aught would keep 
 My separated soul from Thee ? 
 
 That, lost to Hope, alone survives 
 
 The cherish'd joy Remembrance gives. 
 
 Ah ! who might say the glorious thought 
 Should, in a moment, cease to heave 
 
 This breast, with fond endearment fraught ; 
 And Hope itself no more deceive ? 
 
 Yet Memory still recalls thy pow'r ; 
 
 And shall, till Life's receding hour.
 
 62 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Mas a mor alegria 
 Que de aqui levar posso, 
 E com que defender-me triste espero ; 
 He que nunca sentia, 
 No tempo que fui vosso, 
 Quererdes-me vos quanto vos eu quero. 
 Porque o tormento fero 
 De vosso apartamento, 
 Nao vos dara tal pena 
 Como a que me condena : 
 Que mais sentirei vosso sentimento 
 Que o que a minha alma sente. 
 Morra eu, Senhora ; o vos ficai contente. 
 
 Yet softly steals to soothe my grief 
 The thought that cheats me into bliss, 
 
 And gives me yet a faint relief 
 
 'Midst all my bosom's wretchedness 
 
 That in our happier hours, you prov'd 
 
 You ne'er could love as I have lov'd ! 
 
 Thus shall the pangs of absence steal 
 O'er thee, with half my torturing woe; 
 
 But should' st thou guess the pangs I feel, 
 Or should thy tear of anguish flow, 
 
 That tear would but my woes encrease, 
 
 In death, alone I seek for peace.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 63 
 
 Tu, Cannae, estaras 
 
 Agora acompanhando 
 
 Por estes canipos estas claras 8goas : 
 
 por mi ficaras 
 
 Com choro suspirando ; 
 
 Porquc ao mundo, dizendo tanta* magoas, 
 
 Como buma larga historia 
 
 Minbas lagrimas fiquem por memoria. 
 
 Yet whisper'd to the murmuring stream 
 That winds these flowery meads among, 
 
 I give affection's cheating dream, 
 
 And pour in weeping truth my song 
 
 That each recounted woe may prove 
 
 A lasting monument of love. 
 
 C. 
 
 In a sonnet, which has been translated by 
 Lord Strangford,* as one, to whom his resi- 
 dence near its banks had afforded delight, he 
 thus takes leave of the Mondego : 
 
 Doces, e claras aguas do Mondego, 
 Doer repouso de minha lemhranca, 
 Onde a comprida, c periida espcran^a, 
 Longo tempo apoz si m trouxc cego. 
 
 Poems from the Portuguese of Camoens p. 94.
 
 64 MEMOIRS OP 
 
 De vos me aparto, si ; porem nao nego, 
 Que inda a longa memoria, que me alcanga, 
 Me nao deixa de vos fazer mudan$a, 
 Mas quanto mais me alongo mais me achego. 
 
 Bern podera a fortuna este instrumento 
 Da alma levar por terra nova, e estranha, 
 Offerecida ao mar remoto, ao vento. 
 
 Mas a alma que de ca vos acompanha, 
 Nas azas do ligeiro pensamento 
 Para vos, aguas, voa, e em vos se banha. 
 
 It may be seen, from the pieces which Ca- 
 moens composed at the University, and from 
 those, of which the dates of their having been 
 written correspond with his immediate depar- 
 ture, how soon, and with what success he com- 
 menced his poetical career. Poetry, at that time, 
 although esteemed in the schools, received much 
 greater patronage from the courts ; his acquire- 
 ments, therefore, in that department of litera- 
 ture, became to Camoens an easy passport to 
 that of Lisbon, where it was customary for 
 the young nobility to pass some time previous 
 to their entering upon the military profession. 
 
 I can find no further accounts of his Mother; 
 and it therefore remains in doubt, whether she 
 lived to see the progress which her son had
 
 LUI8 DE CAMOEN8. 65 
 
 made in his studies, and to witness his return 
 to Lisbon ; or whether death, in pity, removed 
 her, previous to the commencement of his mis- 
 fortunes. 
 
 Camoens left the University, and proceeded 
 to Lisbon, with every desirable qualification. 
 His education had been carefully attended to ; 
 with the love of literature he possessed its dis- 
 tinguishing acquirements, and a high polish of 
 manners. He was also noble, young, and hand- 
 some ; with a heart alive to the softer impres- 
 sions of our nature. These circumstances, to- 
 gether with his honourable extraction, secured 
 to him on his arrival at the Court, and more 
 particularly from its Ladies, extensive patronage 
 and notice; and became a pleasing incitement 
 to his genius. At this time several of his minor 
 compositions were written ; and it is more than 
 probable that the Plan and Subject of his in- 
 tended Poem, on which his literary character 
 chiefly depends, occupied some part of his 
 attention. 
 
 If Camoens must have been highly flattered 
 by his reception at Lisbon ; it was not long 
 before an event occurred, from which, unem- 
 
 VOL. i. f
 
 66 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 plowed as he was, and taken up chiefly with 
 the pursuit of pleasure, he became convinced 
 of the Impropriety of youth remaining without 
 business, and the Evils resulting therefrom. A 
 Lady, Dona Catharina de Atayde, to whom 
 he breathed the sighs of a most attached and 
 ardent lover, engaged now his undivided atten- 
 tion. Faria e Sousa endeavoured in vain to 
 procure any information concerning her, fur- 
 ther, than that she was " Dama do Palacio." 
 The exertions of Dom Joze Maria de Souza 
 have not been attended with better success; 
 he informs us that he had made diligent search 
 in the " Historia da Casa Real," to disco- 
 ver from which branch of the family she was 
 descended ; but that his labours had been alto- 
 gether unsuccessful : he is, however, inclined 
 to think that she was the kinswoman of D. 
 Antonio de Atayde, the first Conde de Castan* 
 heira, and a powerful favourite of Ioao III. 
 
 Camoens has, in a sonnet, which is asserted 
 by natives of Portugal, who are best able to 
 decide upon its merits, to be a composition 
 deserving the greatest praise, given us a picture 
 of Dona Catharina's amiable mind and de-
 
 LUI8 DE CAMOENS. 67 
 
 meanour. A translation of this sonnet, with 
 which the author of these memoirs has been 
 favoured, is subjoined. Though this transla- 
 tion is, as he thinks, executed tastefully, yet 
 it may be feared, from the difficulty in adapt- 
 ing to the English language the expressions 
 contained in it, that it may not convey all the 
 beauties of the original. 
 
 SONETO. 
 
 Hum mover dc olhos, brando, c picdoso, 
 
 Sem m r de que ; hum riso brando, e honesto, 
 Quasi forcado ; hum doce e humilde gesto 
 
 De qualquer alegria duvidoso : 
 
 Hum despejo quieto, e vergonhoso ; 
 
 Hum repouso grevissimo, e modesto ; 
 
 Huma pure bondade, manifesto 
 Indicio da alma, Hmpo, c gracioso : 
 
 Hum encolhido ousar ; huma brandure ; 
 
 Hum medo sem ter culpa ; hum ar sereno ; 
 
 Hum longo e obediente soffrimento ; 
 Esta foi a celeste formosura 
 
 Da minha Circe, e o magico veneno 
 
 Que pode transformar meu pensamento. 
 
 F 2
 
 68 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 SONNET. 
 
 Her Eye's soft movement radiant, and benign 
 
 Yet with no casual glance ; her honest Smile 
 Cautious, tho' free ; her Gestures, that combine 
 
 Light mirth with modesty, as if the while 
 She stood all-trembling o'er some doubtful bliss ; 
 
 Her blithe Demeanour, her confiding Ease 
 Secure in grave and virgin bashfulness, 
 
 'Midst ev'ry gentler virtue form'd to please ; 
 Her purity of Soul ; her innate Fear 
 
 Of error's stain ; her Temper mild, resign'd ; 
 Her Looks, obedience ; her unclouded Air, 
 
 The faithful index of a spotless mind ; 
 These form the Circe, who with magic art 
 Can fix, or change each purpose of my heart. 
 
 C. 
 
 Faria e Sousa was at one time induced, from 
 some circumstances which had come to his 
 knowledge, to suppose that D. Catharina might 
 have been resident at Coimbra, at the time 
 Camoens studied at the University; and that 
 she might have been the person who was al- 
 luded to in the song, 
 
 " Vao as serenas agoas" 
 
 having been afterwards appointed a Lady of 
 the Palace. He admits, however, that this was
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 69 
 
 mere supposition; that contradictory evidence 
 was to be found against it in the works of the 
 poet; and that a long examination of the 
 Rimas had not enabled him to satisfy himself 
 upon the point. 
 
 The same author expended much time and 
 research in endeavouring to ascertain the pe- 
 riod, when, according to a sonnet of Camoens, 
 he became the decided admirer of this lady. 
 The sonnet has been translated by Lord 
 Strangford ; and is the first in the collection 
 published by his Lordship, who, in a note he 
 has given, observes, that he had investigated 
 the circumstances attending this meeting. The 
 poem alluded to is the following: 
 
 O Culto divinnl <* celebntva 
 
 No Temulo domic toda Crialura 
 
 I.Miiv.i n Feitor divitio que a I YImiim 
 
 Com sell Sagmdo sangue restaurara. 
 Amor alii, que o tempo me aguardava, 
 
 Onde a vontadc tinha mais segura. 
 
 Com hums rara e Angelica ligura 
 
 A vista da razao me salteava. 
 Ku crendo que o lugar me defendia, 
 
 De eu livrc costume nao ubvndo 
 
 Que nrtiliiim confiado Ihc f'tigia ; 
 F 3
 
 70 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Deixei-me cativar ; mas hoje vendo, 
 Senhora, que por vosso me queria, 
 Do tempo que fuy livre me arrependo. 
 
 It would appear, by the commentary on this 
 sonnet, by Faria e Sousa, that he had gone into 
 the investigation mentioned in Lord Strang- 
 ford's note, and had given his reasons for 
 fixing the 1 1th or 12th day of April, as the time 
 when this event happened. It does not, how- 
 ever, appear, why the year 1542, a date so 
 much earlier tfian Dom Joze Maria de Souza 
 is inclined to allow for the arrival of Camoens 
 in Lisbon, has been assigned. The latter 
 biographer supposes, that the year 1545 was 
 the most likely period for the departure of Ca- 
 moens from the University. The investigation 
 of Faria e Sousa commences with a quotation 
 from the seventh Cancao of Camoens 
 
 No Touro entrava Febo, e Progne vinha, 
 O corno de Acheloo Flora entornava ; 
 Quando o Amor soltava 
 Os fios de Ouro, as tran^as encrespadas 
 Ao doce vento esquivas &c. 
 
 And, after various calculations, it is stated, that 
 in the year 1542, the sun entered Taurus on
 
 LUIS E CAMOENS. 71 
 
 the tenth day of April, and that Easter Sun- 
 day being on the fourteenth day of the same 
 month, Holy Thursday and Good Friday had 
 fallen on the eleventh and twelfth. 
 
 The place at which this meeting occurred, 
 has, by the biographers of Camoens, been 
 asserted to be in the Church dedicated to 
 " Christ's wounds," at Lisbon. The sonnet, 
 however, does not allude to any particular situ- 
 ation, but rather to the time in the year ; and 
 the Passion of our Saviour would be, in those 
 days, celebrated in every part of the kingdom 
 of Portugal. 
 
 It has ever been a favourite plan with the 
 writers of amatory poetry, to record the time 
 and place of their meeting with the object of 
 their first attachment In his commentary on 
 this sonnet Faria e Sousa notices its imitation 
 of that of Petrarch, composed on a similar 
 occasion 
 
 Era 'I giorno ch* al sol si scoloraro, 
 Per la picta del luo Fattoic, i rai : 
 Qi. .iih)' i' fui pri'-u. &c. 
 
 T r
 
 72 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 When with faint radiance shone the pitying sun, 
 Its Maker's cruel sufferings to survey ; 
 Then, then you stole my heedless heart away. 
 
 Sonnets from Petrarch. London, 1808. 
 
 As also of a passage in Ariosto 
 
 Ne il di, ne l'anno tacero, ne il loco 
 
 Dove io fui preso, &c. havean le ruote preste, 
 
 Rifatto il giorno mille 
 
 E cinquecento e tredici fiate, 
 
 Sacro al Battista in mezzo de la state &c. 
 
 The event is recorded by Lope de Vega 
 
 El culto celestial se celebrava 
 
 Del mayor Viernes en la Iglesia pia, 
 Quando por Laura Franco se encendia, 
 Y Liso por Natercia se inflamava. 
 
 The words Liso and Natercia are used for 
 Lois and Caterina, as they are by Camoens 
 himself in his sonnet commencing 
 
 " Na metade do Ceo subido ardia." 
 
 That this attachment was reciprocal there is 
 no reason to doubt, as also that the attentions 
 paid by Camoens to their daughter were a 
 source of uneasiness to the parents of Dona 
 Catharina. Dom Joze Maria de Souza writes,
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 73 
 
 " although Camoens was her equal in birth, 
 yet, as he wanted the favours of fortune, it 
 may be conjectured the family of D. Catharina 
 used every exertion to prevent an union, con- 
 sidered by them as disadvantageous. Repre- 
 senting, therefore, in the most serious light, an 
 indiscretion, which might have been excused ; 
 they urged against it the force of those laws, 
 which, at that time, were very severe upon 
 any one who encouraged amours within the 
 palace. For this reason, the only one of which 
 we have any certain account, he was exiled 
 from the Court to the Ribatejo." In the 
 term Ribatejo, is implied, the country on the 
 banks of the Tagus above Lisbon, and by 
 using it, this author avoids any controversy 
 as to Santarem being the place, to which Ca- 
 moens repaired on receiving the order for his 
 banishment.* 
 
 * In a note on his life of Camoens, D. Joze gives as hit 
 opinion, that Camoens alludes to his banishment in his thir- 
 teenth CaiKao, which commences 
 
 " Oh Pomar ventiiiwo." 
 
 and, is inclined, notwithstanding, the family of his mother had 
 ben settled at Santarem, at which place prohahly some of her
 
 74* MEMOIRS OF 
 
 The early biographers of Camoens have not 
 left us any information as to the nature of this 
 indiscretion. If his fate, therefore, resembled 
 that of Ovid, the real and undiscovered cause 
 of his exile bears an equal similitude to that of 
 the Roman poet. The same silence is pre- 
 served by them with respect to any intervening 
 circumstances between the sentence and its 
 execution. The works of Camoens contain 
 many passages which may be applied to the 
 situation in which the bard was placed; but 
 these, had there been any idea of their really 
 recording what happened to Dona Cathari- 
 
 relations still resided ; and the assertions of almost all his 
 former biographers as to that place being the town to which 
 he was banished, to be satisfied, that this exile was passed 
 near to the river Zezere, which joins the Tagus at Punhete, a 
 town situated higher up the Tagus than Santarem. The pas- 
 sage which induces this belief is 
 
 Oh Pomar venturoso 
 
 * * * * 
 
 De teu formoso peso 
 
 Se mostra o monte ledo, 
 
 E o caudalozo Zezere te estranha 
 
 Porque olhas com desprezo 
 
 Seu crystal puro e quedo, 
 
 Que c m Pera os tem pes rodea e banha.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 75 
 
 na and Camoens, previous to his departure, 
 would not, at the time when Severim de Fa- 
 ria and Faria e Sousa wrote, have escaped 
 the notice of those investigators. In the ab- 
 sence of distinct information, Lord Strang- 
 ford has rendered these passages subservient to 
 his review of the life of Camoens ; and by this 
 means made a connected story. The poet is 
 represented as having undergone a weary state 
 of probation, and a tiresome courtship, and the 
 reader is congratulated that these ceremonies 
 are no longer required by the ladies; Camoens 
 is said to have been honoured with the gift of a 
 band which bound the hair of his mistress, in 
 earnest of her future favours ; an interview, 
 which is stated to have taken place on the 
 morning of his departure, is painted in glow- 
 ing terms ; and after a mutual confession of 
 attachment, the poet is pictured as setting out 
 for the place of his exile, comforted ami assured 
 of the affection of D. Catharina.* 
 
 Faria e Sousn is quoted as the authority for these asser- 
 tions; but on reference to his Commentaries un the sonnets 
 translated by Lord Strangford, we find be does not state D. 
 Catharina by name, as the Inly to w liich they allude ; but 
 merely culls bei " Su querida, bis beloved."
 
 76 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Santarem has been admitted, by nearly all 
 his biographers, to be the place for which Ca- 
 moens departed from Lisbon, and the fact 
 urged before, as to the family of his mother 
 having resided there, has been deemed as near- 
 ly conclusive evidence. Here he wrote an 
 Elegy, in which he laments this misfortune, 
 similar to that which befel the poet Ovid ; in 
 several pathetic passages, drawing comparisons 
 respecting their hapless fates, and invoking 
 the Tagus, which flowed past his residence to- 
 wards Lisbon, where the tender cause of his 
 banishment dwelt, to convey with its stream 
 his tears to the object of his attachment. 
 
 Nearly the whole of the Elegy composed by 
 Camoens, when at the place of his exile, is 
 here given, as it is consonant with the plan 
 upon which this sketch of his life has been 
 undertaken, to make the poet his own biogra- 
 pher ; especially where there are sufficient 
 grounds to ascertain, that the passages selected 
 contain the relation of the events which hap- 
 pened.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 77 
 
 ELEGIA. 
 
 O Sulmonense Ovidio desterrado 
 N' aspereza do Pouto, imaginando 
 Ver-se de seus Penates apartado : 
 
 Sua chara mulher desamparando, 
 Seus duces fillios sen contentamento ; 
 De sua Patria os olhos apartando : 
 
 Nao podendo encobrir o sentimento, 
 Aos montes j.i, j.i aos rios se queixava 
 De seu escuro, e triste nascimeuto. 
 
 O curso das Estrellas contemplava, 
 E aquella urdem com que discorria 
 O Ceo, e o Ar, c a Terra adunde estava. 
 
 To rugged Pontus, when from cloudless skies 
 Sulmonian Ovid, banish'd, weeping turn'd ; 
 
 His household Gods Wife Children all the ties 
 Of sacred love, in parting grief he mourn'd. 
 
 With eye averted on his country cast 
 
 No Iing'ring look but still in sadder strain 
 
 Gave his keen feelings as he wandering past 
 To rivers, mountains, and the cheerless plain. 
 
 He mark'd where nature in her glowing pride 
 
 O'er Earth o'er Air, and all the star-gemm'd Sky. 
 
 Bade Order's laws around their course preside ; 
 And own'd the universal harmony.
 
 78 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Os peixes por o mar nadancto via, 
 As feras por o monte, procedendo 
 Com o seu natural lhes permittia. 
 
 De suas fontes via estar nascendo 
 Os saudosos rios de crystal, 
 A' sua natureza obedecendo. 
 
 Assi so de seu proprio natural 
 Apartado se via em terra estranha, 
 A cuja triste dor nao acha igual. 
 
 So sua doce Musa o acompanha, 
 Nos saudosos versos que escrevia, 
 E nos lamentos com que o campo banha. 
 
 The Fishes, sportive in the crystal wave 
 By instinct guided in their liquid way ; 
 
 The Beasts, proceeding for their mountain cave, 
 Confess alike her great her secret sway. 
 
 Saw murm'ring streamlets from their glitt'ring source 
 
 Pursue their path in tributary pride ; 
 Saw them, obedient to their destin'd course, 
 
 Steal in soft splendour to the sparkling tide. 
 
 Himself he saw amidst the Exile's woe, 
 Th' unequal'd woe, that cannot find relief, 
 
 While o'er his verse, soft tears of sorrow flow ; 
 His Muse alone companion of his grief.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEXS. 79 
 
 I 
 
 Desta arte rne figure phantasia, 
 A vida com qucm morro, desterrado 
 Do bem que em outro tempo possuia. 
 
 Aqui contemplo o gosto j.i passado, 
 Que nunca passant por a memoria 
 De quern o traz na mente debuxado. 
 
 Aqui vejo caduca, c debil gloria 
 Dcscnganar raeu erro co' a mudan^a 
 Que faz a Tragi 1 vida tranvitoria. 
 
 Aqui mc represcnta esta lcmbran^a 
 Quao pouca culpa tcnho : me entristece 
 Ver tern razao o pena que me alranca. 
 
 Thus Fancy painu me thus like him forlorn, 
 Condemn'd the hapless Exile's fate to prove : 
 
 Iu life-consuming pain thus doom'd to mourn 
 The loss of all I priz'd of Her I love. 
 
 Yet fondly turning, in rcmember'd bliss 
 To joys by mera'ry graven on the heart ; 
 
 I see how transient earthly happiness. 
 
 How weak is glory and how vain her art. 
 
 Reflexion paints me guiltless tho' opprest, 
 Increasing thus the sources of my woe ; 
 
 The pang unmerited that rends the breast 
 But bids a tear of keener sorrow flou .
 
 80 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Que a pena que com a causa se padece, 
 A causa tira o sentimento della ; 
 Mas muito doe a que se nao merece. 
 
 Quando a roxa manhaa, dourada, e bella, 
 Abre as portas ao Sol, e cahe o orvalho, 
 E torna a seus queixumes Philomela ; 
 
 Este cuidado que co' o somno atalho, 
 Em sonhos me parece, que o que a gente 
 Por seu descanso tern me da trabalho. 
 
 If justly punish'd, then th'enduring mind 
 
 A chasten'd comfort from the Cause receives ; 
 
 And Reason may a consolation find 
 
 Which undeserv'd affliction never gives. 
 
 What time the smiling morn brings on the day, 
 And wasting dewdrops vanish from the plain ; 
 
 What time the Nightingale her weeping lay 
 
 In sadness pours, and tunes the love-lorn strain- 
 
 Midst broken slumbers, and delusion's pow'r, 
 
 With tenfold force my Sorrows all arise ; 
 Steal from repose the transitory hour, 
 
 When others find a respite from their sighs.
 
 LUIS DE (AMi)KNS. 81 
 
 despoil de acordado cegamente, 
 (Ou, por melhor dixer, desacordado, 
 Que pouco acordo logra hum c'escontente) 
 
 De aqui me vou, com passo carregado, 
 A hum outciro erguido, e alii me assento, 
 Soltando toda a redea a meu cuidado. 
 
 Despois de farto ja de meu tormento, 
 Estendo estes meus olhos saudosos 
 A' parte donde tinha o pensamento. 
 
 Nao vejo senao montes pedregosos ; 
 ten) graca, e sem flor, os campos vejo, 
 Que ja floridos vira, e graciosos. 
 
 No mental joys the discontented prove, 
 
 When waking sense recall the hour of care ; 
 
 Slow e'er some hill with lab' ring steps I rove. 
 And give my tortur'd bosom to despair. 
 
 Alas ! not here my straining eye surveys 
 
 The hallow'd spot, from whence my sorrows flow ; 
 
 Here nought in kind compassion meets my gaze, 
 
 But mountain heights, where flow'rs nor herbage grow. 
 
 Since my sad Exile, to my cheerless view 
 
 The fields no more are green, the flow'rets fair; 
 
 Ah ! late I mark'd their rich luxuriant hue, 
 But Nature sheds no more gay blov>oros there. 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 MEMOIRS or 
 
 Vejo o puro, suave, e rico Tejo, 
 Com as concavas barcas, que nadando 
 Vao pondo em doce effeito o seu desejo. 
 
 Humas com brando vento navegando, 
 Outras com leves remos brandamente 
 As crystallinas aguas apartando. 
 
 De alii fallo com a agua que nao sente, 
 Com cujo sentimento esta alma sai 
 Em lagrimas desfeita claramente. 
 
 O' fugitivas ondas, esperai ; 
 Que pois me nao levais em companhia, 
 Ao menos estas lagrimas levai. 
 
 On golden Tagus' undulating stream 
 
 Skim the light barks by gentlest wishes sped. 
 
 Trace their still way 'midst many a rosy gleam 
 That steals in blushes o'er its trembling bed. 
 
 I see them gay, in passing beauty, glide, 
 
 Some with fix'd sails to woo the tardy gale ; 
 
 Whilst others with their oars that stream divide 
 To which I weeping tell the Exile's tale. 
 
 Stay wand'ring waves, ye fugitives ah stay ! 
 
 Or if without me, ye unpitying go ;. 
 At least my tears my sighs my vows convev. 
 
 Those faithful emblems of my cherisb'd woe.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEVS. 89 
 
 Ate que venha aquelle alegre dia 
 Que eu vu onde vos ides, livre, e lido, 
 Mas tanto tempo, quem o uassaria ? 
 
 Nao pode tanto bem chegar tao cedo : 
 Porque primeiro a vid.i arahara. 
 Que se acabe tao aspero degredo. 
 
 Go then pursue in calm translucent grace, 
 Your unrestrain'd, tho' not unenvied way, 
 
 Till I like you regain that hallow'd place, 
 And hail the dawn of joy's returning day. 
 
 Rut all ! not soon shall that protracted hour, 
 
 To bless the Exile in his anguish, come ; 
 Life may fulfil its transitory pow'r, 
 Ere happier destiny revoke my doom. 
 
 C. 
 
 A passage in a sonnet, written by Domingos 
 dos Keis Quita, a good poet, and an amiable 
 character, who died in the year 1770, bears a 
 great resemblance to the appeal of Camoenn to 
 the waves of the Tagus. 
 
 Os suspiros as Ugrimas, que choro, 
 I-evai, ondas ; levai, ligi-iro vento ; 
 Para onde me lcvastes quem adoro. 
 
 o 2
 
 86 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Ye wares transport the tears, which now T weep, 
 Ye winds upon your breezes waft my sighs, 
 
 To where my long-lost hopes of comfort sleep, 
 Where ye have borne the soul of her I prize. 
 
 The restraint, which the mind of Camoens, 
 fraught with enthusiasm, must have suffered 
 from remaining in a state of exile, may be easily 
 imagined; he bore up, however, against his 
 misfortunes ; and beguiled the tedious hours by 
 composing verses, and by study. His come- 
 dies are supposed to have been written at this 
 period, and the Lusiad to have engaged a 
 share of his attention. Thus he remain- 
 ed, consuming his valuable time, until, roused 
 by patriotic feelings, and despairing of esta- 
 blishing himself in Lisbon in the situation he 
 wished, he resolved to become a soldier, and 
 to try his fortune in the wars. 
 
 Faria e Sousa mentions, that he returned to 
 Lisbon; was a second time discovered renew- 
 ing his former indiscretion; again banished; 
 and went to Ceuta. He, however, qualifies 
 this statement by an explanation, that in his 
 opinion, Camoens, seeing the impossibility of 
 returning to the Court, enlarged his sentence
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEKS. 85 
 
 by voluntary exile. The story of his second 
 banishment is not borne out by the authority 
 of Severim de Fan a. Machado, or any other of 
 the older biographers of Camoens. Dom Joze 
 Maria de Souza writes, that " not any inform- 
 ** ation has reached us, as to the duration of 
 " his exile ; as to the time he returned to Lis- 
 " bon, and embarked to serve in Africa; nor 
 " even as to the reason for his second departure 
 " from the Court. Perhaps, either out of del i- 
 " cacy to Dona Catharina, or for the purpose 
 " of trying new vicissitudes, he took a resolu- 
 11 tion consonant to the bravery of his heart; 
 M and entering on the military profession, wish- 
 " ed, as a true knight, to partake of the glory 
 " which the Portuguese at that time were ac- 
 " quiring in all parts of the world." Dom 
 Joze then gives it as his opinion, that it was 
 at this period he first entertained the idea of 
 going to India, and took measures for that 
 purpose in 1550; but that he was obliged to 
 change this his intention, and to serve in Africa, 
 either in pursuance of a new sentence of exile 
 which hnd been pns*ed, or for some other 
 a $
 
 \ 
 
 86 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 cause with which we have not been made ac- 
 quainted. 
 
 Gamoens, at the time of his departure for 
 Ceuta, had formed an intimacy with Dom An- 
 tonio de Noronha, who was also going to join 
 the Portuguese forces in Africa. D. Antonio 
 was the son of D. Francisco de Noronha, se- 
 cond Conde de Linhares; and the nephew of 
 D. Pedro de Menezes, Captain General of 
 Ceuta. He was a personage of high attain- 
 ments, and a great admirer of the genius of 
 Camoens : and the result of their meeting, 
 was a strict and firm friendship, which was 
 only dissolved by the death of Noronha. It 
 is reported, that there was another reason be- 
 sides their going on the same military service, 
 and their congeniality, for this firm friendship 
 which existed between D. Antonio and Ca- 
 moens. The father of D. Antonio having dis- 
 covered an attachment, of which he did not 
 approve, between his son and Dona Margarita 
 de Silva, the grand-daughter of the Conde de, 
 Abrantes, and a lady of great beauty, removed 
 him to Ceuta. This circumstance rendered 
 similar the fates of D. Antonio and Camoens,
 
 LUr8 DE CAMOENS. 87 
 
 who refers to this interference on the part of 
 the father of D. Antonio in stanza 24 of the 
 Eclogue, which he composed on the death of 
 his friend. 
 
 Mas como este tormento o sinalou. 
 tanto no scu rosto se mostrasse ; 
 ntendendo-o ja bem o Pay sesudo, 
 Porque do pensamento Iho tirasse, 
 Longe da causa dclle o apartou, 
 Porque, i'ii fun. longa ausencia acaba tudo. * 
 
 But whilst his tell-tale cheek the cause betrays, 
 To him, who mark'd it with affection's eye ; 
 
 And speaks in silence to a father's gaze 
 The fatal strength of love's resistless sigh ; 
 
 Parental art resolv'd, alas ! to prove 
 
 The stronger power of absence over love. 
 
 It was during his residence at Ceuta, that he 
 wrote the Elegy, commencing 
 
 Aquella que de amor descomedido. 
 
 * Carnoens has used a similar expression, in describing the 
 conduct of king Alfonso IV. towards hiB son D. Pedro, on 
 account of his attachment to Dona Ignez de Castro. 
 
 Vendo estas namoradas estranhezas 
 O vi-lbu pay seaudo, que respeyta, &c. 
 G 4
 
 88 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 This is evident from various passages con- 
 tained in it, but more particularly from the 
 following : 
 
 Ando gastando a vida trabalhosa, 
 E esparzindo a continua saudade, 
 Ao longo de huma praia saudosa. 
 
 And 
 
 com isto figuro na lembranca 
 A nova terra, o novo trato humano 
 A estrangeira progenie, a estranha usan^a. 
 
 Subo-me ao monte que Hercules Thebano 
 Do altissimo Calpe dividio, 
 Dando caminho ao mar Mediterrano. 
 
 De alii estou tanteando adonde vio 
 O pomar das Hesperidas matando 
 A serpe qui a seu passo resistio. 
 
 Estou-me em outra parte figurando 
 O poderoso Antheo, que derribado 
 Mais forca se lhe vinha acrescentado. 
 
 wherein he alludes to Abyla, one of the pil- 
 lars of Hercules, opposite to Gibraltar. 
 
 Dom Joze Maria de Souza quotes several 
 expressions which are used by Camoens; and 
 which, that author is inclined to suppose, indi-
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 89 
 
 cate, that the poet, although innocent, had l>een 
 compelled to go to Africa. Amongst these the 
 strongest is : 
 
 Oh graves e insoffriveis accidcntes 
 
 De Fort una, e de Amor ! Que penitencia 
 
 Tao grave dais aos peitos innoccntcs ! 
 
 In his Cancao beginning 
 
 Vinde ca men tao certo Secretaries 
 
 wherein Camoens refers to the principal events 
 of his life ; his journey across the Streights 
 of Gibraltar to Ceuta, and the wound which 
 he received in a naval engagement with the 
 
 The opinion of the biographers of the poet, that his 
 father was present in the engagement wherein Camoens was 
 wounded, has been already stated at page 15. It may not, 
 however, be improper to mention in tlii- place an additional 
 remark, relating to the father of Camoens, which Faria e 
 Sousa makes : " The narratives state, that the poet fought by 
 " the side of his father; and if this was so, we might suppose 
 " that his father serving in tli.it placu, took him with him 
 " thither, seeing that there was not any prospect of his re- 
 " turning to court."
 
 90 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Moors, and which deprived him of his right 
 eye, are thus alluded to. 
 
 Desta arte a vida em outra fui trocando; 
 Eu nao, mas o destino fero, irado ; 
 Que eu, inda assi, por outra a nao trocara. 
 Fez-me deixar o patrio ninho amado, 
 Passando o longo mar, que amea^ando 
 Tantas vezes me esteve a vida chara. 
 Agora exprimentando a furia rara 
 De Marte, que nos olhos quiz que logo 
 Visse, e tocasse o acerbo fructo seu : 
 
 This action took place in the Streights, and 
 the vessel in which Camoens was stationed, 
 having been struck with a cannon ball, a splin- 
 ter from it caused the accident.* 
 
 We are informed that Camoens was, during 
 his absence from Lisbon, actively employed; 
 and that he conducted himself bravely, not 
 only in the rencounter in which he was wound- 
 ed, but also in various other affairs with the 
 enemy ; of some of which he hints in a line 
 given in his elegy last referred to. 
 
 * Severim de Faria observes, that the loss of his eye having 
 very much disfigured Camoens, the ladies afterwards amused 
 themselves by calling him " Diabo" and " Caro sem olhos."
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEN8. 91 
 
 Nera com as annas tao continuada*. 
 
 It is a little remarkable, however, that we 
 have not been furnished with any account of 
 the rank which he held in Africa ; or whether 
 he was allowed, as was the case with many of 
 the young Portuguese of Family at that time, 
 to commence the profession of arms as a vo- 
 lunteer. 
 
 It may be almost gathered, from the way in 
 which Severim de Faria mentions that the ac- 
 cident by which Camoens was deprived of his 
 eye, happened previous to his departure for 
 India, that some doubts existed at the time he 
 wrote, as to the date of this event ; he particu- 
 larly cites the passage from Camocns's first 
 letter from India, which was dispatched home 
 shortly after his arrival, and wherein in writing 
 of Manoel Serrao, he says, " Que, sicut et nos 
 manqueja de hum olho," who, like me, is de- 
 prived of an eye. 
 
 Camoens, having now added military re- 
 nown to his literary fame, returned to Lisbon 
 with a mind naturally proud ; and which, it 
 may be imagined, could ill brook neglect. He 
 put in, on his arrival, conscious of the proprie-
 
 92 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ty of his pretensions, a demand of remuneration 
 for his services ; and exhibited his face dis- 
 figured by the loss of an eye, in support of his 
 claim. What must have been his feelings, 
 when no one was found at Court to take any 
 interest in his behalf! 
 
 The biographers of Camoens report, that 
 he met, at this period, with another severe 
 mortification, in the death of D. Catharina 
 de Atayde, the lady for whose sake he had 
 been banished. This event, which took place 
 while she was yet in waiting upon the Queen 
 of Ioao III. if it occurred at this time, when 
 his hopes had experienced the blight above- 
 mentioned, must have produced a shock to his 
 mind, which those can best estimate, who have 
 been placed in similar situations, and which 
 might have caused the renewal of his intention 
 of visiting India. Whether D. Catharina died 
 at that time or afterwards ; it is beyond doubt, 
 that the following beautiful sonnet, in which 
 he pathetically pourtrays the feelings of an 
 unfortunate lover, bewailing the hapless event, 
 which had thus wrecked his hopes of happiness, 
 was composed to her memory:
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 98 
 
 SONETO. 
 
 Alma minha gentil, que te parti-te 
 
 Tao cedo dustu vida desconteute ; 
 
 llepousa la no ceo eternainente, 
 E viva eu ca na terra sempre triste. 
 Se la no asento Ethereo, onde subistc, 
 
 Mernoria desta vida se contente, 
 
 Nao te esquegas de aquelle amor ardente, 
 Que ja nos olhos mvus tao puro vite. 
 
 E se vires que pode merecer-te 
 Alguma cousa a dor, que me ficou 
 Da magoa, sem remedio de perder-te ; 
 
 Roga a Deos que teus an nos encurtou, 
 Que tao cedo de ca me leve a ver-te, 
 Quan cedo de meus olhos te levou.* 
 
 This composition has engaged the abilities 
 of three English poets of considerable genius. 
 To Mr Southey I am indebted for many 
 obliging favours, and particularly for allowing 
 me to illustrate this work with his translation 
 
 * Ch' rll.1, che vede tutti i miei pensieri 
 .M impetri gratia, eh' io possa e***r seco. 
 
 PrtrarcA.
 
 94 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 of this sonnet. It has been observed by Mr 
 Southey, " that to most imaginations, Camoens 
 " will never appear so interesting, as when he 
 " is bewailing his first love. It is in these mo- 
 " ments that he is most truly a poet." 
 
 SONNET. 
 
 Meek spirit, who so early didst depart, 
 
 Thou art at rest in Heaven ! I linger here, 
 And feed the lonely anguish of my heart ; 
 
 Thinking of all that made existence dear. 
 All lost ! If in this happy world above 
 
 Remembrance of this mortal life endure, 
 Thou wilt not then forget the perfect love 
 
 Which still thou see'st in me. O spirit pure ! 
 And if the irremediable grief, 
 The woe, which never hopes on earth relief, 
 
 May merit aught of thee ; prefer thy prayer 
 To God, who took thee early to his rest, 
 That it may please him soon amid the blest 
 
 To summon me, dear maid ! to meet thee there.* 
 
 * Another translation, which was printed in Mr Hayley's 
 works, as the production of an ingenious friend, from whom 
 Mr Hayley observes, that " the public may wish him to have 
 " received more extensive obligations of a similar nature," is 
 given in a subsequent part of this volume. A third transla- 
 tion appeared in an anonymous publication of " Translations 
 " from Camoens, and other poets." Oxford, 1818. 8vo.
 
 LUIS OE CAMOENS. 95 
 
 This sonnet is not the only poem written by 
 Camoens on this lamented event, Amongst va- 
 rious other pieces, the Eclogue commencing 
 
 Do quanto alento. e gosto me causava. 
 
 first published by the editors of the edition of 
 1779, from the original MS. of the Commenta- 
 ries of Faria e Sousa, preserved in the Library 
 of the Royal Convent of " Nossa Senhora da 
 Graca," at Lisbon, is entitled to much praise. 
 In it, D. Catharina or Caterina, under the 
 anagram of Natercia, is several times mentioned 
 with great tenderness. 
 
 Natercia, por quern ando acompanhando 
 Da magoa t.il. que so da inorte dura 
 Espero o Mil fim do meu cuidado.* 
 
 The sonnet 
 
 Debaixo de&ta pedra sepultada, 
 
 is supposed to have been written on the same 
 melancholy occasion. 
 
 " Natercia, for whom 1 feel such great grief, that it i> 
 " only from utern death, that I hope a fortunate conclusion to 
 " my woe."
 
 96 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 In opposition to this date, for the time of the 
 death of D. Catharina, we have the powerful 
 authority of D. Joze Maria de Souza, who 
 gives his unqualified opinion, that she did not 
 die until a few years previous to the return of 
 Camoens from India. Upon a point so pecu- 
 liarly interesting in the life of Camoens, I felt 
 very anxious to be able to state any circum- 
 stances which might have induced Dom Joze 
 to depart from the account which had general- 
 ly been transmitted to us respecting this event; 
 and, therefore, requested to be furnished by 
 him with the reasons, if he had any others than 
 those given in his life of the poet, which had 
 caused that departure. This request was 
 acceded to with the uniform and obliging 
 willingness which Dom Joze has ever shewn to 
 afford me information ; and with the same in- 
 terest which he has frequently evinced for the 
 success of the present undertaking. He writes, 
 " She could not have died very young for the 
 * following reasons : Camoens felt a lively 
 " passion for this young lady, as soon as he 
 " arrived at Lisbon, after having finished his 
 " studies at Coimbra ; that is to say, between
 
 LUIS D CAMOENS. 97 
 
 M the years 1546 and 1548. At this time, we 
 " must suppose that she was between sixteen 
 " and eighteen years of age, when she was 
 " Dama do Paco. It was on account of his 
 " attachment that he was banished from the 
 " Court, and that he took the resolution to go 
 M and serve in India. In different pieces, 
 " written in the East, he addresses himself to 
 " this Lady, the constant object of his love; 
 " (Canc,oes x. and xi. Elegia i.) and particu- 
 " larly in Cancao vi. Strophes ii. and vii, writ* 
 " ten during or after his sojourn at Tern ate, 
 " towards the year 1559. It is therefore cer- 
 " tain, that D. Catharina was alive in 1560, 
 {< and that it is after that time we should con- 
 " jecture she died. I am persuaded that her 
 44 death took place after 1564, near the time 
 " when he set out for Mozambique, in com- 
 " pany >f the Governor Pedro Barreto. By 
 " this calculation I). Catharina would be above 
 " thirty years of age at her death. The 
 ** Eclogue, which lu> composed at that time, 
 " only appeared in 1779, and docs not furnish 
 ' any information which can determine the 
 * point." 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 The passages alluded to in Cancao VI. are 
 
 Se amor determinasse 
 
 Que a troco desta vida, 
 
 De mim qualquer memoria 
 
 Ficasse corao historia, 
 
 Que de huns formosos olhos fosse lida, 
 
 A vida e a alegria 
 
 Por tao doce memoria trot-aria. 
 
 And 
 
 E agora venho a dar 
 
 Conta do bem passado, 
 
 A esta triste vida, e longa ausencia. 
 
 Quern pode imaginar 
 
 Que houvesse em mim peccado 
 
 Digno de huma ta5 grave penitencia ? 
 
 Olhai que he consciencia 
 
 Por tao pequeno erro, 
 
 Senhora, tanta pena. 
 
 Nao vedes que he onzena ? 
 
 Mas se tao longo, e miseio desterro 
 
 Vos da contentamento, 
 
 Nunca me acabe nelle o meu tormento. 
 
 " If love should determine, that a remem- 
 " brance of my life should be made like a his- 
 " tory, which might be perused by some beau-
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 09 
 
 " tifiil eyes; I would barter my life and joy 
 " for so sweet a remembrance." 
 
 " And now I come to give account of the 
 " happiness, which preceded this sorrowful life 
 " and long absence. Who could imagine 
 " that I could have in me a sin requiring so 
 " heavy a penance? Consider, Lady, if so 
 " great pain is conscionable for so trifling 
 " an error ? Do you not see that it is usu- 
 " rious? Hut if so long and wretched a ba- 
 " nishment afford you satisfaction, may my 
 " affliction during it never cease." 
 
 In Cancao X. pursuing the same idea as is 
 conveyed in the first of the preceding quota- 
 tions, he says : 
 
 St- <le timtos trabalhos t6 timss<- 
 
 Saber in tin nor ccrto que algum 'hora 
 
 Lembrava buns claros olhos que ia ri ; 
 
 E so csta triste vol rompendo fora, 
 
 As orclhas angelicas tocasfte 
 
 Dtf ai|iirl!.i em cuja vista j;i \ivi ; 
 
 A qual tornando hum pouco sobrc si. 
 
 Ilcvolvciuli) na mente pressurosa 
 
 Os tempos j.i paasadot : 
 
 I )e nun- ilix'ws errores) 
 
 De mens *uave males c furor**, 
 
 H 2
 
 100 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Por ella padecidos e buscados j 
 E (posto que jii tarde) piedosa, 
 Hum pouco lhe pezasse, 
 E la entre si por dura se julgasse : 
 
 Isto so que soubesse me seria 
 Descan^o para a vida que me fica ; 
 Com isto affagaria o scffrimento. 
 
 It will be proper to mention, in this place, 
 that from the manner in which the death of 
 this lady is mentioned by Faria e Sousa, that 
 author was not clearly possessed of the true 
 date of her decease. He had evidently found 
 it difficult to account for various expressions, 
 whieh he had discovered in parts of the works of 
 Camoens, written immediately previous to and 
 after his departure from Lisbon, the language 
 of which betrayed feelings very dissimilar to 
 those commonly used by grief lamenting death ; 
 and observes, " If her decease took place 
 " either previous to his arrival, or immediately 
 " after his return from Ceuta, he had com- 
 " menced other amours."* This observation, 
 however worthy it may be of notice, may be 
 
 * " Si era muerta, el avia dado principio a otros amores."
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 101 
 
 entitled only to a degree of consideration ; 
 because it is frequently found that the best 
 poets have employed their genius and talents 
 in painting the charms of imaginary mistresses, 
 and in pourtraying the vicissitudes of fancied 
 attachments. 
 
 Although some time elapsed between the ar- 
 rival of Camoens in Lisbon, and his departure 
 for India, he had very soon reason to be dis- 
 satisfied with his reception, and to determine 
 upon that journey. His situation, at length} 
 roused him to exertion; his means were pro- 
 bably wasted; and, in the prime of life, he saw 
 no mode of bettering his condition in Portugal. 
 Discouraged and proud, he complained loudly 
 of the ingratitude of his country; in the service 
 of which he had shed his blood, and for which 
 his writings testify he bote the strongest at- 
 tachment. 
 
 The feelings with which Camoens embarked 
 for India : that country, which he called the 
 grave of every poor honest man : 
 
 Vquella deacjada c longa terra 
 
 [)c todo o pohri- Jiotirndo -c|Mil(i:r.l. 
 
 H 3
 
 102 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 and from which, on his leaving the shores of 
 Portugal, he never intended to return, are 
 best described in the letter, which he sent home 
 shortly after his arrival there. Urged by what- 
 ever cause, he determined at all events to fol- 
 low, in that distant country, the military profes- 
 sion, into which he had by his expedition to Ceu- 
 ta been initiated. Disappointed at home, and 
 prompted with the noble feeling of distinguish- 
 ing himself abroad, yet disdaining those avari- 
 cious views with which unfortunately too many 
 of the Portuguese set out for India, he sailed 
 in the spring of 1553, in the ship in which the 
 Commodore Fernando Alvares Cabral, who 
 commanded the fleet then going to the East, 
 was dispatched; and arrived at Goa in the 
 September of that year, to seek a living where 
 his father had found a grave. 
 
 Those feelings of anger, with which he de- 
 parted from Lisbon, were assuaged by absence. 
 He not only returned, but it is supposed, that 
 his last composition, which was a letter dictated 
 whilst he was expiring on a wretched bed, at a 
 time when the sceptre of Portugal was waver- 
 ing in the imbecile hand of the Cardinal D.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 103 
 
 Henrique, and the poet presaged the downfal of 
 his country, contained this passage : " Em 
 " fiin acabarei a vida, e verad todos, que luy 
 " tad afeicoado a minha patria, que nad so- 
 ' mente me contentei de morrer nella mas 
 " de morrer com ella."* 
 
 The four lines in Canto III. St. 21 of the 
 Lusiad, particularly shew the fond affection 
 which he bore whilst in India, for that country, 
 which had neglected him. 
 
 K-ta he a dltosa patria minhu unuula ; 
 A* qual sc o ceo nic da, que eu sem perigo 
 Tome, coin esta empreza j:i acabada, 
 Acabe-se esta luz alii comigo.f 
 
 " At last I shall finish my life; and all shall see that I 
 loved my country so much, that not only I wa* contented 
 " to die in it, but also to die with it." 
 
 f This Hie sacred earth. 
 
 This the lov'd parent-^oil that ga\c me birth. 
 
 And oil, would bounteous Heaven my prayer regard, 
 
 And fair success mjf pcrilom toils reward, 
 
 Mat that dear land my latest breath receive, 
 
 And grvc my weary bones a peaceful grave. 
 
 MickU. 
 
 Although thu form* part of the speech made by Gama to 
 
 II V
 
 J04 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Previous to his departure he composed the 
 following poem, in which he takes leave of the 
 Tagus : 
 
 SONETO. 
 
 Brandas agoas do Tejo que passando 
 
 Por estes verdes campos que regais, 
 
 Plantas, hervas, e flores, e animais, 
 Pastoras, nymphas, ides alegrando : 
 Nao sei, (ah doces agoas !) nao sei quando 
 
 Vos tornarei a ver ; que magoas tais, 
 
 Vendo como vos deixo, me causais, 
 Que de tornar ja vou desconftando. 
 
 Ordenou o destino, desejoso 
 De converter meus gostos em pezares, 
 Partida que me vai custando tanto. 
 
 Saudoso de vos, delle queixoso, 
 flncherei de suspiros outros ares, 
 Turbarei outras agoas com meu pranto. 
 
 This sonnet would, from the circumstances 
 under which it was composed, be justly entitled 
 
 the King of Melinda, it is evidently intended to pourtray the 
 feelings of Camoens ; and the toils mentioned, have certainly 
 reference to his poem. The word enterprise or undertaking 
 js the literal translation of the Portuguese emjrreza.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 105 
 
 to the attention of a biographer of Camoens, if 
 its pathetic sweetness did not particularly re- 
 commend it to our notice. It is one of those, 
 of which mention will be afterwards made, and 
 which, with very slight alteration*, Diogo Ber- 
 nardes gave as his own ; probably expecting, 
 that as Camoens had not left any collection of 
 his minor compositions, and as they were so 
 scattered, his appropriation of it would not be 
 discovered. For the following translation of this 
 beautiful sonnet the public is indebted to Mr 
 Southey : 
 
 SONNKT. 
 
 Waters of Tejo, gentle stream ! th.it flow 
 Thro' these fair mead*, refreshing an ye go 
 
 Herbage and flower... and flocks, and with delight 
 Soothing tin- nymph* and shepherd* on your shore ; 
 J know not, gentle river, when my v ight 
 
 Shall linger on your pleasant waters more. 
 \nd now 1 turn me from you, sad at heart, 
 
 Hopeless thai fate my future lot will bless ; 
 'ITiat evil fate, which bid* mc now depart. 
 
 Convert- remembered joys to wretchedness. 
 The thought of you. dear water- oft will rise. 
 
 And ruern'ry oft will see you in her dreams, 
 When I on other airs shall breathe my sigh*, 
 
 And drop f.ir otTmj tears in other streams.
 
 106 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " How disappointed," writes Dom Joze Ma- 
 ria de Souza in his life of the poet, " are our 
 " desires to know more exactly why our poet 
 " broke such sweet bonds of love, and exposed 
 *< himself to the cruel pains of a long or eter- 
 " nal absence ! What were the obstacles which 
 " opposed themselves to an union with his be- 
 " loved ? What the hopes which afterwards 
 " he cherished in India respecting her, and in 
 " which he trusted, when he lost her ? To 
 " none of these do his unfeeling and cold 
 " biographers give us any satisfaction. They 
 " appear to have been afraid or scrupulous to 
 " mention, or give any notice of the loves of 
 " Camoens ; and he, from delicacy of feeling, 
 " does not explain himself, except in general 
 " terms, or mysteriously, as to the object of 
 " his passion." 
 
 The early attention of Camoens to the com- 
 position of the Lusiad ; and that a considerable 
 portion of it was written previous to his depar- 
 ture for India, are ascertained by several pas- 
 sages in his other poems. In an Eclogue, 
 commencing 
 
 A quern darei queixumes namorados,
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 107 
 
 which is stated to be the production of his 
 youth, " da sua puericia" he is supposed, in 
 the following lines, to refer to the poem, which 
 was then occupying his mind 
 
 Em quanto eu aparvlho hum novo esprito, 
 K \oz de Cisiic tal que o nuiiulo cspantc ! 
 
 and in the Eclogue 
 
 Cantando por hum vallc docementc, 
 
 written immediately previous to the last, and 
 one of his most juvenile compositions, lie in- 
 vokes tlie lady to whom it was addressed in 
 these words amongst others 
 
 l'odeis fnzi-r, que cres^a de horn cm ban 
 
 () notne Lusitano, e fa^a enveja 
 
 A I'.sniiriKi, que de Ifomcro ae engrandecc. 
 
 Kncourag'd hy thy aid, from hour to hour, 
 
 May grow tlu- I.usiun name and Smyrna, proud 
 
 And glorying in her hard, with envy swell. 
 
 evidently alluding to his intended poem. This 
 allusion is much strengthened by a passage in 
 
 his Ode
 
 108 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 / 
 A quern darao de Pindo as moradores, 
 
 written, a year previous to his departure, to D. 
 Manoel de Portugal, son of the first Conde de 
 Vimioso, who was himself a good poet, and 
 the Patron of those who applied themselves to 
 the study of Poesy. 
 
 Por Mecenas a vos celebro, e tenho ; 
 
 E sacro o Dome vosso 
 
 Farei, se alguma cousa em verso posso. 
 
 O rudo canto meu que resuscita 
 
 As honras sepultadas, 
 
 As palmas ja passadas 
 
 Dos bellicosos nossos Lusitanos, 
 
 Para tesouro dos futures annos, 
 
 Com vosco se defende 
 
 Da lei Letea, a aqual tudo se rende.* 
 
 * "As a Maecenas I celebrate you and hold you ; and I 
 " will immortalize your name, if I can achieve any thing in 
 " verse." 
 
 " My rude song, which revives the buried honours, the 
 " triumphs now passed of our warlike Lusitanians, for the 
 " treasure of future years, with you defends itself from the 
 " law of Lethe, to which every thing submits."
 
 LUIS IJE CAMOENS. 109 
 
 Faria e Sousa relates a circumstance, which 
 would induce a belief, that Camoens, previous 
 to his leaving Portugal, if he had not finished, 
 had at least formed an outline of nearly six of 
 the Cantos of his poem. He states, that he had 
 found amongst the old books on the stall of 
 Pedro Coelho in Madrid, a copy of the first 
 six Cantos, written before the poet went to 
 India, which discovery confirmed many opi- 
 nions which he had hazarded on the subject of 
 Camoens and his work. It was well executed, 
 and resembled the writing of some of the 
 works of loao tie Burros, which he had seen. 
 Faria e Sousa imparted this discovery to D. 
 Tomayo tic Vargas, loao Pinto Ribeiro, and 
 others, who on examining the MS. found 
 many stanzas which were not contained in the 
 printed copies; some which had been amended; 
 and others, which were materially changed. 
 At the conclusion of this manuscript, which, it 
 should appear, had been fraudulently obtained, 
 was the following declaration : " These six 
 " Cantos were purloined from Luis tie Ca- 
 " moens, from the work which he has com- 
 " menced on the discovery and conquest of In-
 
 110 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " dia by the Portuguese. They are all finished 
 " except the sixth, which although the end is 
 " given here, wants a history of the Loves 
 " which Leonardo relates while keeping watch; 
 " and which should follow Rima 46, where the 
 " want of it occurs ; because the conversation 
 " of those on the watch becomes less extended 
 " and lively, and the Canto is shorter than the 
 " others."* Dom Joze Maria de Souza exclaims 
 against the conduct of Faria e Sousa respect- 
 ing this Manuscript ; which, allowing it to have 
 been written at the time mentioned, namely, 
 twenty-two years before Camoens brought out 
 his work, might have been considered as a 
 curiosity to shew the study and corrections, 
 which he had bestowed upon his poem ; yet 
 ought never to have been deemed a sufficient 
 authority to collate the printed copy with, and 
 
 * " Estes seys cantos se furtarao a Luis de Camoes da 
 " obra que tern comecado sobre o descubrimento, e conquista 
 " da India por os Portugueses. Yam todos acabados, excepto 
 " o sexto, que posto que vay aqui o fim delle, faltalha hua 
 " historia de amores que Leonardo contou estando vigiando, 
 " que ha de proseguir sobre a Rima 46. onde logo se sente 
 " bem a falta della ; porque fica fria, e curta a conversacara 
 " dos vigiantcs, e o proprio canto mais breve que os outros."
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. Ill 
 
 from which to print the various readings. 
 Much less ought the text, as printed by Ca- 
 moens, to have been altered in consequence of 
 such variations; thus doing the poet a serious 
 injury by substituting the weaker productions 
 of his youth, for the more nervous and polished 
 expressions of his riper years. 
 
 I low Caiiioens was engaged during his voy- 
 age to India does not appear ; as the distance 
 was great, and as the time occupied in the 
 completion of the voyage long, it is probable 
 his mind, naturally active, would be employed 
 on the Lusiad. This supposition is consider- 
 ably strengthened by the descriptions given in 
 the poem, which, from their accuracy, and live- 
 ly detail; as well of the coasts and places gene- 
 rally observed and visited by the fleet on its 
 passage outwards, as of the manners and cus- 
 toms of their inhabitants; would incline us to 
 imagine, that they were written either on the 
 spots they pourtray, or from notes correctly 
 taken on the voyage. 
 
 The S. Ben to, the ship in which he sailed, 
 was more fortunate than her companions; for, 
 of the squadron which left the Tagus, under
 
 112 MEMOIRS OP 
 
 the command of Cabral, this vessel was the on- 
 ly one which reached her destination. " Fate," 
 as Bouterwek observes, " seeming to have 
 " watched over him for the purpose of con- 
 " ducting him safely through the most immi- 
 " nent dangers to the completion of his poeti- 
 " cal career." 
 
 Arriving at Goa, in the September of the 
 same year, he did not long remain inactive. 
 The Viceroy D. AfFonso de Noronha having 
 been applied to by the King of Cochin, and 
 other allies of the Portuguese, for protection 
 against the oppressive conduct and incursions 
 of the King of Pimenta ; immediately prepa- 
 red an armament, with which he sailed in 
 the November, and so effectually chastised that 
 Prince, as to make him sue for a peace.* 
 
 Camoens, thirsting for military glory, em- 
 barked, according to several of his biographers, 
 as a volunteer, and partook of the honour which 
 the Portuguese gained by this short but deci- 
 sive rencounter, in which their artillery shewed 
 itself vastly superior to the weapons of the 
 
 * The reader will find a particular account of this expedi- 
 tion in Couto. Decada vi. liv. x c. 15.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS* 119 
 
 Indians. He is enumerated by Faria e Sousa 
 amongst the persons of distinction who accom- 
 panied the viceroy on this occasion.* 
 
 Of this event, and its fortunate result, the 
 poet gives an account in his first Elegy, com- 
 mencing 
 
 O poeta Si mo ii i ill's fall a nil i). &c. 
 
 in which he also describes his passage to India. 
 The following part of it is particularly dedi- 
 cated to this expedition, and is not written in 
 any boasting strain, but in such language as 
 modest valour adopts to relate its exploits. 
 
 1 1 nina llha que o Rci de Porca tcm, 
 K que o Rei da Pimenta lhe tomara, 
 Fomos tomar-lha, c succedco-nos bem. 
 
 " YVc were to retake an Island, belonging to the King of 
 Porca, of which he had been dispossessed by the King of 
 Pimenta; and our enterprise succeeded welL 
 
 * Asia Portug. Tom. ii. Part ii. Cap. i. p. -J77 
 VOL. |. I
 
 114 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Com huma grossa armada, que juntdnr 
 O Viso-Rei, de Goa nos partimos, 
 Com toda a gente de armas que se achara, 
 
 E com pouco trabalho destruimos 
 A gente no curvo arco exercitada ; 
 Com morte, com incendios os punimos. 
 
 Era a Ilha com aguas alagada, 
 De modo que se andava em almadias ; 
 Em fim, outra Veneza trasladada 
 
 Nella nos detivemos sos dous dias, 
 Que foram para alguus os derradeiros, 
 Pois passaram de Estyge as ondas frias. 
 
 Que estes sao os remedios verdadeiros 
 Que para a vida estao apparelhados 
 Aos que a querem ter por Cavalleiros. 
 
 " We departed from Goa with a large armament, which 
 " the Viceroy assembled, comprised of all the force there. 
 
 " With little trouble we destroyed the people trained to 
 " the curved bow. We punished them with death and fire. 
 
 " The Island was intersected with waters, so that it was 
 " necessary to use Almadias or Indian boats. In short. 
 " another Venice. 
 
 " We were detained in it only two days, which were the 
 " last for some, who passed the cold waters of Styx. 
 
 " Such are the risks, which are opposed to the lives of 
 " those, who are desirous of becoming knights."
 
 LUIS Di CAMOENS. 115 
 
 Ob Lavradores bemaventurados ! 
 Se conhecessem scu contentamento, 
 Como vivem no campo socegados ! 
 
 Da-lhes a justa terra o mantimento ; 
 Da-lhes a fonte clara da agiia pura, 
 Mungem suas ovelbas cento a cento. 
 
 Nao vem o mar irado, a noite escura, 
 Por ir buscar a pedra do Oriente ; 
 Nao tcmem o furor da guerra dura. 
 
 Vive hum com suas arvores con ten te, 
 Sem Ihe quebrar o somno repousado 
 A grao cobica de ouro reluzentc. 
 
 
 Se suas casas, de ouro nao se esmaltam, 
 Esmalta-se-lhe o campo de mil flores 
 Onde os Cabritos seus comendo saltam. 
 
 " Fortunate Husbandmen ! if they knew their happiness, 
 whilst they reside peaceably in the field ! 
 " Tin- just earth yields them provisions the clear fountain 
 supplies them with pure water, and their ewes by hundred* 
 give their milk. 
 
 " They do not witness the rage of the sea, nor the dismal 
 night in searching for the treasure: of the East, neither do 
 they fear the fury of stem war. 
 
 " Each lives contented with his vines, without having his 
 rest disturbed by a thirst for shining gold. 
 " If their houses do not sparkle with gold, the pasture, 
 where their kids, feeding, sport, is enamelled with a thou- 
 sand flowers. 
 
 I 2
 
 116 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ATli lhe mostra o campo varias cores - r 
 Vem-se os ramos pender co o fructo ameno ; 
 Alii se affina o canto dos Pastures, &c. 
 
 " There the field displays its various colours ; the branches- 
 " are seen bending beneath the lovely fruit ; there the shep- 
 " herd's song salutes them." 
 
 The appeal to the state of his fellow coun- 
 trymen bespeaks the poet's ideas of their rustic 
 happiness, contrasted with the perils attendant 
 upon a life exposed to storms and warfare. 
 This Elegy, which was written either immedi- 
 ately after the battle, or on his return to Goa ; 
 closely resembles, in its commencement, a 
 composition by the same Roman poet, with 
 whose history that of Camoens has been al- 
 ready represented to have borne a similitude. 
 The piece alluded to is the third Elegy of the 
 first book " de Tristibus," in which Ovid de- 
 scribes his departure from Rome; his feelings 
 on the occasion ; his voyage ; and the tempest 
 which he encountered. The description of a 
 storm in the preceding part of this Elegy is 
 very grand and impressive :
 
 1AJIS DE CAMOENS. 117 
 
 Porquc chcgando ao Cabo da Esperanca. 
 
 
 Eis a noite com nuvees se cscurece ; 
 Do ar suhitamente foge o dia ; 
 E todo o largo Oceano se embravece. . 
 
 A machina do mundo pareria, 
 Que em tormentas se vinha desfazendo ; 
 Em serras todo o mar se convertia. 
 
 Lutando Boreas fero, e Noto horrendo, 
 Sonoras tempestades levantavam, 
 Dxs naos as velas concavas rompendo. 
 
 As cordas co' o rtrido assoviavam ; 
 Os marinheiros, ja descsperados, 
 Com gritos para o Ceo o ar coalhavam. 
 
 Os raios por Vulcano fabricados, 
 Vibrava o fero e aspero Tonante, 
 Tremendo os Polos ambos de assombrados. 
 
 M Arrit'd at the Cape of Good Hope, behold the night is 
 - obscured with clouds ; the day suddenly departs from the 
 ' sky ; and the vast ocean becomes enraged. 
 
 " The frame of the world appeared as about to be destroy- 
 " ed by the storm ; the sea was converted into mountains, 
 
 ' The Gorce Boreas and dreadful South Wind contending 
 " raised noisy tempests, tearing the hollow sails of the vessels. 
 
 " The cordage hissed in this ronflid ; the mariners de- 
 " spairing filled the air with their cries to Heaven. 
 
 " The fierce and loud thunder dis|>orsed the bolts fabri. 
 44 cated by Vulcan, appalling hot'' the pole* with rear." 
 
 i :i
 
 118 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Camoens, in the year after his arrival in 
 India, received the account of the death of 
 D. Antonio de Noronha. It was with this 
 young nobleman that he first entered upon the 
 profession of arms; and to him, from similarity 
 of disposition, pursuits, and disappointment, 
 he was united in the firmest bonds of friend- 
 ship. Noronha perished, together with his 
 uncle D. Pedro de Menezes, the Captain 
 General, near Ceuta, on the eighteenth day 
 of April, 1553, in an engagement with the 
 Moors of Tetuan. This date is ascertained by 
 the inscription on his monument, in the prin- 
 cipal chapel of the monastery of Sao Bento de 
 Xabregas, which publishes to posterity the de- 
 votion and ardent zeal of this illustrious Family 
 in the service of its Country. Two brothers 
 of D. Antonio fell with Sebastian in Africa, 
 and two others found graves in India. The 
 inscription is as follows : 
 
 " Sepultura de D. Antonio de Noronha pri- 
 " meiro filho do segundo Conde de Linhares 
 " D. Francisco, e da Condessa D. Violante, 
 " que os Mouros mataram em Ceuta em 18 de 
 M April de 1553 annos, sendo elle de desasete.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEN8. 119 
 
 *' D. Joanna de Noronha sua irmaa, que nunca 
 *' casou, c fez esta Capella a sua Custa, quando 
 " a acabou, que foi no anno de 1G22, trasla- 
 " dou seus ossos da Se de Ceuta a esta sepul- 
 " tura ; e nao a deo aos mais irmaos seus, 
 " porque dous delles morreram em Africa com 
 " El llei D. Sebastiao, e os outros dous nas 
 " partes da India." &c* 
 
 Tlie afflicting intelligence of Noronha's dis- 
 astrous fate overwhelmed him with grief; and, 
 to the memory of his earliest and excellent 
 youn# friend, he wrote this sonnet, which has 
 been translated by Lord Strangford.f 
 
 Em flor vos arrancou, dr entao crescida, 
 
 (Ah Senhor Dona Antonio!) a dura sorte. 
 
 Donde fazcndo andava o brago forte 
 A fama dos antiguos esquccida. 
 Hum so rorao tenho conhecida, 
 
 Com que tamanha inugoa se conforte ; 
 
 Que rc no mundo havia honrada morte, 
 Nao podeis vos tcr mais larga vida. 
 
 The remainder of the inscription relates to two other 
 l.rother* who were Friars of the Order of Santo Agostinho. 
 ' Poem* from the Port, of T.. de ('antnen*, p. 9*. 
 I 1
 
 120 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Se meus humildes versos pod cm tanto 
 . Que co' o desejo meu se iguale a arte, 
 Especial materia me sereis. 
 E celebrado em triste e longo canto, 
 Se morrestes nas maos do fero Marte, 
 Na memoria das gentes vivireis. 
 
 In his Eclogue of Umbrano and Frondelio, 
 he also laments the death of Noronha, together 
 with the demise of the young prince Dom load, 
 the son of Ioao III ; who had died shortly after 
 his marriage with Dona Joanna, the daughter 
 of the Emperor Charles V, and without having 
 beheld his son, the luckless Sebastian, who was 
 born a few days after the decease of his father. 
 
 Camoens, about this time, wrote the first of 
 the two letters, which are usually printed at the 
 end of his works. It was sent from India to a 
 friend in Portugal, now unknown, but to whom 
 he must have felt attached, as may be inferred 
 from its commencement, wherein he expresses 
 considerable anxiety to hear from him. " I 
 " wished," says he, " so much for your letter, 
 " that I fancied my desire to have it prevented 
 " its arrival ; for this is the certain custom of 
 " fortune, to permit a strong wish for that
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 121 
 
 * which she is most ready to deny." That his 
 friend should not, however, suspect that he had 
 forgotten him, Camoens determined to address 
 to him a letter, explanatory of his feelings, 
 and descriptive of the customs of the people 
 amongst whom he was then resident. " On 
 *' departing, as one bound to the other world, 
 " I sent as falsifiers of the coin, with a pub- 
 " lie proclamation to be hanged, the many 
 " hopes on which I had until then been fed. 
 ** I freed myself from the thoughts, which had 
 '* accompanied me, because they were totally 
 " unprofitable ; and thus seeing myself in a 
 ' situation as if placed between hawk and buz- 
 *' /aid. the last words which I spoke were 
 " those of Scipio Africanus, * Ingrata jiatruz, 
 " rion possidetis ossa mea,' ungrateful Coun- 
 " try, you shall not possess my ashes. Because, 
 " without even such a fault as would have 
 '* subjected me to purgatory for three days, I 
 " experienced three thousand, for slanderous 
 *' tongues, worse designs, and ill will proceed- 
 ** ing from pure envy, at seeing * Su amada 
 " i/edra de si arrancada, y en utro muro a si-
 
 122 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " da :'* from which also friendships mora 
 " tender than wax were fomented into inflexi- 
 " ble hatreds." He pursues this strain at some 
 length, and dwells upon his then-unhappy state. 
 Of the country, he writes, that it is " the 
 " mother of great villains, and the step-mother 
 " of honourable men." The evil practices in 
 India are then touched upon, and a description 
 of the ladies not much in their praise, follows. 
 The letter concludes with his sending; the son- 
 net, which he had composed on the death of 
 Noronha, to shew his friend, as he expresses it, 
 how deeply he deplored the event. He also 
 takes an opportunity, while writing of the son- 
 net, to mention the Eclogue, composed on the 
 deaths of Noronha and the Prince Dom Ioao ; 
 and he observes, that he thought it better than 
 
 * Literally " Their loved ivy torn from them, and placed 
 " against another wall" As the letter is in Portuguese, and 
 this quotation is in Spanish, it is probable the friend of 
 Camoens, to whom it was addressed, knew very well the 
 feeling with which it was used, and its force. That it refers 
 to his accomplishments and genius having obtained him more 
 notice, than was agreeable to persons, whose jealousy was on 
 that account roused, may be fairly inferred.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 123 
 
 some others which he had written.* It is in 
 this letter also that Camoens refers to the acci- 
 dent which befel him previous to his departure 
 tor India. 
 
 D. Pedro Mascarenhas, having been appoint- 
 ed by the King to succeed to the viceroy-ship 
 in India, sailed from Lisbon in the month of 
 March, l554-,f and, arriving at Goa in the Sep- 
 tember following, relieved Dc AfTonso de No- 
 ronha from the duties of his office. Some time 
 after his disembarkation, it l>ecame necessary to 
 equip an armament to prevent the great depre- 
 dations committed by the Moorish vessels on the 
 trade in the Streights of Mecca. The command 
 of the expedition was entrusted to Manocl de 
 Yaseoncellos, who received orders to sail to the 
 Coast of Arabia, and proceed to Mount Felix, 
 near which he was to await the arrival of the 
 pirates and engage them. The armament set 
 out from Goa in February, and, after an in- 
 effectual cruise, wintered at Ormus. On its 
 return, in the October of the following year, 
 
 * Faria c Soum in hi* Commentary on this Eclogue, 
 greatly extols the geniui of Camoens for its composition. 
 | Couto. Dec. 7. Lit. i. cap. .".
 
 124 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Francisco Barreto was exercising the functions 
 of Governor, in consequence of the death of 
 Mascarenhas. Camoens offered himself as a 
 volunteer, and accompanied Vasconcellos in 
 this expedition, in which he suffered great 
 privations. Not having, as Faria e Sousa 
 writes in his Asia Portuguesa,* any employ- 
 ment for his sword, he took up his pen, and in 
 one of his poems is preserved, the account of 
 this cruise, and a description of Mount Felix. 
 
 The composition alluded to is the Cancao 
 commencing 
 
 Junto de hum secco, duro, esteril monte, &c 
 
 which sets out with a delineation of the 
 rugged and barren appearance of the Mount 
 Felix ; where, he writes, neither a bird flies 
 nor a beast sleeps ; where neither the clear 
 river flows, the fountain boils, nor the cheer- 
 ful rustling of the green branch is heard. 
 
 Junto de hum secco, duro, esteril monte, 
 lnutil, e despido, calvo, e informe, 
 
 * Tom. ii. Part ii. Cap. xi. p. 292
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 125 
 
 Da natureza em tudo aborrecido ; 
 Onde nem ave voa, ou fera dorme, 
 Nem corre claro rio, ou ferve fonU-, 
 Nem verde ramo fax doce ruido ; 
 Cujo nome, do Vulgo introduzido, 
 He Felix. 
 
 O ( 'alio se descobre, com que a costa 
 Africana, que do Austro vem correndo, 
 Limite faz, 
 
 Camoens complains bitterly of this time he 
 so unprofitable and unhappily spent. " Here 
 " my hapless fortune placed me ; here, in this 
 " remote, rugged, and barren part of the world 
 " did Fortune will, that a part of my short life 
 " should be spent, in order that it might be 
 " distributed in pieces throughout the world." 
 
 Aqui 
 
 Me trouxe hum tempo, e teve 
 
 Minha fera ventura. 
 
 Aqui nesta remota, aspera, e dura 
 
 Parte do mundo, quiz que a vida breve 
 
 Tamtam de si dcixassc hum breve cspaco . 
 
 i'orque ficasse a vida 
 
 Por o mundo em pedac,oe repartida.
 
 126 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " Here" pursuing his complaint, he says, 
 " the solitary and melancholy days were spent; 
 " nor had I, as s*y only adversaries, life, a 
 " burning sun, cold waters, thick and sultry 
 " atmosphere, but also my own thoughts. 
 " These I saw against me, bringing to my 
 " memory some short. and passed joy which I 
 " experienced in the world when I lived in it; 
 " to double the severity of my misfortunes by 
 " shewing me the hours of happiness in the 
 " world. Here was I with these contempla- 
 " tions, spending my days and my life." 
 
 Aqui me achei gastando hiius tristes diaz, 
 Tristes, forc^dos, maos, e solitarios, 
 De trabalho, de dor, de ira cheios : 
 Nao tendo, nao somente por contrarios 
 A vida, o sol ardente, as aguas frias, 
 Os ares grossos, fervidos, e feios, 
 Mas os rneus pensamentos 
 Tambem vi contra mi 
 Trazendo-me a memoria 
 Alguma ja passada, e breve gloria, 
 Que eu ja no mundo vi quando vivi ; 
 Por me dobrar dos males a aspereza ; 
 Por mostrar-me que havia 
 No mundo muitas horas de allegria. 
 Aqui esteve eu com estes pensamento* 
 Gastando tempo e vida :
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 127 
 
 Previous to this time the glory of the Portu- 
 guese in the East was on the decline. The 
 emphatic expression of Camoens, contained in 
 the first letter which h$ sent from India, ex- 
 plains in strong terms the situation of the 
 country on his arrival : " he mai dos villoes 
 " ruijs, e madrasta de homees honrados. 
 " The mother of great villains, and the step- 
 " mother of honest men." 
 
 That chivalrous spirit, with which Vasco de 
 Gam a, Albuquerque, Pacheco, and other 
 illustrious heroes, had sailed to India ; the 
 thirst for enterprize, the boast of dangers sur- 
 mounted and victories achieved, the hopes of 
 distinctions, the allurements of honours to "be 
 conferred, which originally tempted the Por- 
 tuguese youth from Lisbon, 
 
 The desire to be 
 
 A Soldier, and to gain a name in arms ; 
 
 had totally vanished. The public service was 
 sacrificed to private interest, and the Portu- 
 guese settlements in the East were proceeding 
 to decay with a rapidity, which the effort* of
 
 128 MEMOIRS OP 
 
 two or three virtuous and honourable govern- 
 ors, who occasionally appeared and exerted 
 themselves to revive the feelings of older times, 
 were incapable to arrest. At last the employ- 
 ment of every means, which individual ambition 
 and avarice could invent for self-interest, grati- 
 fication and spoil, hurried the power of the 
 Portuguese in India to its downfal. 
 
 These unworthy and sordid feelings so abun- 
 dantly prevailed latterly, that the highest offi- 
 cers only considered themselves sent out for the 
 purpose of aggrandizing themselves, or of re- 
 pairing a ruined fortune : consequently intrigues 
 were actively carried on at home to secure an 
 appointment abroad, and the customary absence 
 of three years was completely dedicated to a 
 self interest, which precluded any attention to 
 the welfare of the country. The mischief ra- 
 pidly extended from those in high command 
 to those in inferior stations ; avarice, envy, and 
 cruelty reigned in every department: the sol- 
 diers, viewing the distinctions due to their va- 
 lour bestowed upon the minions of their go- 
 vernors, became enervated and disheartened, 
 seeking only the means which would convey
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 129 
 
 them back to Europe, or exerting themselves 
 to amass as much as would secure them a tole- 
 rable livelihood in India. Here they married, 
 and turning petty merchants, were guilty of 
 extortions and cruelty towards the natives, un- 
 til these could no longer bear the burthens 
 imposed by their oppressors. Advantage was 
 taken of the laxity of discipline, the Indians 
 became formidable, and, finally joining the 
 other Europeans who were attracted by the 
 treasures of the East, wrested from the Portu- 
 guese that power which it had cost them so 
 much blood to acquire. 
 
 Camoens, who witnessed, on his return to 
 Portugal, the decrease of his country's glory 
 at home, viewed its rapid decline abroad with 
 dissatisfaction. As he had sailed from its 
 shores with a disinterested mind, with honour- 
 able feelings, and an ardent desire for its wel- 
 fare, he was distressed and mortified at the 
 corruption and shameful practices, which the 
 thirst of lucre and the abuse of authority 
 at that time countenanced. His indignation 
 at such conduct appeared, on his arrival with 
 Vasconcellos, in a poem, wherein he reprobates 
 
 VOL. i. k
 
 130 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 these proceedings. This production, which is 
 entitled " Disparates na India," " Follies in 
 India," is written in a vein of satire, which 
 it would be very difficult to translate. It is 
 composed in a measure, of which instances are 
 to be found in the early Portuguese writers, 
 and is in stanzas, the concluding lines of each 
 of which generally convey, in an old saying 
 or proverb," the jet of what has gone before. 
 Thus, in one instance, he denies his know- 
 ledge of a party whom he has described, since 
 " Honour and Self-interest are not found in 
 " the same sack." 
 
 " Pois honra, e proveito nao cahe num sxco." 
 
 Although this satire was written in general 
 terms, the characters of some persons of im- 
 portance were so conspicuously marked in it 
 as to leave no doubt in their minds, for whom 
 the censure was intended. Conscious of their 
 having been alluded to, and having deserved 
 the allusion, they appealed to Barreto; who, 
 unwilling to give offence to those with whom 
 he most probably found it conducive to his 
 advantage to be on good terms, and whose
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 131 
 
 practices he either participated in, or knew not 
 how to restrain, listened to their complaints; 
 and seizing the person of the poet, banished 
 him to China. 
 
 As the sentence of exile passed upon Ca- 
 moens for the composition of this poem, and 
 the events which arose in consequence of its 
 being carried into execution, form conspicuous 
 features in his life, it may not be improper to 
 introduce in this place, the offending lines. 
 
 DISPARATES NA INDIA. 
 
 Este Mundo es 1 camino 
 
 Ado ay duzlentos vaos, 
 
 Ou por ondc boos c maos, 
 
 Todos somos del merino. 
 
 Mas os maos sao de teor, 
 
 Que desque mudam a cor, 
 
 Chamam logo a El Rei compadie ; 
 
 E em lini dexadlos mi mad re. 
 
 Que rempre ton hum tabor 
 
 De quern torto nasce, tardc ->c- endireita. 
 
 Deixai a hum que m shone, 
 l)i/ logo de muito xengo, 
 Villas y C'astillos tengo, 
 Todos a mi mandar tone. 
 Entan en, (|iie i"tou de im>lho, 
 Com a lagrima no olho, 
 K '1
 
 132 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Pelo virar do enves, 
 
 Digo-lhe : tu ex illis es, 
 
 E por isso nao te olho ; 
 
 Pois honra e proveito nao cabo n'hu saca 
 
 Vereis huus, que no seu seio 
 Cuidam que trazem Paris, 
 E querem com dous ceitis, 
 Fender anca pelo meio. 
 Vereis mancebinho de arte 
 Com espada em talabarte : 
 Nao ha mais Italiano : 
 
 A este direis : meu mano, 
 
 "Vos sois galante, que farte ; 
 
 Mas pan y vino anda el camino, que no moco garrido. 
 Outros em cada theatro, 
 
 Por officio Ihe ouvires, 
 
 Que se mataran con tres, 
 
 Y lo mismo haran con quatro, 
 
 Prezam-se de dar respostas, 
 
 Com pakwras bem compostas ; 
 
 Mas se lhe meteis a mao, 
 
 Na paz mostram coracao, 
 
 Na guerra mostram as costas ; 
 
 Porque aqui torce a porca o rabo. 
 Outros vejo por ahi, 
 
 A que se acha mal o fundo, 
 
 Que andam emendando o Mundo, 
 E nao se emendam a si. 
 Estes respondem a quem 
 Delles nao entende bem
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 133 
 
 El dolor, que esta secreto ; 
 
 Mat porem quern for disereto, 
 
 Kespondcr-lhe-ha nmito Ih.mii, 
 
 Assi cntrou o Mundo, *ssi lia de sahir. 
 
 Achareis rafeiro verho, 
 Que so quer vender por g algo, 
 Diz que o dinheiro be fidalgo, 
 Que o sanguc todo he vermelho : 
 Se elle ma is alto o dissera, 
 Este pelote puzera ; 
 Que o seu eco lhe responds. 
 Que mi padre era de Konda, 
 Y su madre de Antequera, 
 E quer cobrir o Ceo co' huma jot-ira. 
 
 Fraldas largas, grave aspeito, 
 Para Senador ilomano. 
 Oh que jjrandissimo engano. 
 Que Mount lhe abrisse o peito ! 
 Contciencia, que sobaja, 
 Siso, com que o Mundo reja. 
 M .insula . i outro que si ; 
 Mas que luho esta em ti, 
 Metido em pellc de oveja ! 
 E sabem-no poucos. 
 
 Guardia-vos de huus mens Senhorex, 
 Que ainda compram, e vendem ; 
 Huus que he certo, que dcsccndein 
 Da gerac,a't de Paatorea : 
 Mostram-se-vos b"os amipi ; 
 Mas ? vos rem cm perigov 
 K 3
 
 134 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Escarram-vos nas paredes ; 
 
 Que de fora dormiredes, 
 
 Irmao, que he tempo de figos ; 
 
 Porque de rabo de porco nunqua bom virote. 
 
 Que direis de huus, que as estranhas 
 Lhe estao ardendo em cobica, 
 E se tem mando, a justica 
 Fazem de teas de aranhas ? 
 Com suas hypocrisias, 
 Que sao de vossas espias, 
 Para os pequenos huus Neros, 
 Para os grandes tudo feros : 
 Pois tu, parvo, nao sabias, 
 Que la vao leis, onde querem cruzados ? 
 
 Mas tornando a huus enfadonhos, 
 Cujas cousas sao notorias ; 
 Huus, que contam mil historiae, 
 Mais desmanchadas que sonhos -. 
 Huus mais parvos que zamboas, 
 Que estudam palavras boas, 
 A que ignorancia os ati9a ; 
 Estes paguem por justica ; 
 Que tem morto mil pessoas, 
 Por vida de quanto quero. 
 
 Aonde tienen las mentes 
 Huus secretos trovadores, 
 Que fazem cartas de amores, 
 De que ficam mui contentes ? 
 Nao querem sahir a praca, 
 Trazem trova por nega$a,
 
 1.UI8 DE CAMOCN8. 1 S3 
 
 se lha galnis, que he boa, 
 Dix que he de certa pessoa. 
 Ora que querei* que fa$a, 
 Senan ir-tne por esse Mundo? 
 
 O' tu, coroo me atarracns 
 scudeiro de Soli a. 
 Com bocaes de fidalguia, 
 Trazido quasi com vacas ? 
 Importuno a importunar, 
 Morto por desenterrar 
 Parentes, que clieiram j.'i : 
 Voto a (;il. que me fara 
 Hum destes nunqua fullar 
 Mais com viva alma. 
 
 Huns que fallani muito, vL, 
 De que quixera fugir ; 
 Huus que, em (im, eni se s.ntir, 
 Andam fallando entre si ; 
 Porfiosos sem ra/a ; 
 desque tomam a man, 
 Fallam sem necessidade ; 
 E se algum'hora he verdade, 
 Deve ser na confis*a<> ; 
 Porque quern na mente, 
 .I.i me cntendeis. 
 
 Oh vos quern quer que me lerdrs. 
 Que haveis de sir avisado. 
 Que dixcis ao namorado, 
 Que ca^a vcnto com redes ? 
 Jura por vida da Dama, 
 Falls comsigo na cam a, 
 hi 4-
 
 136 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Passea de noite, e escarra, 
 Por falsete na guitarra 
 Poe sempre, viva quem ama. 
 Porque calca a seu proposito. 
 
 Mas deixemos, se quizerdes, 
 Por hum pouco as travessuras, 
 Porque entre quatro maduras 
 Leveis tambem cinco verdes. 
 Deitemos-nos mais ao mar, 
 E se algum se arrecear, 
 Passe tres ou quatro trovas : 
 E vos tomais cores novas ? 
 Mas nao he para espantar, 
 Que quem porcos ha menos, 
 Em cada mouta lhe roncam. 
 
 O' vos que sois Secretarios 
 Das consciencias Reais, 
 Que entre os homees estais 
 Por Senhores ordinarios ; 
 Porque nao pondes hum freo 
 Ao roubar, que vai sem meo ; 
 Debaixo de bom governo ? 
 Pois hum peda$o de inferno, 
 Por pouco dinheiro alheo, 
 Se vende a Monro, e a Judco. 
 
 Porque a mente affeicoada 
 Sempre a Real dignidade, 
 Vos faz julgar por bondade 
 A malicia desculpada? 
 Move a presenca Real 
 Huma affeicao natural,
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 1S7 
 
 Qu* 1 logo inclina ao Juiz 
 
 A -.fii favor, e iiao diz 
 
 Hum riu muito geral. 
 
 Que o Alilmdv donde canta, dalii janta 
 
 K vos bailais a esse som : 
 Por isso, gentis l'ustorcs, 
 Vos chaina u vos mcrcadores, 
 Hum ijuc so foi Pastor bom. 
 
 But another reason has been assigned for this 
 apparently harsh conduct on the part of the 
 Governor towards Camoens. Faria e Sousa, 
 after giving a short account of the " Disparates 
 na India," observes, that Camoens composed 
 a second satire, " at which Barreto took of- 
 " fence, because it censured the conduct of 
 " some persons who had celebrated his eleva- 
 " tion by an exhibition, called ' Juego de 
 " Canas,' the Sport of Canes. There is not," 
 he adds, " any thing reprehensible in all the 
 " actions of my master, except his having 
 " written these Satires, for in doing so he lost 
 " sight of prudence, independence, and the 
 " bearing of a Cavalier; not any of these <|iia- 
 " lities belonging to a satirist. Barreto, likc- 
 " wise, who was a man possessing a great
 
 138 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " mind,* did not appear to advantage in re- 
 " venging himself so sternly upon a man of 
 " such abilities, and in treating him with such 
 " rigour." He also hints, that 
 
 " As one hand the pen, and one the sword employed," 
 
 the parties who felt aggrieved were under the 
 necessity of having recourse to a different kind 
 of satisfaction than a written refutation, or an 
 appeal to arms. " Finally," he writes, " Fran- 
 " cisco Barreto, becoming the avenger of these 
 " persons, and also considering himself, from 
 " the circumstance of the feast having been 
 " given to celebrate his entrance into the 
 " office of Governor, included in the censure, 
 " banished the poet, and sentenced him to 
 " depart for China." 
 
 The account of Faria e Sousa respecting 
 this satire has been handed down by subse- 
 quent biographers with little variation; and, 
 in its support, the existence of the composition, 
 and its appearance with the Rimas of Camoens 
 
 * How unworthy Barreto was of this character may be 
 seen in Mickle's Life of Camoens, page 189, note.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 139 
 
 so early as the year' 1607, may be adduced. 
 That it was the production of Camoens has, 
 however, been strenuously denied by Dom 
 Joze Maria de Souza, who, in his life of the 
 poet, thus notices it : M At the same time a 
 paper in prose and verse appeared, which 
 reflected upon the conduct of certain citizens 
 of Goa ; who, to flatter the new Governor, 
 had prepared ridiculous feasts to celebrate 
 the day of his elevation ; and had, during 
 the entertainment, exposed themselves to 
 the public in a disgusting state of inebria- 
 tion. This satire was attributed to Camo- 
 ens, but it may be believed, falsely ; since 
 no spark of his genius appears, either in the 
 prose or verses ; nor is he found either 
 before or after that time indulging in that 
 species of composition, of which they are 
 desirous to accuse him." The same Biogra- 
 pher in a note, finds great fault with Faria e 
 Sousa, for having amongst other things respect- 
 ing Camoens, calumniated the character of the 
 poet, by stating his tendency for satire without 
 bringing forward any proof for so odious a 
 charge. The assertion of Dom Joze receives
 
 140 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 authority from the writings of Camoens, where- 
 in his manner of mentioning his sentence of 
 banishment would imply his innocence. Impos- 
 sible as it is, at this period, to ascertain the fact ; 
 we must regret, that it should ever have appear- 
 ed, for if it even was composed by him, he most 
 probably wrote it without any intention that it 
 should survive the time which gave it birth. 
 And as nothing was to be found in it which 
 could recommend it, but on the contrary as it 
 might have appeared unworthy the bard ; his 
 early editors would have consulted much more 
 his honour by suppressing, than by handing it 
 down to posterity. 
 
 The piece, as given in the edition of 1607, 
 bears the following title : " Zombaria que fez 
 " sobre algiis homes a q nao sabia mal o vin- 
 " ho: fingindo q em Goa nas festas que se 
 " fizera5 a Successao de hum Governador, 
 " sayrao a jugar as canas estes certos galantes 
 " co divisas nas bandeiras & letras coformes 
 " suas tencoes, & inclinacoes." " A jest, 
 " which he wrote upon some men, who were 
 " fond of wine : feigning, that in Goa, at the 
 " feasts which were made on the succession of
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 141 
 
 " the Governor, these Gallants went to sport 
 " with Canes, with devices on their banners, 
 " and letters explanatory of their intentions 
 " and inclinations." It is written chiefly in 
 prose, having verses introduced in several 
 places ; the latter being written in explanation 
 of, or as mottos to the devices, which are 
 stated in the former. No names of the parties 
 appear, and after introducing six or eight of 
 these drunken revellers, the author closes the 
 performance by stating, that " several other 
 " illustrious men desired to be admitted to the 
 " feasts and sports, and to have an account of 
 " their qualifications given ; but," he observes, 
 " the writing would be infinite, because all the 
 " men in India are so distinguished, and 
 " therefore let these suffice as a sample." 
 
 Camoens considered the sentence of Barreto 
 an usurpation of power, and an aet of excessive 
 tyranny; yet keen as were his feelings on the 
 occasion, which we may infer from the follow- 
 ing extracts from his works, his greatness of 
 mind would not allow him to proclaim to the 
 world the name of the person who had thus ill- 
 treated him. Assured of his own innocence,
 
 142 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 he thus mentions his exile in stanza 128 of the 
 
 tenth Canto of the Lusiad, wherein he also 
 
 alludes to the shipwreck which he afterwards 
 suffered. 
 
 Este recebera placido, e brando 
 No seu regaco os Cantos, que molhados 
 Vem do naufragio triste, e miserando, 
 Dos procellosos baixos escapados ; 
 Das fomes, dos perigos grandes, quando 
 Sera o injusto mando executado 
 Naquelle, cuja lyra sonorosa 
 Sera mais affamada que ditosa. 
 
 Oh gentle Mecon, on thy friendly shore 
 Long shall the Muse her sweetest offerings pour ! 
 When tyrant ire, chaf 'd by the blended lust 
 Of pride outrageous and revenge unjust, 
 Shall on the guiltless exile burst their rage, 
 And mad'ning tempests on their side engage ; 
 Preserv'd by Heaven the song of Lusian fame, 
 The song, O Vasco, sacred to thy name, 
 Wet from the whelming surge shall triumph o'er 
 The fate of shipwreck on the Mecon's shore, 
 Here rest secure as on the Muses breast, 
 Happy the deathless Song, the Bard, alas ! unblest [ 
 
 Mickle. 
 
 In the composition, commencing 
 
 Sobolos rios, que vao,
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 145 
 
 he inveighs against a sentence so unjust and 
 oppressive; and wishes the remembrance of 
 it might, in punishment to those by whom it 
 was obtained and passed, be written, and re- 
 remain on some imperishable substance. 
 
 A pena desta destcrro 
 
 Que eu mais desejo esculpida 
 
 Km pedra, ou cm duro ferro. 
 
 The conduct of Barreto is condemned by 
 Dom Joze Maria de Souza, who states, that 
 the power vested in him was abused in this 
 instance ; and that, although the generosity of 
 Camoens has concealed the name of his perse- 
 cutor, yet it is a debt due from history to de- 
 nounce this despot to future ages, and to brand 
 his name with infamy for having thus dealt 
 with this great man, whose merits he knew not 
 how to value. Nor is the meanness, he adds, of 
 Manoel Severim de Faria, and others, less re- 
 prehensible for having endeavoured, by blam- 
 ing their unhappy victim, Luis de Camoens, 
 to diminish the odium inseparable from this 
 net of misrule.
 
 144- MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Camoens departed from Goa in 1556, witlv 
 the fleet which was dispatched to the South by 
 Barreto, as the poet himself describes, " loaded 
 " with his sorrows, his feelings, and his for- 
 " tunes." The early part of his exile, it would 
 appear, was spent at the Molucca Islands ; and 
 in the sixth Cancao, to which I have before 
 referred, he is supposed to describe Ternate in 
 the following lines : 
 
 Com forga desusada 
 
 Aquenta o fogo elerno 
 
 Huma Ilha nas partes no Oriente, 
 
 De estranhos habitada, 
 
 Aonde o duro Inverno 
 
 Os campos reverdece alegremente. 
 
 A Lusitana gente 
 
 Por armas sanguinosas 
 
 Tern delle o senhorio. 
 
 Cercada esta de hum rio 
 
 De maritiraas aguas saudosas. 
 
 Das hervas que aqui nascem, 
 
 Os gados juntamente, e os olhos passem. 
 
 Aqui minha ventura 
 Quiz que huma grande parte 
 Da vida se passasse.
 
 i i lv DE CAMOENS. 145 
 
 " With more than usual force the eternal 
 *' fire heats an island in the East, inhabited by 
 *' strangers, where the winter cheerfully re- 
 " vives the fields. The Portuguese nation by 
 " bloody arms holds possession of it. It is sur- 
 " rounded by a river of delightful sea-waters. 
 " On the herbage, which it produces, the 
 " flocks and the eye jointly feed. Here my 
 " fortune willed that a considerable part of 
 " my life should be passed." 
 
 It was during his exile from Goa that Ca- 
 moens spent some time at Macao ; and from an 
 office which he held there as " Provcdor dos 
 Defunctos," or Commissary for the Effects of 
 the Deceased, derived certain emoluments. It 
 may easily be imagined that this situation was 
 little consonant to the ideas of a poet or a sol- 
 dier ; the profits, however, of the office, provid- 
 ed him not only the means of support, but also 
 enabled him to lay up such a sum as he hoped 
 might allow him to pass his latter days in com- 
 parative ease and quiet. He now bestowed much 
 of his time upon the Lusiad, doubtless view- 
 ing, with considerable satisfaction, his wishes 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 memoirs or 
 
 respecting it nearly crowned with success ; and 
 desirous to finish a work, the composition of 
 which, besides having alleviated his misfor- 
 tunes, and supported him under his afflictions, 
 had been his occupation during great part of 
 his eventful life. 
 
 There are differences of opinion with respect 
 to the period when Camoens entered upon this 
 office at Macao. Some imagine that he re- 
 paired to Macao shortly after the order of 
 banishment was passed, and that the rigour of 
 that sentence was softened by this place thus 
 bestowed upon him by Barreto. Faria e Sousa 
 is, I think, inclined to this charitable construc- 
 tion of the conduct of the Governor ; and sig- 
 nificantly observes, that he cannot understand 
 how it happened, that the sentence turned out 
 so advantageously to the poet. Others are of 
 opinion that he was indebted to the justice of 
 Dom Constantino de Braganza, who succeeded 
 as Viceroy in 1558; and that Dom Constan- 
 tino, the poet having appealed to the friendship 
 which had existed between them, suspended his 
 sentence, and conferred the appointment upon
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 147 
 
 him with a view to better his condition. In 
 either case it is allowed that some part of his 
 exile was spent at the Moluccas previous to his 
 arrival at Macao ; and it is generally admitted 
 that he returned to Goa in 1561. 
 
 In support of the former opinion, as to his 
 having obtained the situation shortly after he 
 was exiled, it may be alleged ; that the new Vice- 
 roy did not arrive in India until 1558, and pro- 
 bably at the latter end of that year ; that some 
 time would be spent before Camoens could 
 acquaint him with his sentence, into the justice 
 of which he would have to enquire; and that 
 his having, when he left Macao, property of 
 some consideration, which could only have 
 been derived from the emoluments of his office, 
 would lead to an inference that he held it a 
 longer time than could have elapsed, if the 
 arrival of Dom Constantino was the period of 
 his appointment to it. If, also, this office was 
 under the regulations which generally affected 
 the duration of other employments abroad, as 
 Camoens left Goa in 1556 and returned in 
 1561, if his voyage there, the time he spent at 
 L 2
 
 148 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the Moluccas, and an allowance for his return, 
 are taken into consideration, the three years 
 would be fairly accounted for. 
 
 In opposition to these conjectures, may be 
 adduced, first the improbability that Barreto, 
 who, to gratify either his own revenge, or that 
 of the minions about him, had passed this un- 
 just sentence, would alleviate the burthen thus 
 imposed by an appointment, the profits to be de- 
 rived from which would, in a measure, compen- 
 sate for the disgrace : and further, the friend- 
 ship of Dom Constantino for Camoens, and 
 the excellent character which has descended to 
 us of him, may be noticed ; added to which, we 
 have also the opinion of Dom Joze Maria de 
 Souza, who gives the latter period as the date 
 of his election to this office. 
 
 A Grotto is shewn at Macao, wherein tradi- 
 tion reports Camoens spent great part of the 
 time, during which he was employed on the 
 completion of his poem : accounts of it may be 
 seen in the works of the authors, who have 
 recorded the proceedings of the two last em- 
 bassies sent from England to China. It is still 
 called
 
 luis de camoens. 
 The Grotto of Camoens. 
 
 149 
 
 The above wood-cut forms part of a sketch 
 of this celebrated retreat, which is preserved in 
 Sir Wni Ousel ey's Oriental Collections.* It is 
 
 Vol. I. p. 126. The sketch in tltc Oriental Collection* 
 gives a good idea of the surrounding country. 
 L 3
 
 150 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 accompanied, in that publication, by a descrip- 
 tion of the place by the late Eyles Irwin, 
 Esquire, who introduces the subject by an 
 eulogy on the poet, and whose account was 
 written in 1793. As this account refers to an 
 incident in the life of Camoens peculiarly in- 
 teresting, and conveys, at the same time that 
 it affords a description of the Grotto, the sen- 
 timents of this author on the misfortunes of the 
 poet, no apology is deemed necessary to the 
 reader for introducing it into these memoirs. 
 " The sketch will recall to the feeling mind 
 the chequered lot of Genius, whose sublimity 
 could not preserve it from the shafts of ma- 
 lice, and whose degradation was only want- 
 ing, to complete its triumph over a perse- 
 cuting world ! In this secluded spot he 
 found that peace which the Court and the 
 Camp had alike denied him ; and to a Pa- 
 gan nation he was indebted for that security 
 which he courted in vain among the Chris- 
 tians of the East ! At once the boast and 
 reproach of his country, he extended her 
 renown on the confines of the Pacific Ocean; 
 and the poem he produced in this retreat
 
 LUIS 1)1. CAMOENS. 151 
 
 " might make us cry out with the sympathetic 
 " Bard 
 
 " Yet sacred be the alien spot, 
 
 " Where, by a senseless world forgot, 
 
 " The poet charmed this distant shore 
 
 " Willi Epic tones unheard before 
 
 " And in a desert, doom'd to shame, 
 
 " Rear'd his pyramid of fame ! 
 
 M T'Amphion's lyre so fable gives 
 
 " The magic power by which he lives. 
 
 " And oft to Fancy's pensive ear 
 
 " The son'rous notes are full and clear, 
 
 " As, coasting nigh the moonlight dell, 
 
 " The stranger kens the Poet's cell : 
 
 " Where warbled Love, or Wit the rhyme, 
 
 ' Syrens from the birth of Time ! 
 
 " That tempt thro' seas with storms o'ercast, 
 
 " To Immortality at last." 
 
 " The Grotto of Camoens is pleasantly situ- 
 ated on the western shore of the promontory 
 of Macao, and faces the harbour, which 
 divides it on that side from the main land. 
 This promontory is a narrow neck of land, 
 whose stony and barren surface is only ren- 
 dered habitable by the sea breezes that blow 
 from three quarters of the compass, and 
 L 4
 
 152 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " somewhat temper the natural heat of the 
 " climate. Of trees or verdure there is but 
 " a small proportion; and to the pleasure 
 " grounds, in which the Grotto has been en- 
 " closed, that proportion seems chiefly to have 
 " been allotted. To the taste and enthusiasm 
 " of Mr William Fitzhugh, one of the Com- 
 " pany's former Supercargos at Canton, the 
 " Poet is indebted for the preservation of this 
 " memorial of his labours ; and the Public for 
 " the opportunity of paying their tribute at his 
 " shrine. A few acres have here been laid out 
 " to as much advantage as a singular diver- 
 " sity of ground, and a romantic site, within 
 " so narrow a compass, would admit. The 
 " land bordering the sea, consists of strata of 
 " stone, thrown here and there into a kind 
 " of Cromlech, whose skeleton state, from 
 '* which the equinoxial rains have washed the 
 " soil, evidently denotes them to be the pro- 
 " ductions of nature. In the centre of the area 
 " a more considerable eminence appears, on 
 " which the principal Cromlech stands, bear- 
 " ing on its shoulders a temple in the Chinese 
 " taste, that crowns the Grotto of Camoens.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEKS. 153 
 
 ' This is merely an excavation in the rock 
 " beneath, where a profile of the bard has 
 " been scratched on the wall, of no further 
 " merit than to remind us of the genius of the 
 " place. Nothing can be more beautiful or 
 " extensive than the view from this spot. To 
 " the East and North it is, indeed, sheltered 
 " by the ridge that intersects the promontory ; 
 " but, to the south, the city of Macao, with its 
 " steeples and castles, fills the eye, which, 
 " glancing to the west, meets a prospect di- 
 " versified with verdant isles, and a line of 
 '* woody and cultivated coast, bounded by the 
 " majestic Montagna, whose pyramidical form 
 " and dark aspect add no small charm to the 
 " scenery of nature. From the moving ob- 
 " jccts in the harbour, which entertain for a 
 " while, the spectator turns with anxiety to 
 " the plantations below him, where the vigo- 
 " rous and curious productions of the East so 
 " enliven and adorn this picturesque retire- 
 " incut, as to have rendered it the choice and 
 " admiration of His Excellency Marl Macart- 
 11 ney during his short abode at Macao.* 
 
 Staunton'* Account of the Embassy, vol. 2. p. 590.
 
 154- MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " That a scene, and occasion like this, 
 " should awaken the sympathy and exercise 
 " the talent of the poetical traveller, will sur- 
 " prise no feeling mind. To blend the effect 
 " with the cause, and to make allowance for a 
 " spontaneous tribute to the sufferings and 
 " merits of the divine Camoens, is what the 
 " author may safely expect from the literary 
 " reader: 
 
 SONNET. 
 
 " High-favour'd grot ! that on the jutting verge 
 
 " Of Old Cathay, in shades sequester'd, plac'd, 
 
 " Saw, with the poet's form, thy pavement grac'd 
 " Studious his lyre to epic heights to urge. 
 " This be thy fame not that the wreath which age 
 
 " Weaves for thy region* with mysterious hands ; 
 
 " Nor yet th' achievements of the daring bands,f 
 " Whose glory blaz'd, unrivall'd, on the stage. 
 " Veiled is her pride ! their sun is set in shame ! 
 
 " But oft the pilgrim to his cell shall stray, 
 
 " Still find the Poet living in his lay, 
 " While taste and genius glow at Camoens' name. 
 
 " Still, with thy votary, strew the sill with flowers, 
 " Their lot far happier own, but ah ! less blest their powers ! 
 
 * China. f The Portuguese
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 155 
 
 Camoens, having obtained the permission of 
 the Viceroy to return to Goa, arranged his 
 affairs, and set out with the little fortune which 
 he had saved from the profits of his office. 
 That hapless fortune, however, which had 
 hitherto made his life a scene of disappoint- 
 ment and misery, still pursued its votary. The 
 ship in which he had embarked was wrecked 
 at the mouth of the river Mccon, and he with 
 difficulty reached the shore on a plank ; having 
 lost every thing but the manuscript of his 
 immortal poem. 
 
 In the eightieth stanza of Canto VII. he 
 thus pathetically describes this disaster, con- 
 trasting his situation after the accident with 
 what it had been a few minutes before : 
 
 Agora da esperanca ja adquirida, 
 Dc novo mats que nunca derribado : 
 Agora as costas evcapando a vida, 
 Que (I'hum tin pendia tao delgado, 
 Que nao menos milagrc foi salvar-se, 
 Que para o Hci Judiaco accrescentar-se. 
 
 Now blest with all the wealth fond hope could crate. 
 
 Soon I beheld that wealth beneath the ware. 
 
 For tfver lost : myself escaped alone, 
 
 On the wild shore all frieudlna, hopeless, thrown .
 
 156 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 My life, like Judah's heav'n doom'd King of Yore, 
 By miracle prolonged. 
 
 Mickle. 
 
 The conduct of Camoens on this trying oc- 
 casion, and the noble feeling which prompted 
 him to attempt the salvation of his work in 
 preference to any part of his treasure, have not 
 escaped the notice and praise of his biogra- 
 phers. From the expression which has been 
 translated 
 
 Oh gentle Mecon, on thy friendly shore, &c. 
 
 it appears that the inhabitants of the country 
 received him in a friendly manner, and sup- 
 plied his immediate wants. 
 
 He remained some days amidst the hospi- 
 tality of the natives, recovering from the effects 
 of the shipwreck, and awaiting the arrival of 
 some vessel which might convey him to Goa. 
 During this residence he wrote the paraphrase 
 of the Psalm 137. 
 
 When we our weary limbs to rest, 
 
 Sat down by proud Euphrates' stream, &c. 
 
 This composition, which commences that 
 part of his Rimas which is denominated Re-
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 157 
 
 dondilhas, is highly praised by his editors and 
 biographers. It contains thirty-seven stanzas, 
 of which the first is as follows: 
 
 Sobrc os rio*, que tbo 
 Pur Babylonia, mi- acini, 
 Ondc sentado chorei 
 As lembran^as dc Siao, 
 quantu nclla passci. 
 Alii o rio corrente 
 De mi-US olhos fui inanado; 
 K tuilo Ik-mi comparado, 
 Habylonia ao m.il prcsente, 
 Siao ao tempo passado.* 
 
 This beautiful Psalm, to which Camoens 
 looked for consolation amidst the clangers 
 which surrounded him, has been often referred 
 to, and imitated. Waller, in praising Sir Wil- 
 liam Davenant, for his first two books of Gon- 
 dibcrt, written in France, alluding to their 
 having been composed in a foreign clime, lia>: 
 
 " The drooping Hebrew's banished barps unstrung 
 " At Babylon upon (he willows hung." 
 
 See aUo ihe Sonnets xxx\ ii. xxxviii. and xxxix. of cin- 
 tnrv iii. Fnria e Sousa's Kdition.
 
 158 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Thomson too, in his ode to iEolus's Harp, 
 writes : 
 
 " Such was the song, which Zion's children sung, 
 
 " When by Euphrates' stream they made their plaint."* 
 
 Camoens arrived at Goa in 1561, and was 
 graciously received by the Viceroy. D. Con- 
 stantino was the brother of the Duke D. Theo- 
 dosio de Braganca, celebrated by Camoens in 
 the sonnets commencing : 
 
 " Os Reynos, e os Imperios poderosos" 
 
 And 
 
 " Levantai, minhas Tagides, a frente." 
 
 It is admitted by all the biographers of the 
 poet, that this distinguished nobleman used his 
 
 * Mr Laing imagined that Mr Mc'Pherson had the Scotch 
 version of this Psalm in his recollection in the following 
 passages : 
 
 " Then Gaul sat on the green banks of Lubar." 
 " We sat and heard the sprightly harp at Lubar's gentle 
 " stream." 
 
 " Then Gaul and Ossian sat with Suaran, on the soft 
 " green bank of Lubar." 
 
 Fingal.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 159 
 
 endeavours to efface, as much as possible, the 
 remembrance of his misfortunes, by acts of 
 kindness and attention. Grateful for these 
 endeavours, and justly appreciating the cha- 
 racter of D. Constantino above that of Barreto, 
 Camoens, shortly after his arrival, addressed 
 to him some " Outavas" in imitation of the 
 Epistle of Horace to Augustus. In these he 
 disclaims having been induced, by any pros- 
 pect of reward, to compose the poem, or to 
 flatter the Viceroy. It would appear, from 
 what tin- poet says, that after the relaxed sys- 
 tem which prevailed under the government of 
 Barreto, the more rigorous conduct of D. Con- 
 stantino was not congenial to the inhabitants of 
 Goa; and a perusal of the History of the Por- 
 tuguese in Asia will shew, as I have before 
 remarked, that the occasional endeavours of a 
 few upright and just governors were unavailing 
 to cluck the rapid progress of the decay and 
 fall of the empire. 
 
 This production of Camoens consists of 
 twenty stanzas, and commences with the fol- 
 lowing address to the Viceroy :
 
 160 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Como nos vossos hombros tao constantes 
 (Principe illustre, e raro) sustenteis 
 Tantos negocios arduos, e importantes, 
 Dignos do largo Imperio que regeis ; 
 Como sempre nas armas rutilantes 
 Vestido, o mar, e a terra segureis 
 Do Pirata insolente, e do tyrano 
 Jugo do potentissimo Othomano : 
 
 E como com virtude necessaria, 
 Mai entendida do juizo alheo, 
 A' desordem do vulgo temeraria, 
 Na santa paz ponhais o duro freo ; 
 Se com minha escriptura longa, e varia, 
 Vos occupasse o tempo, certo creo 
 Que com vagante, e ociosa phantasia 
 Contra o commum proveito peccaria. 
 
 E nao menos seria reputado 
 Por doce adulador, sagaz, c agudo, 
 Que contra meu tao baixo, e triste estado 
 Busco favor em vos que podeis tudo ; 
 Se contra a opiniao do vulgo errado 
 Vos celebrasse em verso humilde, e rudo, 
 Dirao, que com lisonja ajuda peco 
 Contra a miseria injusta que padeco. 
 
 Porem, porque a verdade pode tanto 
 No livre arbitrio, (como disse bem 
 Ao grao Daria o moco sabio, e santo, 
 Que foi reedificar Hierusalera)
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 161 
 
 Etta me obriga, que em humilde onto. 
 Contra a ten^a-) que a plebe ignara tern, 
 V'os fa^a claro a qncm os nan alcanna ; 
 K nao de premio alguin vil espcran^a. 
 
 Camoens, in the ninth stanza of these outa- 
 vas, praises the loyalty of the Viceroy, who, 
 purely for the service of the King, trusted him- 
 self amidst the storms of the ocean, when his 
 exalted rank was a sufficient security to him 
 against his having been called upon to under- 
 take the office. 
 
 StMido vos detao alto, e illustre prc^o, 
 A vidii fostes por n'hum fraco lenho, 
 l'or largo mar. e undoM tempettade, 
 S<> |M>r servir :'i Regia Magestade. 
 
 In the tenth, he describes him as curbing a 
 
 people difficult of restraint, and accustomed to 
 the licentious feebleness of the torpid govern- 
 ment which had just ceased. 
 
 Zorohabel v Iwlrat, (.'hap. 3. 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 E despois de tomar a redea dura 
 Na mao do povo indomito que estara 
 Costumado a largueza, e a soltura 
 Do pezado governo que acabava.* 
 
 After some reflections upon the irreligion 
 which originated in the apathy of the preceding 
 Governor, and the consequent relaxation of 
 morals in the governed ; the chief exploits of 
 the new Viceroy are alluded to; and the re- 
 mainder of the piece is taken up with an ex- 
 hortation to Dom Constantino, urging him not 
 to heed the remarks or threats of the misjudg- 
 ing and ungrateful : in support of which advice 
 Camoens adduces the names and actions of 
 several of the famed heroes of old, who, al- 
 though the benefactors of the people, suffered 
 from its prejudices. 
 
 Camoens enjoyed, under the protection of 
 Dom Constantino, some respite from his mis- 
 fortunes ; and many of his lesser works testify, 
 that in this interval he was much esteemed and 
 
 * Faria e Sousa is very desirous to avert the severe charges, 
 which are exhibited against Barreto in this and similar pas- 
 sages in the works of Camoens ; and brings forward his 
 military ardour in excuse for his want of political attention.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 163 
 
 noticed amongst the Fidalguia of India. Seve- 
 ral of his productions were addressed to the 
 Viceroy, or written at his request ; and it was 
 during this period he composed the little piece 
 which we find in his works under the title of 
 " Convite que fez na India a certos Fidalgos." 
 He had invited to an entertainment, Vasco de 
 Ataide, D. Francisco de Almeida, Heitor da 
 Silveira, Joao Lopes Leitao, and Francisco 
 de Mello ; who, on uncovering their plates, 
 discovered, in lieu of the first course of meat, 
 a set of verses placed for each. The surprise 
 gave occasion to considerable mirth and amuse- 
 ment, and the plot and the playfulness of the 
 verses are reported to have been well gotten up 
 and supported. 
 
 The departure of Dom Constantino, towards 
 the end of the same year, 1561, put an end to 
 the calm which Camoens had enjoyed ; and 
 gave his enemies another opportunity of shew- 
 ing their insatiable revenge. The Conde de 
 Redondo Do in Francisco de Coutinho, who 
 was an admirer and the friend of Camoens, 
 could not protect him against their accusations. 
 Complaints were urged respecting the adminis- 
 M '2
 
 164 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 tration of his office at Macao ; and, on charges 
 of malversation, he was arrested and thrown 
 into prison. In Canto VII. of the Lusiad, he 
 alludes to the situation in which the calumny 
 of his adversaries had placed him : 
 
 Woes succeeding woes 
 
 Belied my earnest hopes of sweet repose : 
 In place of bays around my brows to shed 
 Their sacred honours, o'er my destin'd head ; 
 Foul calumny proclaim'd the fraudful tale, 
 And left me mourning in a dreary jail. 
 
 A troco dos descansos que esperava, 
 Das capellas de louro que me honrassem, 
 Trabalhos nunca usados me inventararo, 
 Com que em tao duro estado me deitaram. 
 
 The poet proved satisfactorily, from the 
 place of his confinement, that the charges 
 which had been preferred against him were 
 totally unfounded ; his evil fortune, however, 
 still pursued him, for although the explana- 
 tions of his conduct removed any suspicions 
 from him, they could not release him from his 
 pecuniary engagements. Miguel Rodrigues 
 Coutinho, nick-named Fios-seccos, who is re-
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 165 
 
 presented to have been a man of consequence, 
 and very rich, detained him in custody tor a 
 trifling debt.* On this occasion, Camoens 
 sent a request for his release in the following 
 lines, wherein the character of this miser is 
 ridiculed. 
 
 Que ili.il'u he tan dan niacin. 
 -Que nao tenia a cutilada 
 Dos Fiok SeCCOS da cspada 
 Do fcro Miguel armado ? 
 Pois se tanto hum golpe sou 
 Soa na infernal cadi-a ; 
 Do que demonio nrrecca, 
 Como na'i fugirei eu ? 
 
 Com ra/a lhe fugiria, 
 St' contr' elle, e contra tudo, 
 Nai riveme hum forte eseudo 
 So em V'ossa Senhoria. 
 I'or tanto, Senlior, proveja, 
 l'ois nic lent no retno atndo, 
 Que antes cjue seja cmharcado, 
 Ku desembargado seja. 
 
 * The amount of this debt is stated by F.iri.i e Sousa to 
 have been only some maravedis. Dom Jose Maria de Soma 
 calls it two hundred crusudos. 
 
 M 3
 
 166 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " What devil is so utterly damned as not to fear a 
 " cut from the sword of Fios-Seccos, of the cruel Miguel 
 " when armed ? If therefore a blow from it so resounds in 
 " the infernal prison as to make the devil himself quail, why 
 " shall I not fly ? With good reason I would fly him, if I 
 " had not, against him and against all, a strong shield in 
 " your Excellency. Let me therefore, Sir, be so taken care 
 " of, since he has me tied to the oar, that before you are 
 " embarked I may be uncaged." 
 
 Faria e Sousa writes, that the Viceroy was 
 on the point of sailing with a splendid retinue, 
 to celebrate the conclusion of a treaty with the 
 Zamorin, when Camoens preferred this request, 
 and that he was desirous to join the expedition. 
 He, however, observes, that he had not ascer- 
 tained whether he was set at liberty previous 
 to the Viceroy's departure : but only, that he 
 was released from confinement, and afterwards 
 served in the armaments, as he had been accus- 
 tomed to do. Dom Joze does not adduce this 
 ground for petition : observing merely, that this 
 appeal to the Viceroy was the first and only 
 favour he ever asked, and that his request was 
 not couched in any servile terms. 
 
 He remained some years in India after his 
 liberation from prison, the winters of which he
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 167 
 
 dedicated to his compositions, and in the 
 springs joined the various naval and military 
 expeditions which were undertaken. It was 
 during this latter time, after the death of the 
 Conde de Redondo and the succession of 
 Dom Antao de Noronha to the Viceroyship, 
 that Dom Joze is inclined to suppose Camoens, 
 having placed his last hopes in the affection of 
 Dona Catharina de Atayde, experienced, in the 
 death of that lady, the severest shock he had 
 then encountered ; and that the following lines 
 have reference to that calamitous event : 
 
 Lmbra-tc tu, que so de ti esperava 
 Kemedio aos mules metis, e enta ' veras 
 Qual ficou quern em ti m'> contiava. 
 
 As we are now about to take leave of the poet 
 as a soldier, it is proper to remark, that he is 
 reported to have displayed, in every expedition 
 in which he was concerned, that valour which 
 prompted the address to his sovereign in that 
 respectful and proper strain, which evinces a 
 conviction of true merit: 
 
 IVua M-rvir-Mi. I>i.i..i> a* annas feito. 
 M i
 
 168 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 His companions, on their return to Portugal, 
 commended loudly his heroic spirit, and the 
 bravery which he shewed in the various op- 
 portunities that were afforded him of distin- 
 guishing himself in India. 
 
 Havifig at length completed his poem, on 
 which he felt convinced his future reliance 
 must entirely depend ; and aware of its value, 
 as its composition was calculated to confer so 
 high an honour upon his country, he deter- 
 mined to embark for Europe, in order to lay 
 it before the young King Dom Sebastian, from 
 whom he hoped to receive that remuneration, 
 to which his talents and lengthened services 
 justly entitled him. The means of accomplish- 
 ing this undertaking were not, unfortunately, 
 within his power, as disinterestedness and an 
 independent spirit were not qualities by which 
 money was likely to be then acquired in India. 
 In this emergency, whilst his mind was ac- 
 tively employed in canvassing how this purpose 
 might be attained ; he listened to the solicita- 
 tions of Pedro Barreto, who was on the eve of 
 departure to assume the government of Sofala, 
 to which he had been lately appointed ; and
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 169 
 
 who appeared desirous that Camocns should 
 accompany him. Camoens, with a heart, noble 
 in itself, and unsuspicious of the falsehood, 
 meanness, and treachery of this officer, whose 
 sole object was to retain our poet in his ser- 
 vice, urged by his necessities, unluckily consent- 
 ed. I le had, however, cause to repent, having 
 been unsuspectingly betrayed ; and soon ex- 
 perienced the little trust to be placed in those 
 promises which had been held out to induce 
 him to go to Sofala. Chagrined and disap- 
 pointed, he sighed to quit a situation where 
 his dependent and unhappy state exposed him 
 to repeated cruelty and insult; and, as if in pity 
 to his distress the wished-for opportunity pre- 
 sented itself. Diogo de C'outo, the Historian, 
 ami some of those friends whom he had known 
 in India, arrived in the Santa Fe, on their 
 way to Lisbon, and found him in the greatest 
 misery. In this vessel Camoens resolved to 
 embark lor Portugal. Barreto, however, was 
 no sooner apprised of his intention, than he 
 determined to prevent its being carried into 
 execution; he demanded the payment of two 
 hundred cruzados, which he alleged he had ex-
 
 170 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 pended on behalf of the poet ; and, knowing his 
 inability to raise the amount, fancied himself 
 sure of his victim. The Fidalgos, who were on 
 their return, seeing the baseness of the conduct 
 of the governor, subscribed the sum to satisfy 
 the demand, and released the debtor from his 
 cruel grasp. " For this price," Manoel de 
 Faria writes, " were sold, at the same time, 
 " the person of Camoens and the honour of 
 " Pedro Barreto."* 
 
 History has fortunately preserved the names 
 of the principal benefactors of Camoens. They 
 were Heitor da Sylveira, Duarte de Abreu, 
 Diogo de Couto, Antonio Cabral, Antonio 
 Serrao, and Luiz da Veyga. With most of 
 these he had been in habits of friendship in 
 India, and by them he was taken free of ex- 
 pence to Lisbon. With Heitor da Sylveira he 
 had been on the most intimate terms, as may 
 be seen from his Rimas ; he was one of the 
 
 * The coin is denominated Milrees by Machado, Ducats 
 by Faria e Sousa, and Cruzados by Dom Joze Maria de 
 Souza. The demand, however, by any of these computations, 
 was not of any great extent.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 171 
 
 party invited by Camoens to the entertainment 
 which has been mentioned, where the guests 
 were served with verses in lieu of victuals ; and 
 amongst the Hedondilhas some verses are 
 found, which were the joint production of 
 Camoens and Sylveira, and are addressed to 
 the Conde de Kedoudo. Faria e Sousa judged 
 that Sylveira was probably the principal mover 
 in the release of his friend ; and Machado 
 states, that he actually paid the whole demand, 
 thereby shewing the generosity of his mind, 
 and the firm friendship he had always felt to- 
 wards the bard. 
 
 We are informed, that during his captivity 
 at Sofala, he composed several pieces, in which 
 are pictured the shock which his mind had 
 received from the persecutions he had suffered; 
 and how grievous to him his wretched and 
 unhappy existence had become. Dom Joze 
 Maria de Sou/a, who gives the above remark 
 in his life of the poet, quotes the following 
 sonnet as one of his compositions at this time, 
 wherein he has pourt rayed his misery and 
 feelings :
 
 172 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 SONETO. 
 
 Oh como se me alonga de anno em anno 
 
 A peregrinacao cancada minha ! 
 
 Como se encurta, e como ao fim caminha 
 Este meu breve e vao discurso humano ! 
 Mingoado a idade vai, crescendo o dano; 
 
 Perdeo-se-me hum remedio, que inda tinha : 
 
 Se por experiencia se adivinha, 
 Qualquer grande esperanca he grande engano. 
 Corro apoz este bem que nao se alcanca ; 
 
 No meio do caminho me fallece ; 
 Mil vezes caio, e perco a confianca. 
 Quando elle foge, eu tardo ; e na tardanca, 
 
 Se os olhos ergo a ver se inda apparece, 
 Da vista se me perde, e da esperanca. 
 
 It is not improbable that, amidst the afflic- 
 tions which oppressed him during his sojourn 
 at Sofala, he wrote another sonnet, which is 
 highly praised by his biographers, as depicting 
 a mind overwhelmed with the deepest sorrow. 
 I regret that I am not at liberty to disclose the 
 name of the translator.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 173 
 
 SONETO. 
 
 Onde acharci lugar too apartado, 
 E too iscnto cm tudo da venture. 
 Que, nan digo eu de humana creatura, 
 
 Mas nem de feras seja frequentado ? 
 
 Algum bosque medonho, e carregado, 
 Ou selva solitoria, tristc, e escura, 
 Sem fonte clare, ou placida verdura ; 
 
 Em fim, lugar conformc a mcu cuidado ? 
 
 Porquc alii nas entranhas dos pencdos 
 Em vida morto, sepultodo em vida, 
 Mo queue q>iosa, e livremente, 
 Que pis a minha pena he sem medida. 
 
 Alii na<> aerei triatc em dins lido* 
 E dias tristcs me farao contente. 
 
 SONNET. 
 
 Where shall I find a place so set apart. 
 
 So free from all that soothes the feeling heart, 
 
 'Hint it Ik> not to human kind alone, 
 
 Hut to the brute creation too, unknown ? 
 
 Some frightful forest, fit for magic pelk 
 
 Or solitary wood, where ladnem dwell* ; 
 
 No fountain clear, no verdure there be found. 
 
 But like my mind, !>v all the *cenc around !
 
 174 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 For in stone walls, where busy mortals hive, 
 Dead midst the living, and entomb'd alive, 
 "What sore affliction doth my soul endure ! 
 Then since my pain refuses every cure, 
 There, joy will never chide my gloomy brow, 
 And days of sorrow will content me now. 
 
 Camoens is reported to have informed Diogo 
 de Couto, on the voyage home, that he had 
 composed the Lusiad; and to have also im- 
 parted a wish, that he would write a commen- 
 tary upon it, which Couto is represented to 
 have agreed to, and to have partly performed. 
 Severim de Faria writes, that a letter from 
 Couto to a friend, dated in the year 1611, is 
 the authority on which he gives the informa- 
 tion. Barbosa confirms this report by enume- 
 " rating " Diogo de Couto, Chronista Mor 
 da India," amongst the commentators on the 
 Lusiad. 
 
 In the Eighth Decade* of his work, the meet- 
 ing with Camoens at Mozambique, and another 
 work, which it would appear, had engaged the 
 attention of the Portuguese poet, are thus 
 
 * Cap. 26. p. 404. Ed. Lisb. folio, 1736. Tom, iii.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 175 
 
 mentioned by C'outo. " At Mocambique, we 
 " found that prince of the poets of his time, 
 " my messmate and friend Luis de Camoens, 
 " so poor, that he was supported by his 
 " friends ; and, to enable him to embark for 
 " the Kingdom, we furnished him with such 
 " clothes as he stood in need ot\ and took care 
 " that he should not want provisions. In the 
 " winter that he passed at Mocambique, he pre- 
 " pared his Lusiad for the press ; and wrote 
 " much in a book he was making, which was 
 " entitled Parnasso de Luis de Camoes, a 
 " work of gnat erudition, learning, and philo- 
 " sophy, which was stolen from him; and 
 " concerning which, although I made much 
 " enquiry, 1 could never hear any thing in the 
 " Kingdom. It was a remarkable theft : and 
 " this excellent poet died in Portugal in real 
 " poverty." 
 
 The work thus mentioned is believed by 
 Dom Joze to have been a collection of Ins 
 poems, which are generally denominated the 
 Himas of Camoens ; and this idea is much 
 more likely than the conjecture of Faria e 
 Sousa, who supposed that it was totally a new
 
 176 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 production, consisting of prose and verse, and 
 that he himself had, when a child, been instru- 
 mental to its destruction and loss. He writes, 
 " My grandfather, Estacio de Faria, was a 
 " man of genius, and wrote poetry with con- 
 " siderable ability. At his death, some papers 
 " became the property of my mother, and 
 " amongst them a manuscript book of nearly 
 " a quire of paper, and consisting of prose and 
 " verse. This book I lost when a child. When 
 " I grew up, I supposed it had contained 
 " some of my grandfather's compositions; but 
 " afterwards, when I had attentively read the 
 " works of Luis de Camoens, I recollected 
 '* some of the passages, and it appeared to 
 " me reasoning from the style, that it was 
 " written by my poet. This might not have 
 " been impossible, because, friends as the poet 
 " and my grandfather were, he might, on the 
 " death of Camoens, have become possessed of 
 " this book. Whatever the case might have 
 " been, the book of Camoens has not as yet 
 " appeared."* 
 
 * Machado, in his Bihliotheca Lusitana, Tomo iii, p. 76, 
 has the following remark concerning this manuscript -. " Luis
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 177 
 
 Faria e Sousa, in his Asia Portuguesa, no- 
 tices this volume, as also the situation of Ca- 
 moens at Sofala, and his release therefrom. 
 " *In this year (1569) was in Sofala, the sin- 
 
 " de Camoens imparted this work to Diogo de Couto, Chro- 
 " nista Mor da India, in the year \~>t>H, as he writes in his 
 * Decade 8. Cap. 'JH (26) &c." And again, " Of this work 
 " Manoel de Faria makes mention in the second part of the 
 " Fuentes de Aganip. in the Advcrtencias to the Fabula de 
 u Gclia e Flaininia. n. 5 ; and in the Asia Portuguesa, torn. 2, 
 " part 3, cap. 1. n. 1 . r >." 
 
 " Este ano se hallava en Zofala el singularmcnte valido 
 " del Cielo y ajado de los Hoinlires Luis de Camoens Terror 
 " de los Poctas vulgares de Europa. Hallandoae pobrissimo 
 " en la India (adonde milito 16 ano*) y ofreciendole bonan- 
 " ^as Pedro Barreto que passava a ser capitan de aquella 
 '* plaza (sin acordarsc de lo mal que le avia tratado eMe 
 " apellido, pues Francisco Barreto 1c avia arrojado a la China) 
 " e fue con el. Mas como promenaa de Hombrei ordina- 
 ' rianu'iite aon vanaa, como fundadas en caprichos de (jiie 
 " luego variau ; el Poeta experimentandolo, tom6 por resolu- 
 " cion entrane en una nave <|iie alii avia llegado de pa<:*aje 
 " para el llcyno, en que venian Etor de Silveira, Antonio 
 ' Cahral, Luia de Vega, Duarte de Abreu. Antonio Ferrari, 
 " y otros Cavellcroa. Perd eatando tic acuerdo con ellos lo 
 " experiment^ mejor j porque Pedro Harreto que no le avia 
 " hecho aquellaa promessas para mejorarle con cxecuurlan, 
 ' sino para entretenerae con la graitdeta de su ingenio 
 vol.. I. N
 
 178 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ** gularly favoured by heaven and abused by 
 " man Luis de Camoens, the terror of the 
 " common poets of Europe. Being extremely 
 " poor in India, (where he had been a soldier 
 " sixteen years), and Pedro Barreto, who was 
 " then going as Captain to that place, oiFering 
 " him favours, he, not regarding the ills which 
 " he had already suffered from persons of that 
 " name, Francisco Barreto having exiled him 
 " to China, set out to Sofala. But as the 
 " promises of men are in general vain, and 
 " proceed from caprices which do not last; 
 " the poet, experiencing this, resolved to em- 
 " bark in a ship that was then going to the 
 
 " (Iastimosa desgracia que un hombre a quien Dios hizo 
 " grande sin potenria, se vea reduzido a depender, y ser 
 " entretenimiento de otros a quien la Fortuna hizo poderosos 
 " sin grandeza !) viendo que se iva le pedio como deuda 
 " dozientos ducados que con el (dixo) avia gastado en traerte 
 ' a aquella Placa : y essos Cavalleros que le querian traer la 
 " rescataron, y le truxieron. De mantra que aun mismo 
 " tiempo la Persona de Luis de Camones, y la gloria de 
 " Pedro Barreto fueron vendidas por esso precio. Alii avia 
 " dado fin a su immortal Poema, y principio a otro libro, que 
 " se intitulava el Parnaso. Entro en Lisboa el ano 1569. 
 " en que toda ella estava ardiendo en peste."
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 179 
 
 " Kingdom, and in which were Etor de Sil- 
 
 " veira, Antonio Cabral, Luis de Vega, Duarte 
 
 " de Abreu, Antonio Ferran, and other Ca- 
 
 " valiers. Having agreed to accompany them, 
 
 " he further experienced the truth of the above 
 
 " remark : for Pedro Barreto, who had not 
 
 " made these promises to ameliorate his con- 
 
 " dition, with the intention of carrying them 
 
 " into effect, but to gratify himself with the 
 
 " grandeur of the poet's genius, (lasting dis- 
 
 " grace, that a person whom God had created 
 
 " great, yet without power, should see himself 
 
 " reduced to depend upon, and to be the 
 
 " amusement of others, to whom fortune had 
 
 " dispensed power without greatness) having 
 
 " discovered Camoens's intention of leaving 
 
 " Sofala, demanded of him two hundred du- 
 
 " cats; a sum which he stated he had ex- 
 
 " pended in bringing him there. These Ca- 
 
 ' valiers, however, who were desirous that 
 
 " he should go with them, paid the money and 
 
 " brought him away ; so that at the same time 
 
 " the person of Luis de Camoens and the 
 
 " glory of Pedro Barreto were sold for this 
 
 " price. He had then finished hi* immortal 
 
 N 2
 
 180 f MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " poem, and had commenced another book, 
 " which was called Parnaso. He arrived at 
 " Lisbon in 1569, during which year the 
 " plague was raging/' 
 
 The arrival of Camoens in Lisbon was at a 
 time most unfortunate and unpropitious for the 
 speedy appearance of his poem. The city was 
 desolated with an awful visitation of the plague, 
 and the attention of every one was naturally 
 engaged in devising means of safety and escape 
 from its ravages ; the young King also, to 
 whose approbation he looked with confidence 
 for support, was frequently changing his resi- 
 dence. These circumstances afforded the poet 
 very little chance of presenting the Lusiad to 
 Sebastian, and securing for it that notice and 
 protection, under which he intended it should 
 appear. 
 
 Dom Joze Maria de Souza imputes great 
 blame, with regard to the treatment of Camoens 
 on his arrival, to the ministers and favourites 
 of the Monarch, whom, on account of his 
 youth, he is desirous of exculpating. To some 
 of these persons, who had counselled Sebastian 
 to withdraw the reins of government from
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 181 
 
 his uncle, the Cardinal Dom Henrique, before 
 he knew how to bridle his youthful passions, 
 and who had also, under the pretence of 
 avoiding the plague, but really with a view to 
 detach the Monarch from the care of his na- 
 tural guardians, urged him to travel in the 
 provinces, and keep at a distance from the 
 capital ; the honourable and wholesome advice 
 to the sovereign, and the enlarged and liberal 
 ideas of the poet were not likely to be very 
 palatable. In support of the accusation, Dom 
 Joze adduces the pitiful pension granted by 
 Sebastian: when, at length, he had an opportu- 
 nity of knowing the merits of the poem. The 
 Father Luis Goncalves da Camara, the King's 
 Confessor, and his brother Martin Goncalves 
 da Camara, the Private Secretary of Sebastian, 
 are particularly censured, and charged with 
 having biassed his mind; and to the latter is 
 alleged, the suggestion to limit the pension to 
 its narrow bounds, and to impose, with the 
 grant, the terms which accompanied it. 
 
 Admitting that to the counsel, originally 
 given by these brothers, and those persons who 
 n S
 
 182 MEMOIRS OF * 
 
 were associated with them round the Monarch, 
 to assume the government when his mind was 
 not sufficiently matured for so important a sta- 
 tion, may be attributed the fatal result of the 
 expedition to Africa ; yet, if any apology can 
 be produced for their conduct, as far as re- 
 spects the poet, it would be injustice to their 
 memory to withhold it from the public. These 
 persons probably repented when they saw the 
 head-strong course pursued by Sebastian, and 
 the discontent which the preparations for his 
 intended expedition produced amongst the peo- 
 ple ; and from that repentance may have arisen 
 the neglect and miserable end of Camoens. 
 If such was the case, although the Poet suf- 
 fered, and his fate calls for our deepest sym- 
 pathy and regret, that fate may have been in 
 some measure decided by the circumstances of 
 the times, and part of the odium attached to 
 the persons alluded to may consequently be 
 undeserved. We find, on referring to Ma- 
 chado's Memoirs of Sebastian, that Luis Gon- 
 calves da Camara strenuously exerted himself 
 to dissuade the King from the enterprise, and 
 that the failure in his solicitations is stated to
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 183 
 
 have caused his death, an event which Sebastian 
 sincerely deplored. May it not, therefore, have 
 operated upon the minds of this Confessor, and 
 of those immediately about the person of the 
 Monarch, that a poem, setting forth such bril- 
 liant exploits and achievements as the Lusiad 
 pictured, and containing the address which 
 appears in it to Sebastian, was more calculated 
 to inflame the ardour of a young and chival- 
 rous Prince, than to encourage reflection on 
 the risk attending the execution of the medi- 
 tated descent upon Africa, and the conse- 
 quences which might result from the failure of 
 the armament. The aversion which was gene- 
 rally evinced by persons best able to judge of 
 the expedition, and by the nation, might have 
 led these ministers to suppose it their duty 
 then, however they might have been instru- 
 mental before in misguiding the steps of Sebas- 
 tian, to shew as little countenance to the work 
 as they could avoid, considering that the King 
 was to be its avowed protector. Although far 
 from questioning the justice of the complaints 
 of the poet, and that of feeling in his favour 
 N 4
 
 184 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 which has almost ever since his unhappy death, 
 condemned the neglect shewn by his country 
 towards a person, who was one of her greatest 
 ornaments, I have deemed it proper to offer 
 the above remarks as to the peculiar state of 
 the times, when this imputed blame attached. 
 
 No information has reached us as to the 
 means by which Camoens was supported du- 
 ring the interval between his arrival in 1589, 
 and the appearance of the Lusiad, which, after 
 a period of two years, spent, as may be con- 
 jectured, in revising it, and obtaining the pa- 
 tronage of Sebastian, was first given to the 
 world in 1572. It is a little remarkable, that 
 Faria e Sousa, Ignacio Ferreira, and other 
 biographers of Camoens, have stated that the 
 Royal Alvara or Grant of Copyright bore date 
 on the fourth day of September, 1571 ; whereas, 
 its real date is the twenty-fourth day of the 
 same month and year ; a fact, which betrays a 
 great degree of carelessness and negligence on 
 their parts. 
 
 The dedication of the poem to Sebastian is 
 contained in the following lines from Canto I. 
 st. vi. to and including st. xviii. The prophecy
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEN8. 185 
 
 contained in them was, unfortunately, never 
 fulfilled.* 
 
 K vos. u bem nascida seguran^a 
 
 Da Lutitana antigua lihrrdade, 
 
 E nao menos certinima espcran^a 
 
 I)e auginento da pequena Christandade : 
 
 Vos 6 novo tetnor da Maura lan^a, 
 
 Maravilha fatal da uoesa idade ; 
 
 Dada a<> Mundo por Deos, que todu o mande, 
 
 Para do Mnndo a Deos dar parte grande : 
 
 \7 tetiro e novo raino floreccnte 
 l)c hums arvore de (hristo trtais ainada 
 Que nenhuma natcida no Occidente, 
 Cesarca, ou Chrisliani&siina chamada: 
 Vede-o no tosso esrudo, que presente 
 Vos amostra a victoria ja passada; 
 Na (jual vos deo por annas e deixou 
 \- que etle psra si na Cruz tomou : 
 
 The reader will find the translation of these lines by 
 Mr MiikU'. Liiiiad, Canto 1. 
 
 And itiou, <) born the pledge of happier days, 
 
 To the line 
 
 And all iluii conquests iiuci iliy wondering eye-.
 
 186 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Vos, poderoso Rei, cujo alto impeiio 
 O Sol logo em nascendo ve primeiro ; 
 Ve-o tambem no meio do hemispherio ; 
 E quando desce o deixa derradeiro : 
 Vos, que esperamos jugo, e vituperio 
 Do torpe Ismaelita cavalleiro, 
 Do Turco oriental, e do Gentio, 
 Que inda bebe o licor do sancto rio. 
 
 Inclinai por hum pouco a magestade 
 Que nesse tenro gesto vos contemplo ; 
 Que ja se mostra qual na inteira idade, 
 Quando subindo ireis ao eterno templo. 
 Os olhos da Real benignidade 
 Ponde no chao : vereis hum novo exemplo 
 De amor dos patrios feitos valerosos 
 Em versos divulgado numerosos. 
 
 Vereis amor da patria, nao movido 
 De premio vil ; mas alto, e quasi eterno : 
 Que na5 he premio vil ser conhecido 
 Por hum pregao do ninho meu paterno. 
 Ouvi ; vereis o nome engrandecido 
 Daquelles de quem sois Senhor superno : 
 E julgareis qual he mais excellente, 
 Se ser do mundo Rei, se de tal gente. 
 
 Ouvi ; que nao vereis com vaas facanhas, 
 Phantasticas, fingidas, mcntirosas, 
 Louvar os vossos, como nas estranhas 
 Musas, de engrandecer-se desejosas :
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 187 
 
 As verdadeiras voaaaa sho tamanltas, 
 ijue excedem as miii1i.kI.is. fahulosas; 
 Que excedem Rhodamonte, e o van Kogeiro, 
 Orlando, inda<|uc fora verdadeiro. 
 
 Pot estes vos darei hum Nuno fero, 
 Que fez ao Hei, e ao Keino tal scrvi^o ; 
 Hum Egas, hum Dom Fuas, que do Ilomero 
 A cithara para elles so col)ic,o. 
 Pois pelos doze Pares dar-vos (jucro 
 Os doze de Inglaterro, e o seu Magric,o : 
 Dou-vos lambent aquelle illustrc Gumn, 
 Que para si de Eneas toma a faina. 
 
 Puis so a troco de Carlos Hoi de Frnn<;a, 
 Ou de Cesar querela igual menioria, 
 Vede primeiro Afonso, cuje lanc,n 
 Kscura faz <|iialc|iicr estranha gloria : 
 E aquelle, i|ue a seu Keino a seguraixja 
 Dei x on co'a grande e proapera victoria; 
 Outro Joanne invicto Cavalleim; 
 O ipinrto e quinto Afonaoa, e o u-rcciro. 
 
 Nem deixarao mcui versos eaquecidos 
 Aquelle* que noa Keinos la da Aurora, 
 So fizeram por armaa ta<> nibidoa, 
 Vossa bandeira semprc vencedora : 
 Hum Pacheco fortissimo; e os letnidoi 
 Almeida*, |>or quen aempre <> Tvjo cbora ; 
 Albuquerque terrihil, Caatro forte ; 
 E outro*. em quern podcr na > tcve a mono.
 
 188 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 E em quanto eu estes canto, e a vos nao posso, 
 
 Sublime Rei, que nao me atrevo a tanto, 
 
 Tomai as redeas vos do reino vosso, 
 
 Dareis materia a nunca ouvido canto. 
 
 Comecem a sentir o pezo grosso 
 
 (Que pelo Mundo todo faca espantoj 
 
 De exercitos, e feitos singulares, 
 
 De Africa as terras, e do Oriente os mares. 
 
 Em vos os olhos tern o Mouro frio, 
 Em quern ve seu exicio affigurado : 
 So com vos ver o barbaro Gentio 
 Mostra o pescoco ao jogo ja inclinado : 
 Tethys, todo o ceruleo senhorio 
 Tem para vos por dote aparclhado ; 
 Que affeicoada ao gesto bello, e tenro, 
 Deseja de comprar-vos para genro. 
 
 Em vos se vem da Olympica morada, 
 Dos dous Avos as almas ca famosas ; 
 Huma na paz angelica dourada, 
 Outra pelas batalhas sanguinosas : 
 Em vos esperam ver-se renovada 
 Sua memorio, e obras valerosas : 
 E la vos tem lugar no iim da idade, 
 No Templo da suprema eternidade. 
 
 Mas em quanto este tempo passa lento 
 De regerdes os povos, que o desejam, 
 Dai vos favor ao novo atrevimento, 
 Para que estes meus versos vossos sejam
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 1 S!J 
 
 E vcrcis ir cortando o salso argento 
 Os vossos Argonautas; porque vejani 
 Que si'i vistoi ill* v('s no mar irado : 
 E COStumai-TOS ja a ser invocado. 
 
 In Canto x. st. cxlv. to the end of the poem, 
 we find another appeal to the youthful Mo- 
 narch, wherein Camoens alludes to his own 
 services : 
 
 No miis, Musa, no main, que a lyra teidio 
 Deatemperada, e a vox enrouquecida ; 
 E na> do canto, raaa de vet que venho 
 Cantar a gente surda. e endurecida. 
 O favor com que mais se accende o engenho, 
 Nao no da a patria, nan, que esta mittida 
 No gosto da cobi^a, C n.i rudeza 
 D'huma austcra, apagada, e vil tristexa. 
 
 E na" ci porque influxo de destino 
 Nao tern hum letlo orguihu, e geral gosto, 
 Que in animoa levanta do contino, 
 A ter para trabalhoa ledo k roato. 
 Pot iwo V'is, i. Rei, que por divino 
 Conselho eitai* no regio M>lii> poato, 
 Olhai que mm (e vede ai outran gente*) 
 Senhor mi de va.sallos eicellcntev. 
 
 Olhai que ledoi a , pot vari.is via-.. 
 Quaca rompentea li^x-s c bra\os touroa,
 
 190 MEMOIRS OP 
 
 Dando os corpos a fbmes, e a vigias, 
 A ferro, a fogo, a settas, e pelouros : 
 A quentes Regioes, a plagas frias, 
 A golpes de Idolatras, e de Mouros, 
 A perigos incognitos do mundo, 
 A naufragios, a peixes, ao profundo : 
 
 Por vos servir a tudo apparelhados, 
 De vos tao longe sempre obedientes, 
 A quaesquer vossos asperos mandados, 
 Sem dar resposta, promptws e contentes : 
 So com saber que sao de vos olbados, 
 Demonios infernaes, negros, e ardentes, 
 Commetterao comvosco, e nao duvido 
 Que vencedor vos facam, nao vencido.. 
 
 Favorecei-os logo, e alegrai-os 
 
 Com a presenca, e leda humanidade j 
 
 De rigorosas leis desalivai-os, 
 
 Que assi se abre o caminho a sanctidade : 
 
 Os mais exprimentados levantai-os, 
 
 Se com a experiencia tem bondade, 
 
 Para vosso conselho, pois que sabem 
 
 O como, o quando, e onde as cousas cabem. 
 
 Todos favorecei em seus officios, 
 Segundo tem das vidas o talents : 
 Tenham Religiosos, exercicios 
 De rogarem por vosso regimento, 
 Com jejuns, disciplina, pelos vicios 
 Communs, toda ambicao terao por vento ;
 
 LUI8 DF. CAMOKNS. 1.91 
 
 Que o bom Religioso verdadeiro, 
 Gloria vaa nao pn-tende, nem dinheiro. 
 
 Os Cavalleiros tende em muita estim i. 
 Puis com ku langue intrepidoi e fervent*, 
 Estendero n;i . m mcrite a Lei de cinia, 
 Mil-, inda vosso imperio preeminence : 
 
 I'ois in | in' I It's que a tan remoto clima 
 Vos va> servir com passo diligente, 
 Dous inimigos veucem, buns os vivos 
 E, o que he main, os trabalhos excessivos. 
 
 Fazei, Senhor, que nunca os admirados 
 Alemies, Gallon, Italos e Inglezes, 
 Posaam dizer, que san para mandados, 
 Mfiis que para maudar, os I'ortuguezes. 
 Tomai coniellxf. so de exprimentados, 
 Que virnm largo> annos. largos mezes ; 
 Que postoque em seientes muito cabe, 
 Main em particular o experto sabe. 
 
 De I'hormian philosopho elegante 
 Vereis como Annibal escarnecia, 
 Quando das artes l>ellicas diante 
 Deile com larga voz Iratava e lia. 
 A discipline militar preetante 
 N'> c apprende. Scnbor, na phantasia, 
 Sonbando, imnginandn, on ettudando, 
 Sena vcndo, tratando, e pelcjando.
 
 192 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Mas eu que fallo humilde, baixo e rudo, 
 De vos nao conhecido, nem sonhado? 
 Da boca dos pequenos sei com tudo, \ 
 Que o louvor sahe as vezes acabado : 
 Nem me falta na vida honesto estudo, 
 Com longa experiencia misturado ; 
 Nem engenho, que aqui vereis presente, 
 Cousas que juntas se acham raramente. 
 
 Para servir-vos, bracjo as annas feito ; 
 Para cantar-vos, mente as Musas dada ; 
 So me fallece ser a vos acceito, 
 De quern virtude deve ser prezada : 
 Se me isto o Ceo concede, e o vosso peito 
 Digna empreza tomar de ser cantada, * 
 Como a presaga mente vaticina, 
 Olhando a vossa inclinaca > divina : 
 
 Ou fazendo que mais que a de Medusa 
 A vista vossa tema o monte Atlante, 
 Ou rompendo nos campos de Ampelusa 
 Os Mouros de Marrocos, e Trudante ; 
 A minha ja estimada, e leda Musa, 
 Fico que em todo o mundo de vos cante, 
 De sorte que Alexandro em vos se veja, 
 Sem a dita de Achilles ter inveja. 
 
 The appearance of the Lusiad, the first mo- 
 dern Epic Poem, was hailed as a new era in 
 poetry ; and that the impression which it made
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 193 
 
 was considerable, is clearly shewn by the re- 
 print of it in the same year in which it was 
 published ; as also by an anecdote mentioned 
 by Manoel Correa, and more fully given by 
 Machndo.* Pedro da Costa Perestrello, a 
 Secretary of the King, a poet of some celebri- 
 ty at the time, the contemporary of Camoens, 
 and who had held the rank of captain in the 
 battle of Lepanto, composed a poem on the 
 same subject as the work of Camoens, which 
 bore the following title : " Descobrimento de 
 Vasco da Gama," and contained sixteen Can- 
 tos in ottava rima. He relinquished, however, 
 the idea of publishing it, after he had seen the 
 Lusiad. 
 
 Notwithstanding the glory which Portugal 
 acquired by the poem of Camoens, and its de- 
 dication to Sebastian, who is represented by 
 his biographers to have been a prince of a 
 generous disposition, the pension granted to 
 the bard was only fifteen thousand reis, which, 
 according to the exchange at par between this 
 country and Portugal, would produce only 
 
 * Machndo Iliht. Luiit. Tomo iii. p. 571. 
 VOL. I. O
 
 194- MEMOIRS OF 
 
 four pounds three shillings and ninepence ; and 
 which would, supposing money to have then 
 exceeded its present value five times, have 
 been worth little more than twenty pounds. 
 The grant of this pension was also accompa- 
 nied by conditions, one of which, in other pe- 
 cuniary circumstances than those to which Ca- 
 moens was reduced, might have been pleasing 
 to him. This obligation was, that he should 
 reside at Court, whether to better his fortunes, 
 or from the idea that the Court would receive 
 an acquisition from his presence and talents, 
 we are not informed. But the most remark- 
 able condition attached to the pension was, 
 the necessity imposed of obtaining a new Alvara 
 or decree for its payment, every six months.* 
 
 The advice to Sebastian at the end of the 
 Lusiad, at the same time that it conveys a 
 censure on the neglect of genius and talent, 
 evinces the great anxiety of Camoens for the 
 welfare of his country. Determined as Sebas- 
 tian was upon his expedition to Africa, we find 
 
 * Dom Joze Maria de Sduza. Manoel Correa, in his ad- 
 dress, which precedes his Commentary on the Lusiad, states 
 it " every three years."
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEN8. 195 
 
 the poet conceding to him the point ; and, 
 although he might not anticipate so fearful a 
 result, yet, probably apprehensive for the fate of 
 the enterprise, wishing him success. The seve- 
 ral instances of rash and inconsiderate valour 
 which had been shewn by the young King, 
 previous to the sailing of this armament, must 
 have come to the knowledge of Camoens ; and 
 in various passages, which leave little doubt of 
 their having been introduced into the poem 
 after his return from India, the government 
 and advisers of the Monarch are evidentlv al- 
 luded to with marked displeasure. In these, 
 arc also frequently included, strong expressions 
 against the injustice with which he had been 
 treated ; and the neglect which he had expe- 
 rienced from those, who ought to have been his 
 patrons and protectors. The Cantos V. and 
 VII.* particularly disclose the complaints of 
 Camoens, and from the beautiful, although not 
 quite faithful, translations of Mr Mickle, the 
 English reader may form an idea of the energy 
 and force of the original. In Canto V. he 
 writes: 
 
 Can lit V. St. 92 Cnto VII. St. 79. 
 
 O 2
 
 196 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Alas, on Tago's hapless shores alone 
 
 The muse is slighted, and her charms unknown ; 
 
 For this, no Virgil here attunes the lyre, 
 
 No Homer here awakes the hero's fire. 
 
 On Tago's shores are Scipios, Casars born, 
 
 And Alexanders Lisboa's clime adorn, 
 
 But Heaven has stampt them in a rougher mould, 
 
 Nor gave the polish to their genuine gold. 
 
 Careless and rude, or to be known or know, 
 
 In vain to them the sweetest numbers flow : 
 
 In vain to them their native poet sings, 
 
 And cold neglect weighs down the muse's wings, 
 
 Even he, whose veins the blood of Gama warms, 
 
 Walks by, unconscious of the muse's charms. 
 
 For him no muse shall leave her golden loom, 
 
 No palm shall blossom, aud no wreath shall bloom 5' 
 
 Yet shall my labours and my cares be paid, 
 
 By fame immortal, and by Gama's shade : 
 
 Him shall the song on every shore proclaim, 
 
 The first of heroes, first of naval fame. 
 
 Rude and ungrateful though my country be, 
 
 This proud example shall be taught by me, 
 
 " Where'er the hero's worth demands the skies, 
 
 " To crown that worth some generous bard shall rise." 
 
 And in Canto VII. pursues the same strain : 
 
 Ah, see what letter'd patron-lords are yours ! 
 Dull as the herds that graze their flowery dales, 
 To them in vain the injured muse bewails :
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 197 
 
 No fostering care their barbarous hands bestow, 
 
 Though to the muse their fairest fame they owe. 
 
 An, cold may prove the future priest of fame 
 
 Taught by my fate : yet will I not disclaim 
 
 Your smiles, ye muses of Mondego's shade, 
 
 Be still my dearest joy your happy aid ! 
 
 And hear my vow ; nor King, nor loftiest peer, 
 
 Shall e'er from me the song of flattery hear; 
 
 Nor crafty tyrant, who in office reigns, 
 
 Smiles on his King, and binds die land in chains; 
 
 His King's worst foe : nor he whose raging ire, 
 
 And raging wants, to shape his course, conspire ; 
 
 True to the clamours of the blinded crowd. 
 
 Their changeful Proteus insolent and loud ; 
 
 Nor he whose 'honest mien secures applause. 
 
 Grave though he eem, and father of the laws, 
 
 Who, but half-patriot, niggardly denies, 
 
 Each other's merit, and withholds the prize : 
 
 Who spurns the muse, nor feels the raptured strain, 
 
 Useless by him csteetn'd, and idly vain ; 
 
 For him, for these, no wreath my hand shall twine ; 
 
 On other brows th' immortal rays shall .hinc : 
 
 He who the path of honour ever trod, 
 
 True to bis King, his Country, and his God, 
 
 On his blest head my hands shall fix the crown 
 
 Wove of the deathless laurels of renown, 
 
 Sebastian, confident that his ill-advised inva- 
 sion would he attended with brilliant and com- 
 plete success, took in his retinue a poet, who, 
 o 3
 
 198 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 in a heroic poem, should record for posterity, 
 the victories and deeds of valour, by which the 
 conquests he meditated were to be ensured. 
 The frame and mind of Camoens were, at 
 the time of the embarkation of the troops, 
 broken down by misery and misfortune; had 
 these obstructions not been in the way, it is 
 not improbable that Sebastian, aware of his 
 genius and poetical attainment, would have 
 chosen him to have accompanied the expedi- 
 tion. To fill this important situation, Diogo 
 Bernardes, a poet celebrated for his minor 
 poetical compositions, and whose history is pe- 
 culiarly interwoven with that of Camoens, was 
 selected. Bernardes was a native of Ponte de 
 Barca, situate on the River Lima,* and is en- 
 titled, according to Nicolas Antonio, on ac- 
 count of his sweet and elegant verses, to the 
 appellation of the Prince of Pastoral Poetry. 
 Faria e Sousa admits his talent in the depart- 
 
 * " and on the banks 
 
 Of Lima, through whose groves in after years, 
 Mournful, yet sweet, Diogo's amorous lute, 
 Prolong'd its tuneful echoes." 
 
 Southey's Roderick.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 199 
 
 ment abovementioned, but observes, that he 
 was totally unfitted for his intended task. The 
 same writer has exhibited also against him, the 
 serious charge of having taken undue advan- 
 tage of the state in which the lesser poems 
 of Camoens were left at his death, and of hav- 
 ing appropriated to himself several of his son- 
 nets, some entirely, and others with trifling 
 variations. It would be, at this time, nearly 
 impossible to come to any decision respecting 
 this point: the poems in question were certainly 
 published in the works of Bernard es as his pro- 
 ductions, but they also appear as the com- 
 positions of Camoens, and have regularly de- 
 scended to us as such. Mr Southey has thus 
 noticed Bernardes in a note : " Diogo Ber- 
 " nardes, one of the best of the Portuguese 
 " poets, was born on the banks of the Lima, 
 " and passionately fond of its scenery. Some 
 " of his poems will bear comparison with the 
 " best poems of their kind. There is a charge 
 " of plagiarism against him for having printed 
 " several of Camoens' sonnets as his own ; to 
 " obtain any proof upon this subject would be 
 " very difficult ; this, however, is certain, that 
 o V
 
 200 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " his own undisputed productions resemble 
 " them so closely in affecting tenderness, and 
 " in sweetness of diction, that the whole ap- 
 " pear like the works of one author."* 
 
 In my account of the Rimas of Camoens 
 will be found the particulars of this alleged 
 theft, which is not mentioned either by Macha- 
 dof or Nicolas Antonio4 
 
 Bernardes, previous to the departure of the 
 expedition, composed the following sonnet, in 
 which the conquest of Africa, and the success 
 of Sebastian are predicted. It is addressed to 
 a standard, consecrated for the occasion with 
 great pomp, and on which was pictured the 
 crucifixion of Christ. 
 
 Ao Estandarte que levou El Rey 
 Na Jornada de Africa, no qual hia Christo Crucificado. 
 
 SONETO. 
 
 Pois armarse por Christo nao duvida 
 Sebastiao, grao Rey de Portugal ; 
 E o leva por guia : no sinal 
 De nossa Redempcao, de eterna vida, 
 
 * South ey's Roderick the Last of the Goths, 
 f Bibliot. Lusit. f Bibliot. Hi-pana.
 
 LUIS DF. CAMOENS. 201 
 
 Dcixar nao podes de te vcr vencida, 
 
 Africa, a ta) esfwrc.o, a insignia tal, 
 
 Inda (jue por Antco, c Anibal 
 
 Fosses rotiio m.ii sua) defendida. 
 Se nao qucres sintir, com novo dainno, 
 
 A pcrda, qu' inda cm ti Cartago rhora 
 
 D'um aceita o governo, e d'outro a ley ; 
 Q,ue pois o valor nobre Lusitano 
 
 Foi sempre vencedor, que far* agora 
 
 Diante de tal Deos, e de tal Hey ? 
 
 It is remarkable, that on the page next to 
 that which contains this sonnet, as if intended 
 to shew the uncertainty of any human under- 
 taking, the Elegies commence, wherein, Ber- 
 nardes as a captive, contrasts his then fate 
 with his former happiness ; blames the culpable 
 rashness of Sebastian in having sacrificed, for 
 his private aggrandisement, the safety of the 
 public ; and mentions the account, which that 
 Monarch will have to give for the improvident 
 shedding of so much blood. The whole of the 
 fir>t Elegy, written under these circumstances, 
 is peculiarly pathetic, and the appeals to his 
 country are beautiful and plaintive. He com- 
 mences
 
 202 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Eu que livre cantei ao som das agoas 
 
 Do saudoso, brando, e claro Lima, 
 Hora gostos d'amor, outr' hora inagoas, 
 
 Agora ao som do ferro que lastima 
 O descuberto pe, choro cativo 
 
 Onde choro nam val, nem amor s'estima. 
 
 " I, who free, sang to the sound of the waters of the 
 " lovely, gentle, and clear Lima, one hour the pleasures, 
 " and another hour the disquiets of love ; now, to the sound 
 " of the chain which wounds my uncovered foot, a captive, 
 " weep, where weeping avails not, and where love is value- 
 " less." 
 
 Bernardes obtained his liberty, and, dying 
 at Lisbon in the year 1596, was interred in the 
 same church wherein the remains of Camoens, 
 to whose memory he had written a sonnet, in 
 which he gives considerable praise to his po- 
 etical rival, had some years previously been 
 placed.* 
 
 If, amidst the extensive preparations and the 
 hurry which attended the equipment and sail- 
 ing of the armament to the shores of Africa, 
 Camoens remained unnoticed by Sebastian; 
 
 * The best edition of the works of Bernardes was publish- 
 ed at Lisbon in 1761 1770, in three small volumes.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 203 
 
 we are informed that the Bard continually had 
 the Monarch in his remembrance, and felt 
 much interested in his safety, and for the suc- 
 cess of his enterprise. Manoel Severim de Fa- 
 ria and Machado write, that the information of 
 the Monarch's death much affected Camoens, 
 and increased the malady under which he was 
 then labouring ; and they also state, that it was 
 his intention to have celebrated the achieve- 
 ments of Sebastian in another Epic Poem, if 
 life and better fortune had been the result of 
 the expedition. With respect to this latter 
 assertion, it is not likely that Camoens would 
 indulge in such a futile project, as his infirmi- 
 ties were then hurrying him with rapid pro- 
 gress to the grave. It is probable that the 
 confusion and the derangement of the public 
 affairs, in consequence of the distressing news 
 of the disasters in Africa, would stop the fur- 
 ther payment of the pension of Camoens, if it 
 had, up to that time, regularly issued from the 
 treasury. 
 
 Camoens, after the publication of the Lusiad, 
 passed the rest of his life at Lisbon, " No 
 " conhecimento de mtiitos e conversacao dc
 
 20+ MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " poucos," in the knowledge of many, and in 
 the society of few. He still, however, possessed 
 one source of comfort, the only one which he 
 enjoyed, in the acquaintance and conversation 
 of some learned men who belonged to the Con- 
 vent of Sam Domingos de Lisboa ; the resi- 
 dence of Camoens being near to that establish- 
 ment, and also to the church of Santa Anna. 
 
 For some time previous to his death, he was 
 in so abject a state of poverty, as to be depen- 
 dent for subsistence upon the exertions of a 
 faithful servant. Antonio, a native of Java, 
 whom he had brought with him from India, 
 was accustomed to beg by night for the bread 
 which was to save his wretched master from 
 perishing by want the next day. Mr Mickle 
 has poetically supposed that Camoens . took 
 himself a station on the bridge of Alcantara, 
 to ask the alms of charitable passengers ; and 
 has written a sonnet wherein the poet is so 
 pictured. 
 
 Oft as at pensive eve I pass the brook 
 
 Where Lisboa's Maro, old and suppliant stood, 
 
 Fancy his injured eld and sorrows rude 
 
 Brought to my view. 'Twas night; with cheerless look
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 205 
 
 Methought he bow'd the head in languid mood, 
 
 As pale with penury in darkling nuuk 
 
 Forlorn he watch'd. Sudden the skies partook 
 
 A mantling blaze, and warlike forms intrude. 
 
 Here Gama's semblance braves the bailing main, 
 
 And Lusitania's warriors hurl the spear; 
 
 But whence that flood of light that bids them rear 
 
 Their lofty brows ! From thy neglected strain, 
 
 Camoens unseen by vulgar eye it flows ; 
 
 That glorious blaze, to thee, thy thankless country owes. 
 
 Camoens was applied to, during his last 
 days of affliction, by a Fidalgo named Ruy 
 Dias da Camara,* who came to his miserable 
 dwelling to complain of the non-fulfiment of a 
 promise, made him by the bard, of a translation 
 of the penitential Psalms. To this complaint, 
 urged with an anxiety at which the ingenuous 
 mind of Camoens revolted, the suffering poet 
 replied : Quando eu fiz aquellos cantos, era 
 mancebo, farto, namorado, e querido de muitos 
 amigos, e damas, o que me dava calor poetico ; 
 agora nao tenho espirito, nem contcntamento 
 para nada : ahi esui o mcu Iao que me pede 
 
 * lie is called Huy Gon^alvcs da Camara, by l'.irii o 
 Sou *a and others.
 
 206 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 duas mcedas para carvao, e eu nao as tenho 
 para lhas dar. " When I wrote verses, I was 
 " young, had sufficient food, was a lover, and 
 " was beloved by many friends and by the la- 
 " dies ; therefore I felt poetical ardour : now I 
 " have no spirits, no peace of mind : behold 
 " there my Javanese, who asks me for two 
 " pieces to purchase coals, and I have them 
 " not to give him." 
 
 Misery and suffering at length subdued his 
 constitution, and rendered him incapable of 
 further personal exertion. He appears to have 
 been perfectly aware of his hapless condition, 
 and prepared for his approaching decease, and 
 about this time, wrote or dictated a letter, 
 wherein is contained the following expression : 
 Quem jamais ouvio dizer que em tao pequeno 
 theatro, como o de um pobre leito, quizesse a 
 fortuna representar tao grandes desventuras ? 
 E eu, como se ellas nao bastassem, me ponho 
 ainda da sua parte ; porque procurar resistir 
 a tantos males pareceria desavergonhamento. 
 " Who ever heard, that in so small a theatre 
 " as that of a poor bed, fortune should wish 
 " to represent such great misfortunes ? And I,
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 207 
 
 " as if they were not sufficient, place myself on 
 " her side, because to endeavour to resist such 
 " ills would appear effrontery." 
 
 I have, in the former part of this work, 
 mentioned another letter, which is said to have 
 been the last which he composed ; and to have 
 been written, when he was at the point of 
 death. In this his attachment to his country is 
 displayed in the strongest light, and in it 
 the expression he uses on learning the fatal dis- 
 aster which had overthrown Sebastian, "at least 
 I shall die with it," alluding to his country, 
 is worthy of the noblest mind. 
 
 Camoens, when death at last put an end to a 
 life which misfortune and neglect had rendered 
 insupportable, was denied the solace of having 
 his faithful Antonio to close his eyes. Having 
 survived the publication of his poem seven 
 years, and aged only fifty-five, he breathed his 
 last in the Hospital to which he had been 
 taken, and to which the poor were usually 
 removed for cure. This event occurred in 
 1579, but so little regard was paid to the com- 
 fort or memory of this great man, that the 
 sheet in which they shrouded him was obtained
 
 208 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 from the house of Dom Francisco de Portugal, 
 and the day and month in which he expired 
 must now for ever remain unknown. 
 
 Some of his biographers have asserted, and 
 have endeavoured to prove, that the story of 
 his dying in an hospital must have originated 
 in error. It is now, however, put almost be- 
 yond doubt, by the entry discovered in a copy 
 of the first edition of the Lusiad, now in the 
 possession of Lord Holland. This literary 
 curiosity, which was the property of a friar, 
 Josepe Indio, who left it in the Convent of the 
 bare-footed Carmelites of Guadalaxara, con- 
 tains the following note, written by Josepe, 
 and which would lead us to conclude that 
 he had been a witness to the dying scene of the 
 poet, and had received this volume from his 
 hands.* Que cosa mas lastimosa que ver un 
 
 * The fate of Pacheco so feelingly lamented by Camoens 
 in the tenth Canto, st. xxii, &c. of the Lusiad, may, without 
 impropriety, be applied to that of the Portuguese bard. 
 
 " Ah ! Belisarius, injured Chief, she cries, 
 Ah ! wipe thy tears ; in war thy rival see, 
 Injur'd Pacheco falls despoil'd like theej
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEN8. 209 
 
 tan grande ingenio mal logrado ! yo lo bi mo- 
 rir en un hospital en Lisboa, sin tener una 
 sauana con que cubrirse, despues de auer tri- 
 unfado en la India oriental y de auer nau- 
 egado 5500 leguas por mar : que auiso tan 
 grande para los que de noche y de dia se can- 
 can estudiando sin provecho como la arana en 
 urdir tellas para cazar moscas. " What a 
 " lamentable thing to see so great a genius so 
 u ill rewarded ! I saw him die in an hospital 
 " in Lisbon, without having a sheet (shroud) 
 
 In him, in thee dishonour'd virtue bleeds, 
 
 And valour weeps to view her fairest deeds, 
 
 Weeps o'er Pacheco, where, forlorn, he lies 
 
 Low on an alms-house bed, and friendless dies. 
 
 Yet shall the muses plume his humble bier, 
 
 And ever o'er him pour th* immortal tear ; 
 
 Though by the King, alone to thee unjust, 
 
 Thy head, great chief, was humbled in the dust, 
 
 Loud shall the muse indignant sound thy praise, 
 
 " Thou gavest thy Monarch's throne its proudest blaie." 
 
 While round the world the Sun's bright car shall ride. 
 
 So bright shall shine thy name's illustrious pride ; 
 
 Thy Monarch's glory, as the Moon's pale beam, 
 
 Eclips'd by thine, shall send a sickly gleam. 
 
 Such meed attends when soothing flattery sways 
 
 And blinded state it*, sacred triM betrays. 
 
 vol. i. r
 
 210 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " to cover him, after having triumphed in the 
 " East Indies, and sailed 5500 leagues ! What 
 " good advice for those, who weary themselves 
 " night and day in study without profit, as the 
 " spider weaves its webs to catch flies." 
 
 That he died in an hospital has been as- 
 serted by Machado ; and Dom Joze Maria de 
 Souza gives it as his opinion that this entry in 
 the volume above-mentioned is conclusive evi- 
 dence of the fact. After his decease, the body 
 was removed to the Church of Santa Anna, 
 where it was consigned to the tomb without 
 any record to mark the place of his sepulture. 
 
 We have the following account of the per- 
 sonal appearance of Camoens, in the life writ- 
 ten by Manoel Severim de Faria : " He was 
 " of a middle stature; his face full, and his 
 " countenance a little lowering; his nose long, 
 " raised in the middle, and large at the end. 
 " He was much disfigured by the loss of his 
 " right eye* Whilst young, his hair was so 
 " yellow, as to resemble saffron.* Although 
 
 * The similarity between the colour of the hair of Ca- 
 moens and that of Tasso has been noticed by the biographer 
 of the latter bard. Dr Black writes, that " it will seem lu-
 
 LUIS I>I CAMOENS. 211 
 
 " his appearance was not perhaps prepossess- 
 " ing, his manners and conversation were 
 " pleasing and cheerful, as may be inferred 
 " from his motes and glosas. He was after- 
 " wards a prey to melancholy; was never mar- 
 " ried, and left no child."* 
 
 In addition to the foregoing account of his 
 personal appearance, the Character of Camoens 
 has been thus summed up by Dom Joze Maria 
 de Souza: " When in company he was not 
 " reserved, but, on the contrary, jovial and 
 " jocose, until, weighed down by adversity, he 
 " became melancholy. The tenderness and 
 " sensibility of his heart are evinced in his 
 " poems, and in the delicate and so lively pas- 
 " sion which he felt for Dona Catharina de 
 " Atayde. The love of his country predomi- 
 " nated over every other feeling ; and to match 
 
 " dicrou* to mention it, but Camoens, though likewise born 
 ' in .1 country where the natives are swarthy, had yellow i-h 
 " hair." 
 
 Nicolas Antonio thus describes him: " Mediocri sU- 
 " tura fuit, et came plena, capillii usque ad croci colorcm 
 " flavescentibus, maxime in juTentute. Eminebat ei frons, 
 " it niedius nasus, cartcra longus et in fine crassiusculus." 
 
 HiMiot. Hispan.
 
 212 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " him in that respect we must go back to the 
 " heroes of antient Greece and Rome. His 
 " valour, disinterestedness, heroism, add no- 
 " bleness, were equal to any which the days 
 " of chivalry could produce. But his con- 
 " stancy and fortitude in his extreme adver- 
 " sity, in which he neither degraded himself 
 " by submitting to flatter, nor denounced the 
 " author of his sufferings, must always dis- 
 " tinguish him amongst the greatest men of 
 " ali ages, for a virtue so rare, which only 
 " belongs to an eminently superior character. 
 " Nor is his genius less to be admired, of 
 " which his Epic Poem is an immortal testi- 
 " monial ; but had he even not written more 
 " than his Rimas, he would have deserved, 
 " from their production, to have been placed 
 " by the side of Petrarch, and of other poets 
 " who have succeeded best in this description 
 " of poetry. Such was Luis de Camoens ; and 
 " the Portuguese, after his death, to distin- 
 " guish him, gave him the appellation of 
 " Great ; this praise he certainly deserved bet- 
 " ter than most of those men, on whom base 
 " flattery prostitutes, during their lives, a title 
 " so honourable, as to be merited by few."
 
 i.l is DE CAMOENS. 213 
 
 Thus finished the mortal career of Luis de 
 Camoens ; born in 1524, descended of noble 
 ancestors, the best poet of his time, a valiant 
 soldier, and of manners corresponding with his 
 other qualifications. The sunshine of fortune 
 never gleamed upon him, nor did he partici- 
 pate in any of her favours. Having traversed 
 great part of the globe, he returned to die in 
 Lisbon, in the year 1579, and was miserably 
 interred in the Church of Santa Anna, near 
 the entrance at the left hand corner. After 
 ages, uninfluenced by the ingratitude of his 
 country, or the neglect of the powerful, have 
 given immortality to his name, whilst his lyre, 
 more durable than a monument of stone, shall 
 be heard throughout the habitable world.* 
 
 The expression of Camoens, as to the fate of 
 his countrv, which was contained in his last 
 letter, proved unhappily too true. The sceptre, 
 on the death of Sebastian, descended to the 
 Cardinal Dom Henrique, then an old man, 
 and little fitted, from his clerical occupations, 
 to fill the seat of a monarch. Hying at the 
 
 Faria Vida dc Camoens. 
 P 3
 
 214 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 end of two years after his accession to the 
 throne, and without an heir, he left the king- 
 dom the prey of war, and an easy conquest 
 of Spain. 
 
 It is a curious circumstance, that this mis- 
 fortune, which befel his country, should have 
 afforded an opportunity of offering the highest 
 tribute of praise to the memory of Camoens. 
 Faria e Sousa relates, that Philip II, amidst 
 the various affairs of importance, which must 
 of necessity have occupied his attention on his 
 entry into Portugal, made enquiries for Ca- 
 moens, and desired that he might be brought 
 before him ; observing, that having read his 
 poem, he greatly admired it, and wished to 
 have the pleasure of seeing its author. When 
 he was informed that Camoens had expired but 
 a short period previous to his arrival, the Mo- 
 narch is reported to have been sensibly affect- 
 ed. Camoens was luckily spared this inter- 
 view, which would have broken his patriotic 
 and loyal heart. 
 
 It would be uncharitable to impute on this 
 occasion, motives for the conduct of Philip, 
 similar to those, by which the agent of Buona-
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 215 
 
 parte, on the recent unjust occupation of Por- 
 tugal by the troops under his command, was 
 actuated. Dr Black, in a note to his life 
 of Tasso, after comparing the fate of Camoens 
 with that of the Italian bard, writes, " Both 
 " poets, however, if their lives were wretch - 
 " ed, have at least attained that fame for 
 M which they sighed; and it is a pleasing 
 " reflexion, that while the proud and titled 
 ** grandees, who neglected the Lusitanian 
 " Bard, are forgotten, or despised, his name 
 *' is pronounced with respect, even amidst 
 " the outrages of violence and the storms 
 " of war. * Public instruction (says Junot, 
 " in his proclamation to the inhabitants of 
 * Portugal, first February, 1808) public in- 
 M struction, that only source of the civilization 
 " of nations, shall be diffused through the dif- 
 " ferent provinces, and Algarve and Upper 
 u Bcira shall also produce their Camoens.' " 
 It is not, however, impossible that the same 
 policy, which prompted Junot to mention thus 
 the name of Camoens, so dear to the Portu- 
 
 VoL I. |>. 61. 
 V I
 
 216 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 guese, might have induced the Spanish Mo- 
 narch to enquire for him on his arrival at 
 Lisbon. 
 
 We have seen that Camoens spent the great- 
 er part of his life wretched and in misery. The 
 desire of ensuring the approbation of his coun- 
 try, and of future ages, seems, however, to have 
 excited within him a spirit to surmount every 
 difficulty, and to have enabled him to resist the 
 frowns of fortune ; and it is gratifying to reflect 
 that his memory has reached that celebrity, 
 and his works secured that fame, after which 
 he appears to have so ardently sought. The 
 translation of the Lusiad into all the polished 
 languages of Europe, bears testimony of the 
 estimation in which he has been held ; whilst 
 the numerous tributes to his genius and abili- 
 ties, which succeeding poets and writers have 
 rendered, sufficiently attest the feeling of ad- 
 miration which prompted their effusions. In 
 a work like the present, it would be impos- 
 sible to introduce all the various opinions 
 which have been entertained with respect to 
 his compositions ; or to notice the modes which 
 have been adopted to eulogise their author; a 
 selection is therefore offered of those pieces,
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 217 
 
 that, either from the circumstances under which 
 they were written, from their own merits, or 
 the honour which they confer on the memory 
 of Camoens, have been deemed more particu- 
 larly necessary for the completion of this un- 
 dertaking. 
 
 Dom Goncalo Coutinho was the first, who 
 after the death of the poet, came forward to 
 pay that respect to the memory and talents of 
 Camoens, which was so justly due from the 
 whole nation. By his directions the following 
 inscription, on a marble slab, was laid in the 
 Church ; and at the time when these directions 
 were given, the exact spot where he had been 
 consigned to the grave in the church of Santa 
 Anna could with difficulty, if at all, be satisfac- 
 torily ascertained ; so little record or remem- 
 brance of the occurence survived : 
 
 A QUI JAZ LVIS DE CAMOES, 
 
 PRINCIPE DOS POETAS DE SEV TEMPO. 
 
 VIVEO POBRE E MISERA VELMENTE, 
 
 E ASSI MORREO. 
 
 ANNO DE MDLXXIX. 
 
 STA.CAMfA III): MAMDA Ayl 1 
 
 riiK ii. OOMfALO COUTINHO, 
 MA QUAL s: MAO EMTKRRARA 
 
 TESSOA All. I MA.
 
 218 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 HERE LIES LUIS DE CAMOES, 
 
 THE PRINCE OF THE POETS OF HIS TIME. 
 
 HE LIVED POOR AND MISERABLE, 
 
 AND SO HE DIED, 
 
 IN THE YEAR MDLXXIX. 
 
 D. GONCALO COUTINHO ORDERED 
 
 THIS STONE TO BE PLACED HERE, 
 
 UNDER WHICH 
 
 NO OTHER PERSON SHOULD BE Bl'RIED. 
 
 The authors of the life of Camoens, which is 
 contained in the " Retratos e Elogios dos Varoes 
 e Donas, que illustraram a Nacao Portugueza," 
 observe, that, although almost all the biogra- 
 phers of the poet have given the words " Viveo 
 " pobre e miseravelmente, e assim morreo," 
 they had no existence in the epitaph, which, 
 according to their account, was introduced in- 
 to the church sixteen years after the death of 
 Camoens. The passage is given as part of the 
 inscription by Manoel Severim de Faria, and 
 Manoel de Faria e Sousa, and the reading of 
 it, as preserved by these writers, is followed by 
 Dom Joze Maria de Souza. The only means 
 of ascertaining the fact are unfortunately be- 
 yond human reach, as the church perished by 
 the earthquake which nearly destroyed Lisbon
 
 LUIS DF. CAMOF.NS. 219 
 
 in 1755. Faria e Sousa objects to that part of 
 the epitaph, wherein Camoens is denominated 
 " the Prince of the Poets of his time," antl 
 would rather have had applied to him the 
 compliment paid by Velleius Paterculus to Ho- 
 mer, " Quando escrivia no hallo a quien 
 " imitar, i despues de aver escrito de nadie 
 " pude ser imitado." When he wrote he had 
 no one to imitate, and after having written he 
 could not be imitated : because, he remarks, 
 from the appellation of Prince of the Poets of 
 his time, it might be inferred that some other 
 Prince of Poets had appeared in the interval 
 between the death of Camoens and the erec- 
 tion of the monument ; a circumstance resem- 
 bling the stories concerning the King Dom 
 Sebastian and the bird Phoenix, much talked 
 of, but never seen.* 
 
 The Epitaph of Coutinho was succeeded by 
 another, in Latin verse, dedicated to the me- 
 mory of Camoens; and, with the consent of 
 Dom Goncalo, inscribed upon the same stone 
 by order of Martin (ioncalves da Camara, 
 
 ' Alluding to the reports, then prevalent, that Sebastian 
 had survived the ralamitoux expedition to Africa.
 
 220 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 who has been noticed as the Private Secretary 
 of Sebastian. 
 
 Naso Elegis, Flaccus Lyricis, Epigrammate Marcus, 
 
 Hie jacet Heroo carmine Virgilius. 
 Ense simul, calamoque auxit tibi, Lysia, famam : 
 
 Unam nobilitant Mars & Apollo manum. 
 Castalium fontem traxit modulamine : at Indo, 
 
 Et Gangi telis obstupefecit aquas. 
 India mirata est, quando aurea carmina lucrum 
 
 Ingenii baud gazas ex Oriente tulit. 
 Sic bene de patria meruit dum fulminat ense : 
 
 At plus dum calamo bellica facta refert. 
 Hunc Itali, Galli, Hispani, vertere Poetam : 
 
 Quselibet hunc vellet terra vocare suum. 
 Vertere fas, aequare nefas, aequabilis uni 
 
 Est sibi, par nemo, nemo secundus erit. 
 
 Antonio dos Reys, in his " Imagens Con- 
 " ceiturezas,"* has the following Epigram con- 
 cerning Camoens: 
 
 Na presenca real de Delio alento 
 
 Tern o insigne Camoens primeiro assento, 
 
 Cingida mostra a fronte 
 
 Da rama, que produz do Pindo o monte ; 
 
 * Lisboa Occident, 4to. 1751.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEKS. 2*21 
 
 Pendente ao lado tun a forte cspada, 
 
 Que do sangue inimigo rubricada 
 
 Huma rez so nao Toy : na raao a penna 
 
 Ainda voa serena ; 
 
 E na cvjiK-rda o Poema peregrine) 
 
 Que escreveo dos Lusiados divino, 
 
 Ncnhum mais alto no universo raya, 
 
 Nem melbor vio a Iberia, ornou a Achaya. 
 
 First in Apollo's regal court the Bard, 
 The famous Camocns, has his just reward ; 
 Around his honor'd head the wreath is bound. 
 Fortn'd of a branch on heights of Hindus found ; 
 While stain'd with blood of foes to Lusian weal 
 Not once but oft times spilt the valiant steel 
 Hangs by his side : and while his right sustains 
 The pen, by which he thus the palm obtains, 
 His left the heaven inspired poem bears 
 Writ as he wander'd through a world of care*. 
 To loftier bards in poesy's wild field 
 Camoens the glorious meed will never yield ; 
 None greater e'er had Spain her name to praise, 
 None Greece adorn'd with bolder native lay*. 
 
 Amongst a vast variety of tributes to his 
 praise, the Latin verses of Manoel de Sousa 
 Coutinlio, afterwards, when a priest, called 
 Frey Luis de Sousa, and the sonnet of Diogo 
 Bernardes have been deemed worthy to aceoin-
 
 222 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 pany almost every edition of the works of 
 Camoens. The verses of Coutinho are as 
 follows : 
 
 EPIGRAMMA. 
 
 Quod Ma'ro sublimi, quod suavi Pindarus, alto 
 
 Quod Sophocles, tristi Naso quod ore canit ; 
 Mcestitiam, casus, horrentia praelia, amores, 
 
 Juncta simul cantu, sed graviore damus. 
 Quisnam Auctor ? Camonius. Uncle hie ? Protulit ilium 
 
 Lysia in Eoas imperiosa plagas. 
 Unus tanta dedit ? Dedit, & majora daturas 
 
 Ni celeri facto corriperetur, erat. 
 Ultimus hie choreis Musarum praefuit : illo 
 
 Plenior Aonidum est, nobiliorque chorus. 
 Flos veteris, virtusque novae fuit ille Camcenas, 
 
 Debita jure sibi sceptra Po'e'sis habet. 
 In Lusitanos Heliconis culmina tractus 
 
 Transtulit antra, lyras, serta, fluenta, deas. 
 Currere Castalios nostra de rupe liquwes 
 
 Jussit ab invicto prata virere solo. 
 Cerne per incultos Tempe meliora recessus, 
 
 Cerne satas sterili cespite, veris opes. 
 Omnibus occidui rident tibi floribus horti, 
 
 Non ego jam Lysios credo, sed Elysios. 
 Orpheus attonitas dulci modulamine cautes 
 
 Traxit, & ab stygio squalida monstra foro.
 
 LUIS DE lA.MOf.Ns. 223 
 
 Thcssalicos, Lodoice, sacro cum flumine montes 
 Pieridumquc trahis, Cadituuraque i-lmw-. 
 
 Sunt majora tu Orphans uiiracula vocis 
 Attica, quid faccres si tibi lingua foret ? 
 
 SONETO. 
 
 HE PIOGO BKHNAKDKs. 
 
 Quern louvara' Camoes que elle nao scja? 
 
 Quem nao ve, q cm vau cansa cngcnho, e arte ? 
 
 Elle so a si se louva em toda a parte, 
 
 E so elle toda parte enche de inveja. 
 Quem juntos n'hum esprito ver deseja 
 
 Quantos does, entre mil, Phebo reparte, 
 
 (Quer elle de amor cante, quer de Marte) 
 
 Por mais nao desejar a elle so veja. 
 Honrou a patria em tudo : imiga sorte 
 
 A fez com elle s6 ser encolhida, 
 
 Em premio de estender dolla a memorin. 
 Mas sc the foi fortuna escaca em vida. 
 
 Nao lhe pode tirar despois da morte 
 
 Hum rico amparo de sua fama, e gloria. 
 
 If the poets of Portugal have been loud in 
 the praise of Camoens, those of other countries 
 have also largely contributed their endeavours 
 to advance his fame, and to render that ho-
 
 224 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 mage which is so deservedly due to his talents. 
 Amongst the most illustrious foreigners, who 
 have thus done honour to themselves and to 
 Camoens, are Tasso and Lope de Vega. With 
 respect to the former of these celebrated poets, 
 the early biographers of Camoens are desirous 
 of inducing their readers to believe that the 
 author of the Jerusalem Delivered was indebted 
 to Camoens for ideas, which adorn some of the 
 passages of that performance; and the sonnet, 
 which the Italian poet wrote to the memory of 
 their countryman, is therefore dwelt upon with 
 considerable pleasure. Dr Black, in his Life 
 of Tasso, imputes great blame to Mr Mickle 
 for having joined with these writers ; and, by 
 an argument of some length, is anxious to shew, 
 that such assertions have no foundation to sup- 
 port them ; denying at the same time, that 
 Tasso had any obligations to the Portuguese 
 bard.* He observes, that Tasso became ac- 
 quainted with the Lusiad, if he knew it at all, by 
 a Spanish translation of 1580 ;f and adds, that 
 
 * Black's Life of Tasso, vol. i. p. 387 et seq. 
 f There were two Spanish translations of the Lusiad, pub- 
 lished in 1580, the one by Caldera, and the other by Gomez 
 de Tapia.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 225 
 
 the sonnet would appear to have been written 
 in 1586, and that its title in the original edi- 
 tion is " Loda il Signor Luigi Corma, il quale 
 " ha scritto un Poema in Lingua Spagnuolo 
 " de' Viaggi del Vasco." The word Corma is 
 believed by Dr Black to be a mis-print for Ca- 
 mocns. Having thus referred to the volume 
 of Dr Black, and to the assertions of the early 
 biographers of Camoens as supported by the 
 opinion of Mr Mickle, I decline to enter further 
 into the question, concerning which they are at 
 variance, and proceed to lay before my readers, 
 the sonnet composed by Tasso. 
 
 Vasco, le cui fclici, ardite antenne 
 
 Incontro al sol, che ne riporta il giorno 
 
 Spicgar le vele, e fer cola ritorno. 
 
 Dove egli par che di cadere accenne ; 
 Non piu di te j>er aspro mar sostenue 
 
 Quel, che fecc al Ciclope oltraggio e scorno ; 
 
 Ne chi torbo 1' Arpie nel suo soggiorno ; 
 
 Ne die piii be! soggetto a colte penne. 
 Ed or quella del col to, e buon Luigi. 
 
 Taut 'nitre stende il glorioso volo. 
 
 Che i tuoi spalmati legni andar nun lunge, 
 Ond 'a quelli, cui s'al*a il noMro polo, 
 
 Ed a chi forma incontra i suoi vestigi. 
 
 Per lui del enrso lira la f.nrt.i uggiungc. 
 VOL. I. o
 
 226 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 This sonnet was translated into English by 
 Sir Richard Fanshaw, and subsequently by Mr 
 Mickle ; and it has also occupied the attention 
 of Mr Duperron de Castera, one of the French 
 translators of the Lusiad. The following ver- 
 sion of it is by Mr Mickle : 
 
 Vasco, whose bold and happy bowsprit bore 
 Against the rising morn ; and, homeward fraught, 
 Whose sails came westward with the day, and brought 
 The wealth of India to thy native shore ; 
 Ne'er did the Greek such length of seas explore, 
 The Greek, who sorrow to the Cyclop wrought ; 
 And he, who, victor, with the harpies fought, 
 Never such pomp of naval honours wore. 
 Great as thou art, and peerless in renown, 
 Yet thou to Camoens ow'st thy noblest fame ; 
 Farther than thou didst sail, his deathless song 
 Shall bear the dazzling splendour of thy name ; 
 And under many a sky thy actions crown, 
 While time and fame together glide along. 
 
 Lope de Vega was a warm admirer of the 
 compositions of Camoens, and various passages 
 in his works testify the estimation in which he 
 held the Portuguese poet. Faria e Sousa, 
 who was the intimate friend of Lope, writes, 
 that he was told by this illustrious Spaniard,
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEN8. 227 
 
 that he usually appealed to the works of Ca- 
 moens to dispel the gloom wherewith his mind 
 might be oppressed from any casual trouble or 
 misfortune.* In the Laurel de Apolo of Lope 
 de Vega is found this elegant tribute to Ca- 
 moens.f 
 
 Llegando pues la Kama 
 
 A la mayor ciudad que Espana aclama. 
 
 Pur juntas causas despertar no quiso 
 
 (Y fue discrete aviso) 
 
 Al gran Sa de Miranda, 
 
 Que le dexe Melpomene le manda. 
 
 Y al divino Camoes 
 
 En Indiauos aloes 
 
 Que riega el Ganges, y produze Hidaspes, 
 
 Dunniendo en bronze, porfidos y jaspes 
 
 ( Fortuna estrana que al ingenio aplico 
 
 La vida pobrc, y el sepulcro rico) 
 
 An effect, not greatly dissimilar to that stated by Lope 
 de Vega, is represented to have been produced upon the Por- 
 tuguese soldiery in Ceylon, when at the siege of Columbo ; 
 where, as Dom Joze Maria de Souza writes blazed, as it 
 were, the last spark of the ancient valour of the Portuguese 
 in Asia. When pressed with misery and the pangs of hunger, 
 they derived, during their marches not only consolation, but 
 alto encouragement, by rehearsing the stanras of the I.um.wI. 
 t Silva Tercera, p. '>*;, Edit. Madrid. l<;30.
 
 228 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Porque si despertaran, 
 
 Y a las Cortes, Parnasides lleuaran ; 
 Docto Corte Real, tu nombre solo, 
 Aun no que dara con el suyo Apolo. 
 Como lo muestran oy vuestras Lusiadas 
 Postrando Eneydas, y venciendo lliadas. 
 Que triste suerte, que notables penas, 
 Acabada la vida hallar mecenas ; 
 
 Mas no por esso puede 
 
 Dexar de ser gloriosa vuestra fama. 
 
 Si bien claro Luis la tuya excedc 
 
 Por quanta luz derrama 
 
 1 farol Didimeo 
 
 Y mas quando te veo 
 
 Banar pluma de Fenix tinta de oro, 
 Diziendo con decoro 
 
 Y magestad sonora, 
 
 Por la lealtad, que nuca el tiempo oluida 
 Que mats anos servira se naonfora 
 Para tan largo amor tan curta a vida. 
 
 Nor, whilst natives of Portugal and illus- 
 trious foreigners have exerted themselves, has 
 England been behind with her tribute to Ca- 
 moens ; Mr Hayley, in his Essay on Epic Po- 
 etry, thus characterises the poet and his com- 
 positions : 
 
 Tho' fiercest tribes her galling fetters drag, 
 Proud Spain must strike to Lusitania's flag.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOEN8. 22^ 
 
 Whose ampler folds, in conscious triumph spread, 
 Wave o'er her Naval Poet's laureate head. 
 Ye Nymphs of Tagus, from your golden cell. 
 That caught the echo of his tuneful shell, 
 Rise, and to deck your darling's shrine provide 
 The richest treasures that the deep may hide - 
 From every land let grateful Commerce shower 
 Her tribute to the Bard who sung her power ; 
 As those rich gales, from whence his Gama caught 
 A pleasing earnest of the prixe he sought, 
 The balmy fragrance of the East dispense, 
 So steals his song on the delighted sense, 
 Astonishing widi sweets unknown before. 
 Those who ne'er tasted but of classic lore. 
 Immortal Bard ! thy name with Gama vies. 
 Thou, like thy Hero, with propitious skies 
 Tin- sail of bold adventure hast unfurl'd, 
 And in the Epic Ocean found a world. 
 'Twas thine to blend the Eagle and the Dove, 
 At once the Bard of Glory and of love : 
 Thy thankless country heard thy varying lyre 
 To Petrarch's softness melt, and swell to Homer'* fir 
 Boast and lament, ungrateful Land, a name 
 In life, in death, thy glory and thy shame.' 
 
 Two medals have been struck in honour of 
 Camocns. The die of the first, which issued 
 in 1782, was cut under the direction of the 
 
 * Epistle iii. 
 
 8 3
 
 230 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Baron Dillon ; and an engraving of it ap- 
 peared two years after that period in the Gen- 
 tleman's Magazine,* with the following short 
 notice respecting it, to which I am sorry I have 
 not been able to add any further information, 
 except that I am inclined to suppose, from 
 some biographical sketches which I have re- 
 ceived respecting the Baron Dillon, that he 
 could then ill afford the expence of the under- 
 taking. The magazine states, 
 
 " It was lately caused to be struck by the 
 " Baron de Dillon, a gentleman, who has 
 " obliged the world with his travels in Spain, 
 " and other ingenious works. The medal is 
 " taken from a picture in the possession of the 
 " Marquis of Nysa, the ninth descendant of 
 " Vasco de Gama, the discoverer of India, and 
 " Hero of the Lusiad." 
 
 * Gent. Mag. April 1784. An engraving of it is also 
 given in Clarke's Progress of Maritime Discovery. The 
 medal was executed by the father of Mr Young, the medal- 
 ist, who resides in Holborn, and who, at my request, searched 
 his father's papers for any information they might contain 
 relating to it.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 231 
 
 On the obverse is the head of Camoens 
 Jaureated, with the ruff' and armour, as he is 
 usually represented. Round the head is luiz 
 de camoens. On the reverse, and within a 
 wreath of laurel, we have APOLLO PORTUGUEZ 
 
 HONRA DE E8PANHA. NASCEO 1524 MORREO 
 
 1579; and below the wreath, OPTIMO poetje 
 
 I. T. BARO DE DILLON DEDICAVIT 1782. 
 
 For the other medal we are indebted to that 
 same laudable enthusiasm, which prompted 
 Dom Joze Maria de Souza to print the magni- 
 ficent edition of the Lusiad. On the obverse 
 is a head in profile, round which is inscribed 
 
 LVD. (AMOKS. OB. A. C. MDLXX1X. ALT. LIV.* 
 
 ( )n the reverse, a prow of a Roman vessel is 
 placed between a sword and a lute.. Above 
 the ship is the word i.vsiades, and below is 
 D. I. M. SOVZA. EXCVDI. IVSSIT. A. MDCCCXIX. 
 The neglect of his countrymen, in not hav- 
 
 I have at page 23 adduced my ressotu for concluding 
 that Camoens most probably completed liis fifty-fifth year pre- 
 vious to his death. He was stated, in the list of person- 
 going to India in I 550, to be then 25, and that entry would 
 \w made early in the spring; admitting, therefore, that his 
 death occurred in the spring >>f l.">7!>, lie would Ik- 55. 
 Q 1
 
 232 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ing raised some splendid and national monu- 
 ment to the memory of their bard, appears to 
 have so much excited regret and surprise, as 
 to have induced several applications to be made 
 to the Portuguese to allow his remains to be 
 removed, in order that they might be enshrined 
 in a mausoleum worthy of his genius ; and we 
 are informed by some of his biographers, that 
 even large sums were offered as a price to the 
 nation for their purchase. This degradation 
 was, however, happily resisted, and it is now 
 hoped that Camoens will obtain that tribute 
 from his own country, which it had been the 
 wish of foreigners to have bestowed. A pro- 
 ject for erecting a monument to his memory 
 was lately formed at Lisbon, where subscrip- 
 tions, which have since been aided by contri- 
 butions in London and Paris, were enter- 
 ed into for carrying it into effect. The 
 amount of the donations for this purpose is 
 represented to exceed eight hundred pounds, 
 and, although some temporary suspension may, 
 at the present moment exist ; so desirable and 
 praiseworthy a scheme is entitled to our best 
 wishes for its fulfilment. The place which has
 
 Lurs OF. CAMOKNS. 233 
 
 been fixed upon for the erection of the monu- 
 ment is the Convent situated at Belem, within 
 three miles of Lisbon, and which was built by 
 the King Dom Manoel to record to posterity 
 the discovery, by the Portuguese, of the route 
 to India. 
 
 The early biographers of Camoens have 
 dealt largely in criticisms and comparisons. 
 Many of their pages are occupied in contrast- 
 ing the genius of the Lusitanian Poet with that 
 of the Ancient Bards of Greece and Rome; as 
 also with that of Ariosto, Tasso, and other 
 modern writers; and in weighing the merits of 
 the Lusiad with their compositions. Nor are the 
 many events, which marked the changeful life of 
 Camoens, and which bore resemblance to the vi- 
 cissitudes experienced by other celebrated cha- 
 racters, unnoticed. By them he is represented 
 to have been, like Homer, blind and poor, with 
 a cloud of uncertainty hanging over his birth ; 
 like Petrarch, to have had early to deplore the 
 loss of his parents ; like Ovid, to have been 
 banished on the score of love, and to have 
 detailed to us the tedious hours of his exile; 
 like Scipio Africanus, urged by its ingratitude,
 
 234 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 to have quitted his country with a determination 
 never to return ; to have wandered from place to 
 place like Dante ; like Caesar, to have saved his 
 poem when he was shipwrecked ; like Joseph, 
 to have been sold for two hundred crusados : 
 like Ercilla, to have described in verse, scenes 
 and actions in which he had borne a share; 
 whilst he is likened to Virgil, Thucydides, and 
 others, for having been so painfully occupied 
 with his poem, and having withheld it so long 
 from publication. But a Spanish biographer of 
 Cervantes has shewn, that the most remarkable 
 coincidence of fortune may be traced in the 
 events which marked the lives of Camoens and 
 the author of Don Quixote. This comparison, 
 as it is a literary curiosity, may with propriety 
 close this portion of the present work. 
 
 CAMOENS. CERVANTES. 
 
 Camoens fue hidalgo, sol- Cervantes fue todo esto. 
 
 dado, poeta, y pobre. 
 
 Camoens fue de ameno y Cervantes lo fue tambien. 
 
 festivo ingenio. 
 
 Camoens peregrino por va- Cervantes peregrino tam- 
 
 rios reynos y perdio un ojo bien por diversos paises, y 
 en la guerra. perdio la mano izquierda en 
 
 la batalba de Lepanto.
 
 LUIS DE CAMOENS. 235 
 
 CAMOENS. CERVANTES. 
 
 Camoens cstando preso es- Cervantes eacribio en la 
 
 cribio varias pocsias. carcel la flisloria tie Don 
 Quixote. 
 
 Catnoena vivia de la litnoa- Cervantes auiH|tie tenia al- 
 
 na <jue pedis de noche un gunos bicnes, recibia socorros 
 
 esclavo que traxo de la India, de sua amigos y bienhechores. 
 
 Camoens recibia del Rey Cervantes recibia otros del 
 
 Doin Sebastian una pension Arzobispo de Toledo y del 
 
 tan modcradu, que no le im- Conde de Lemoa, que le iin- 
 
 pcdio morir en un hospital. pedieron morir en el. 
 
 Camoens era de mediana Cervantes tenia el cuerpo 
 
 es tat ura, de nnriz larga, con entie dos estremos, i.i grande 
 
 una elevacion no desayrada ni petjueno, el color vivo, el 
 
 en la init. id (lentigo de inge- pelo caatano, la barba y vigotes 
 nio) los ojos vivos, el color rubios, los ojos alegres, la na- 
 
 blanco, el pelo rubio. ri/ mr-.i. 
 
 Camoens |>oco antes de mo- Cervantes despues de reci- 
 
 rir eacribio algunos versos : bida la extreme unction escri- 
 
 bio la dedicatoria de Penile*. 
 
 Camions se enterro con Cervantes se cnterro en jk>- 
 
 notable pobrezn y sin inscrip- bre a|>arato, y sin cpitafio en 
 
 tion sepulchral en el convento el Conveuto de las Monjas 
 
 de las Monjas Franciscan de Trinitarias de Madrid. 
 Santa Ana de I.isboa.
 
 236 
 
 MEMOIRS OF CAMOENS. 
 
 CAMOENS. 
 
 Camoens permanecio olvi- 
 dado en el sepulcro has' a que 
 Don Gonzalo Coutinho man- 
 do ponerle una lauda 6 lapi- 
 da de marmol quando ya se 
 ignoraba el lugar de su sepul- 
 tura con este epitafio : Aqui 
 jaz Luis de Camoens, prin- 
 
 CIPE DOS POETAS DE SEU TEM- 
 PO : VJVEO POBRE E MISERA- 
 VELMENTE, E ASSI MORREO. 
 
 CERVANTES. 
 
 Cervantes permanece olvi- 
 dado todavia en el sepulcro, 
 que tambien se ignora, sin sa- 
 berse quando alguna mano 
 benefica y patrotica la redi- 
 mira de aquellas tenieblas, sa- 
 candole a la luz de un magni- 
 fied cenotafio, donde quedase 
 immortalizada la memoria del 
 bienhechor con la del autor 
 de la incomparable Historia 
 de Don Quixote,
 
 ipoticc* 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 Xije ffiimas, 
 
 >c Entailer ^ocm* 
 
 or 
 
 Camoens*
 
 SOME ACCOUNT 
 
 Eimacf of Camocna. 
 
 Thf. fame of Camoens is by no means wholly 
 dependent upon his Epic poem ; such was the 
 versatility of his genius, he composed in all the 
 metres which were used at the time, and suc- 
 ceeded in most of them. Considerable re- 
 search, which, it is to be regretted, was not 
 attended with equal discrimination, was requi- 
 site to collect and place under the name of 
 tlu-ir author his minor productions, known by 
 the general denomination of Rimas. Written 
 amidst the various scenes and difficulties in 
 winch it was his destiny to act, they were scat- 
 tered about in Portugal and in India, and
 
 240 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 required a length of time to bring them to- 
 gether. 
 
 Whether the work, mentioned by Diogo 
 de Couto to have been shewn to him by Ca- 
 moens, and called Parnasso, did or did not 
 contain a collection of the Rimas, cannot, how- 
 ever we may be inclined to believe it did, now 
 be ascertained ; if that volume was composed 
 of the Rimas, its furtive abstraction from its 
 author and total loss are the more to be de- 
 plored ; and if it did not contain such collec- 
 tion, posterity has to regret that the poet did 
 not, in the interval between his arrival from 
 India and his death, either publish them in his 
 lifetime, or leave them in a state to appear after 
 his decease. We should then have had hand- 
 ed down to us, in a legitimate form, such of 
 them as Camoens himself would have chosen 
 to preserve, exempt from the interpolations, 
 which have been introduced by those who 
 imagined they could amend the readings of 
 certain passages; and from the barbarisms 
 which they acquired in passing in manuscript 
 through the hands of their respective possess- 
 ors. Several of these minor pieces were,
 
 OF CAMOENS. 241 
 
 without doubt, written under circumstances 
 which would have induced their author to have 
 suppressed them ; and another material advan- 
 tage would have been attained from such su- 
 perintendence ; Diogo Bernardes would not 
 have been exposed to the temptation, which 
 their dispersed condition held out, and which, 
 it is reported, he had not sufficient virtue to 
 resist. 
 
 The biographers of Camoens do not hesitate 
 to pronounce him equal to Petrarch, and to be 
 deserving of similar fame for his Hi mas as the 
 Italian poet derives from the productions of his 
 muse. That disadvantage under which the Ili- 
 mas have so long remained, from their scarcely 
 being known out of Portugal, will now be 
 greatly removed by the increasing desire mani- 
 fested for information respecting the life and ac- 
 tions of the bard, and by the translations which 
 have lately appeared of his works. Amongst 
 the most strenuous advocates for the genius of 
 Camoens in this department of literature, and 
 for his rivalry with Petrarch, is Dom Joze Ma- 
 ria de Soiua, who observes, that the latter poet 
 contributed in a superior degree by his literary 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 labours and lyrical compositions to enrich his 
 native language with the graces of antient po- 
 etry, and added other descriptions of verse 
 appropriate to the language, and to the time 
 in which he lived. The same author writes, 
 that we must, if we are to appreciate rightly 
 the merit of Camoens as to the Rimas, bear in 
 mind that he was one of the first after Sa de 
 Miranda to adopt the introduction of the Ita- 
 lian style into the poetry of Portugal, and that 
 by a genius well stored with the writings of 
 Greece and Rome, and by his rich poetical 
 vein and harmonious versification, he eclipsed 
 all the poets of that age. Pursuing his enquiry 
 Dom Joze continues to give his opinion, that it 
 is to the lyrical pieces of Petrarch, from which 
 he has received his greatest renown, we ought 
 to compare those of Camoens ; and further, 
 that, on an impartial scrutiny of the merits of 
 the two bards, Camoens will not be found in- 
 ferior to him. It appears evident to this illus- 
 trious foreigner, that the compositions of Ca- 
 moens bespeak an inspiration equal to that to be 
 observed in the works of his predecessor, and 
 offer to us the same easy flowing verses and
 
 or CAMOENh. 243 
 
 and elegance of diction ; the same vivacity of 
 imagery and delicacy of sentiment ; and furth- 
 er, that they have a decided advantage over 
 those of Petrarch in being less charged with 
 conceits and intricacies, and in expressing 
 greater strength in the thoughts. Both, he 
 writes, offer an example of the most noble and 
 pure passion, ardently oad with constancy 
 loving ladies, to whom their destinies forbade 
 them to be united ; both experienced the misfor- 
 tune to survive these objects, and consequently 
 found themselves placed in the same situation 
 to deplore and weep for their loss. The pecu- 
 liar circumstances attending their lives were, 
 however, calculated to produce different in- 
 fluences, the one most disadvantageous to the 
 muse of Camocns, the other most favourable to 
 that of Petrarch. 
 
 Petrarch lived happy, rich, esteemed, and 
 sought after by the Great ; residing in courts, or 
 at his country house, in a land the most beauti- 
 ful and civilized ; and leisurely cultivating litera- 
 ture as his occupations allowed him. Camocns, 
 on the contrary, was poor, persecuted, exiled, 
 and |>H**ed the better part of his life far from 
 R 2
 
 244 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 his country, and in unhospitable climes ; scarce- 
 ly having to dedicate to study moments stolen 
 from the busy employment of a soldier, and 
 embittered with the pangs of seeing himself ill- 
 treated and ill-rewarded by his ungrateful 
 countrymen. Petrarch had also leisure to cor- 
 rect, to finish, and to publish his poems, which 
 was not the case with Camoens, whose genius 
 is therefore entitled to our greater admiration, 
 inasmuch as without the advantages enjoyed 
 by Petrarch, his productions are no way infe- 
 rior, if they are not in some instances superior, 
 to this most celebrated Italian poet.* 
 
 The order in which the Rimas are generally 
 printed, is as follows ; and in the best and 
 most enlarged editions of his works are con- 
 tained, besides some other pieces which, upon 
 very slight conjecture, have been attributed to 
 him : 
 
 305 Sonnets, 
 
 16 Cancons, 
 
 12 Odes, 
 
 4 Sextinas, 
 
 * D. J. M. de Souza, Vida dt Camovs.
 
 OF CAMOENS. 24-5 
 
 21 Elegies, 
 15 Eclogues, 
 
 Estancias, 
 
 Redondilhas, &c. 
 
 Letters, 
 
 El Rei Seleuco, a Comedy, 
 
 Os Amphitrioes, a Comedy, 
 And 
 
 Filodemo, a Comedy. 
 
 In a subsequent portion of the present work, 
 wherein is given an account of the various edi- 
 tions of the works of the poet, the reader will 
 observe the many difficulties which the early 
 editors of the poems of Camoens had to en- 
 counter in collecting them. 
 
 It was not until 1595, sixteen years after the 
 decease of the poet, that an attempt was made 
 to bring the Rimas before the eye of the pub- 
 lic. At that period the first edition appeared, 
 accompanied by a prologue written by the col- 
 lector of the poems, the Licentiate Fernno 
 Rodrigues Lobo Surrupita, a lawyer and a 
 poet not without celebrity, to whom Faria e 
 it 3
 
 246 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Sousa, having benefited largely by his remarks, 
 pays a just tribute in his " Juizio destas Ri- 
 mas;" and who is also thus honorably men- 
 tioned by Jacinto Cordeiro, in his Eulogies on 
 the Portuguese Poets, st. 48. 
 
 Muchos laureles, muchos solicits 
 Poco mi pluma indigne la encarece 
 Fernao Rodrigues Lobo Soropita, 
 Con ingenio divino los merece, 
 Que a muchos el laurel por docto quita 
 Esta en tan graves versos me parece, &c. 
 
 Surrupita complains of the inconvenience 
 arising from the errors to be met with in the va- 
 rious manuscripts which he had consulted ; this 
 circumstance, he writes, would make his edition 
 less correct than it ought to have been publish- 
 ed ; but he alleges, that his fears of increasing 
 the difficulties, by hazarding his own corrections, 
 had induced him to print the poems as he had 
 found them. He describes Camoens to have 
 been particularly anxious to avoid the faults of 
 many of his predecessors, whose productions 
 were devoid of elegance, and laden with low
 
 OF CAMOENS. 247 
 
 and vulgar expressions. In lieu of these, he 
 remarks, we find a natural facility in declaring 
 his sentiments and a great sweetness joined to 
 a purity of language pervading his verses, in 
 which are displayed a knowledge of nature and 
 science. Surrupita is inclined to give a pre- 
 ference to the Cancons, in the composition of 
 which he says, Camoens had been attentive to 
 all the requisite rules, and may challenge the 
 productions of Petrarch, Bembo, or Garcilaso 
 de la Vega, who were most distinguished for that 
 species of poetry. With respect to the sonnets, 
 he admits that they are unequal in point of 
 merit, which he correctly ascribes to the true 
 reason ; several of them were composed in a 
 hurry to satisfy the importunity of persons to 
 whose requests Camoens could not give denial, 
 on account of favours which he had received 
 from them, most probably never expecting they 
 would l>e published with his name. 
 
 Boscan and Garcilasso de la Vega were the 
 renovators of the sonnet in Spain, and com- 
 posed in this metre after the Italian model. 
 This example was followed by Sa de Miranda, 
 in Portugal, and after him by Camoens, the 
 a 4-
 
 248 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 success of the scholar however far exceeding 
 that of the master. The Spanish and Portu- 
 guese writers are very jealous that this intro- 
 duction of the sonnet should be confined in the 
 way above limited, and adduce specimens of 
 hendecasyllabic compositions of very high an- 
 tiquity in of their own languages. 
 
 The sonnets of Camoens may be divided into 
 three classes; amorous, moral, and tributary. 
 Of these classes, the first, as in it are pictured 
 the genuine feelings of the poet, in describing 
 the delights of the dawning of the passion du- 
 ring his happy boyhood ; the suspense of his 
 heart until doubt was removed ; and the deso- 
 lation, which the revealing of his hapless fate 
 caused, claims the superiority. Of this descrip- 
 tion are nearly the whole of the following se- 
 lection. Some of the sonnets, which may be 
 said to belong to the second class, contain 
 reflexions which pourtray a mind endued with 
 a true sense of virtue ; whilst, amidst the third 
 class, the tribute addressed to the memory of 
 his departed friend D. Antonio de Noronha, 
 which has been translated by Lord Strangford,
 
 OF CAMOF.NS. 249 
 
 vrill for ever remain a monument of friendship 
 and praise worthy the genius of its author. 
 
 Dom Joze Maria de Souza, who expresses 
 considerable doubts as to the genuineness of 
 several of the sonnets ascribed to Camoens, and 
 lias given his reasons for his opinions, has the 
 following general remarks respecting them : 
 " The imagination of our Camoes was most 
 fertile in sonnets, and although in this ample 
 collection, made with little discernment after 
 his death, many of inferior merit are met with, 
 which either are not his productions, or were 
 drawn extcmporally from him by importunate 
 friends, yet the quantity of excellent and per- 
 fect specimens is remarkable, and worthy of 
 admiration. The greater part of them," he 
 adds, " are amorous^ full of grace, delicacy, 
 and lively passion ; others express a profound 
 melancholy. In general, no poet understood, 
 uhI could explain better, the character of this 
 little poem; no one was more skilled in em- 
 bodying his sensibility in verses, which came 
 from his heart, and which, at this day, deeply 
 excite our tender sympathy."
 
 250 ON THE BIMAS 
 
 Em quanto quiz fortuna que tivesse 
 
 Esperanca de algum contentamento, 
 
 O gosto de hum suave pensamento 
 Me fez que seus effeitos escrevesse. 
 Porem temendo amor que aviso desse 
 
 Minha escriptura a algum juizo isento, 
 
 Escureceo-me o engenho co' o tormento, 
 Para que seus enganos nao dissesse. 
 
 O' fos, que amor obriga a ser sujeitos 
 A diversas vontadesj quando lerdes 
 N'hum breve livro casos tao diversos ; 
 
 Verdades puras sao, e nao defeitos. 
 Entendei que segundo o amor tiverdes, 
 Tereis o entendimento de meus versos. 
 
 Camoens. 
 
 Wliile on my head kind Fortune deign'd to pour 
 Her lavish boons, and through my willing ooul 
 Made tides of extacy and pleasure roll ; 
 
 I sung in raptures of each passing hour. 
 
 But Love, who heard me praise the golden shower, 
 Resolv'd my fond presumption to controul, 
 And painful darkness o'er my spirits stole, 
 
 Lest I should dare to tell his treach'rous power. 
 
 O ye, whom his hard yoke compels to bend 
 To other's will, if in my various lay 
 
 Sad plaints ye find, and fears, and cruel wrong, 
 
 To suffering nature and to truth attend : 
 For in the measure ye have felt his sway, 
 
 Your sympathising hearts will feel my song.* 
 
 Anon, by Mr Hayi.et. 
 
 * This sonnet, like the first of Petrarch, :s a preface to the 
 amatory poetry of Camoens.
 
 OF CAMOENS. 251 
 
 Quando da bella vista, e doce riso, 
 
 Tmuando estao mens olhos mantunento, 
 Tao elevado sinto o pcnsamento. 
 
 Que me faz ver na terra o Paraiso. 
 
 Tanto do bcm humano estou diviso, 
 
 Que qualquer outro bem julgo por vento : 
 As-i que em termo tal, scgundo sento, 
 
 Pouco rem a fazer quern perde o siso. 
 
 Em louvar-vos Senhora, nao me fundo ; 
 Porquc quern vossas gracas claro sente. 
 Scntira que nao pode conhecellas. 
 
 Poll dc tanta estranhcza SOU ao Mundo, 
 Que nao he de estranhar, Dama cxccllente, 
 Que quern vo fez, fizesse Ceo, e EntreUas. 
 
 ClMOIKV 
 
 When I behold you, Lady ! when my eyee 
 
 Dwell on the deep enjoyment of your sight, 
 
 I give my spirit to that one delight. 
 And earth appears to me a Paradise. 
 And when I hear you speak, and see you smile, 
 
 Full, satisfied, absorb'd, my center'd mind 
 Deems all the world's vain hopes and joys the while 
 
 As empty as die unsubstantial wiitd : 
 Lady ! I feci your charms yet dare not raise 
 To that high theme, th' unequal song of praise ; 
 
 A power for that to language was not given, 
 N'or marvel I, when I those beauties view, 
 Lady ! ihnt he whose power created you, 
 
 Could form lite stars and yonder glorious heaven. 
 
 South iv.
 
 252 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Esta o lascivo, e doce passarinho 
 
 Com o biquinho as pennas ordenando ; 
 O verso sem medida, alegre. e brando, 
 
 Despedindo no rustico raminho. 
 
 O cruel cacpador, que do caminho 
 Se vem callado, e manso desviando, 
 Com prompta vista a setta endireitando, 
 
 Lhe da no Estygio Lago eternc ninho. 
 
 Desta arte o corac^o, que livre andava, 
 (Postoque ja de longe destinado) 
 Onde menos temia, foi ferido. 
 
 Porque o frecheiro cego me esperava 
 Para que me tomasse descuidado, 
 Em vossos claros olhos escondido. 
 
 Camoens. 
 
 Behold yon little songster, sportive, gay, 
 
 Which warbling sweet his tuneful woodland note, 
 With slender beak decks out his feather'd coat, 
 
 And hops, unfearful on from spray to spray. 
 
 Then see the savage fowler, softly come, 
 On tiptoe stealing cautious in his art, 
 He draws the fatal string the death plum'd dart 
 
 Consigns the little trembler to his doom. 
 
 Just so my heart, (though destin'd for a state 
 
 Where love should dwell and pour forth tender sighs,) 
 
 Was struck, much more unconscious of its fate ; 
 For in the sparkling lustre of thine eyes 
 
 Conceal'd, the blindfold archer was in wait, 
 That he might so his careless prey surprize. 
 
 A DAMSON.
 
 OF CAMOENS. '253 
 
 Apollo e as novc Musas dcscamando, 
 
 Com a dourada lyra me influiam 
 
 Na suave hannonla que faziam. 
 Quando tomei a penna, comcc.umlo : 
 Ditoso seja o dia, c bora, |iiando 
 
 Tao delicados olhos me feriam : 
 
 Ditosos os sentidos que scntiam 
 Estar-se em seu desejo traspassando. 
 Assi cantava, quando amor virou 
 
 A roda a esperanca, que corria 
 
 Ta5 ligeira, que quasi era inviribil. 
 Converteo-sc-me em noite o claro dia ; 
 
 E se alguma esperanca me ficou, 
 Sera de maior mal, se for possibil.* 
 
 Camoeme. 
 
 Die God of song and sister muses nine, 
 
 Attun'd their lyres to harmonise with mine. 
 
 In strains more sweet than e'er from planets sprung, 
 
 When thus the trembling chords I struck and sung. 
 
 " May that bright day, that moment happy prove, 
 
 " When from thine eyes I drank large draughts of love; 
 
 " Blest be those feelings, by no fears alloy 'd, 
 
 " When perfect bliss my rapt'rous soul enjoy 'd." 
 
 So, I, till love, ah ! with malignant eye, 
 
 Beheld my joyous minutes rapid fly. 
 
 Thus light, thus imperceptibly away, 
 
 And cruel, turned to night so fair a day. 
 
 Ah, me ! if now there aught of hope remain, 
 
 'Tis, if 'twere possible, increase of pain ! 
 
 Anonymous. 
 
 Some liberties are slated by the author of the translation of 
 this Minuet to have been taken with the original, and on* in tii
 
 254 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Quem ve, Senhora, claro, e manifesto, 
 
 O Undo ser de vossos olhos bellos, 
 
 Senao perder a vista so com vellos, 
 Ja nao paga o que deve a vosso gesto. 
 Este me parecia pre90 honesto ; 
 
 Mas eu, por de vantagem merecellos, 
 
 Dei mais a vida, e alma, por querellos, 
 Donde ja me nao fica mais de resto. 
 Assi que alma, que vida, que esperanca, 
 
 E que quanto for meu, he tudo vosso : 
 Mas de tudo o interesse eu so o levo. 
 Porque he tamanha bemaventuranca 
 
 O dar-vos quanto tenho, e quanto posso, 
 Que quanto mais vos pago, mais vos devo. 
 
 Camoens. 
 
 He, Lady ! who, with clear transparent eyes, 
 
 Beholds the lustre of thine orbs of sight, 
 
 111 pays his homage to their gentle light, 
 If he again shall see their suns arise. 
 To me this price would fair and proper seem, 
 
 For life, and soul, and every sweet of rest 
 I fondly gave, to gain their fav'ring gleam, 
 
 And all the empire of their power confest. 
 Lur'd by their charms, though life, and soul, and hope, 
 
 And all the minor goods that e'er were mine, 
 
 Pay liege obedience only to thy shrine, 
 And from their wonted service now elope : 
 
 So sweet, dear Lady ! does the duty grow, 
 
 The more to thee I pay, the more I owe. 
 
 Adamson. 
 
 sixth line, he supposes may be called an improvement. This 
 sonnet has also been translated by Lord Strangford.
 
 OF CAMOENS. 255 
 
 A formosura dcsta fresca serra, 
 
 E a sombra dos verdes castanheiro* ; 
 
 O manso caminhar destes ribciros, 
 Donde toda a tristeza sc desterra : 
 O rouco som do mar, a estranha terra, 
 
 O csconder do Sol pelo* outeiros, 
 
 O rofolher dos gadoa derradeiros, 
 Das nuvecs pelo ar a hranda guerra : 
 Em li 1 11. tudo o que a rara natureza. 
 
 Com t.mt.i varicdadc nos oft'rece, 
 
 Mc esti (se nad te vejo) magoando : 
 Scm ti tudo me cnoja, e inc u bom-re ; 
 
 Sem ti perpetuamente estou passando 
 Nas mores alegrias, mor tristeia.* 
 
 CaMOtNK. 
 
 The mountain rool, the chcsnut's rerdant shade, 
 
 The loit'ring walk along the river side, 
 Where never woe her sad abode hath made. 
 
 Nor Borrow linger'd on the silv'ry tide 
 The sea's hoarse sound the earth with verdure gay 
 
 The gilded pomp of Phoebus* parting rays 
 The flocks that tread at eve their homeward way 
 
 The soft mist yielding to the sunny blaze. 
 Not all the varied charms and beauties rare 
 
 That nature boaats when thou, my sole delight ! 
 
 Art absent from me, to my aching sight 
 Can comfort give, but aa a prospect drear 
 And cold before me stand I onward go. 
 And as the joys increase, increase my woe. 
 
 AftAMWK, 
 
 Thit sonnet has hern translated hy Lord Strangford ; anotln-r
 
 256 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Alegres campos, verdes arvoredos, 
 
 Claras, e frescas aguas de crystal, 
 
 Que em vos os debuxais ao natural, 
 Discorrendo da altura dos rochedos: 
 Sylvestres montes, asperos penedos, 
 
 Compostos de concerto desigual ; 
 
 Sabei que sem licenca de meu mal 
 Ja na5 podeis fazer meus olhos ledos. 
 E pois ja me nao vedes como vistes, 
 
 Nao me alegrem verduras deleitosas, 
 Nem aguas que correndo alegres vem. 
 Semearei em vos lembrancas tristes, 
 
 Regar-vos-hei com lagrimas saudosas, 
 E nascerao saudades de meu bem. 
 
 Camoen* 
 
 Delightful fields, and thickets gay and green, 
 Ye woods that shadow o'er the mountain scene, 
 Ye rocks grotesque, ye fountains cold and clear, 
 Who as ye murmur down the sparkling steep, 
 Your concord with the waving woodlands keep, 
 And send sweet music to. the traveller's ear. 
 O lovely scenes ! unsatisfied my sight 
 
 Dwells on your beauties now, your ancient shade, 
 
 Clear fountains, gleaming through the opening glade. 
 Rocks, thickets, fields, and all your green delight. 
 Me other than I was, ye now behold, 
 
 I gaze around, and tears suffuse my eyes ; 
 Ye tell me, lovely scenes, of days of old, 
 
 And thoughts of former happiness arise. 
 
 Southey. 
 
 Tersion will be found in the Annual Register for 1789; and a 
 third in " Translations from Camoens, &c." Oxford, 1818.
 
 OF CAMOENS. 257 
 
 Quando de minhas magoas comprida 
 
 Magina^ao os olhos me adormece, 
 
 Em sonbos aquella alma mc apparece, 
 Que para mi foi sonho nesta vida. 
 Li n'humt saudade, ondc cstendida 
 
 A vista por o campo desfallece, 
 
 Corro apoz ella ; e ella entao panic 
 Que mais de mi se alonga, compellida. 
 Br ado : nao me fugais, sombra benina. 
 
 Ella (o% olhos em mi co' hum brando pejo, 
 Como quern diz, que ja nao pode ser) 
 Torna a fugir-me : torno a bradar : Dina , 
 
 E ante? que acabe em mene, acordo, e vcjo 
 Que nn hum breve engano posso ter.* 
 
 Camowm. 
 
 While prest with woes from which it cannot flee. 
 My fancy sinks, and slumber seals ray eyes 
 Her spirit hastens in my dreams to rise, 
 
 Who was in life, but as a dream to me. 
 
 O'er a drear waste, so wide no eye can see 
 How far its sense-evading limit lies, 
 I follow her quick step, but ah ! she flies ! 
 
 Our distance wid'ning by fate's stern decree. 
 
 Fly not from mc, kind shadow ! I exclaim 
 
 She, with fix'd eyes, that her soft thoughts reveal. 
 And secm'd to say " Forbear thy fond design." 
 
 Still flies I call her, but her half-form'd name 
 Dies on my falt'ring tongue I wake and feel 
 Not e'en one short delusion may be mine. 
 
 Ham iv. 
 
 * The Spanish Commentator of Canioen* considers this 
 vision aa the mwt exquisite sonnet of its author, and affirms, 
 VOL. I. S
 
 258 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Se quando vos perdi, minha esperanca, 
 A memoria perdera juntamente, 
 Do doee bem passado, e mal presente, 
 
 Pouco sentira a dor de tal mudanga. 
 
 Mas amor, em quern tinha confianca, 
 Me representa mui miudamente 
 Quantas vezes me vi ledo, e contente, 
 
 Por me tirar a vida esta lembran$a. 
 
 De cousas de que apenas hum signal 
 Havia, porque as dei ao esquecimento, 
 Me vejo com memorias perseguido. 
 
 Ah dura estrella minha ! Ah gra5 tormento ! 
 Que mal pode ser mor, que no meu mal 
 Ter lembrancas do bem que he ja passado ? 
 Camoens. 
 
 O Hope, long lost ! if when thou took'st thy flight, 
 
 My mem'ry too had sped with thee to range ; 
 
 How trifling had I felt the fatal change 
 Of present grief succeeding past delight. 
 But Love, alas ! with whom I plac'd my fate, 
 
 Foe to my life whene'er I comfort know, 
 
 Malign conspires unto my view to show 
 The full remembrance of my former state : 
 Joys scarcely felt, and by me long resign'd 
 
 From drear oblivion's gloom to stray no more, 
 Recall'd by Love, again before my mind 
 
 Appear to flit. Hard lot I must deplore ! 
 What sorrow greater, than when woes increase 
 The recollection of departed peace. 
 
 A DAMSON. 
 
 that it is superior to the much longer poem of Petrarch on a 
 similar idea. It may amuse a curious reader to compare both
 
 OF CAMOENS. 259 
 
 Docc contentatnento j i pas&ado, 
 
 Em que tudo o meu bcm so consistia ; 
 
 Quem vo- levou de ininha companhia, 
 E mi- deixou dc voa tan apartado ? 
 Quern cuidou que sc viaM nnM cstado 
 
 Naquellas breves lioi ;>% d'alcgria, 
 
 Quandu minha ventura consentia, 
 Que de enganos vivesse meu cuidado ? 
 Fort una minha fui cruel, e dura, 
 
 Aquella que causou men perdimentu, 
 Com a qual tiiuquem pude ter cautella. 
 Nem sc engane nenhuma creatura, 
 
 Que na p 'de nenlium itnpedlmento, 
 Fugir do que the ordena sua ctrella. 
 
 Camoxns. 
 
 Sweet Miss dom lost ! from whose pure source alone 
 
 My comfort came and all my joys arose. 
 Borne bj what hand, and whither art thou flown, 
 
 While I am left to mourn, and. sunk in woes. 
 Thy distance to bewail ? Ah ' who, that view'd 
 
 My short liv'd hours of peace, when fortune'* smile 
 
 Was kind, and hid my cares beneath it* guile. 
 Could think to see me thus by fate subdu'd ? 
 Hut fortune chang'd and made me feel her smart, 
 
 And rohh'd me of the blis, I now deplore 
 By means beyond the power of human art. 
 
 And, Thou, vain man. deceive thyself no more ! 
 For 'tis fallacious hope and idle pain 
 To fly the evils that her stars ordain. 
 
 All V M SOS. 
 
 Ca noens and Petrarch, on this occasion, with Milton, who has 
 also written a sonnet on the same subject. 
 8 2
 
 260 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 
 Se despois de esperan^a tao perdida, 
 
 Amor por causa alguma consentisse 
 
 Que inda algum 'hora breve alegre visse, 
 De quantas tristes vio tao longa vida ; 
 Hum 'alma ja tao fraca, e tao cahida 
 
 (Quando a sorte mais alto me subisse) 
 
 Nao tenho para mi que consentisse 
 Alegria tao tarde consentida. 
 Nem tamsomente o amor me nao mostrou 
 
 Hum 'hora em que vivesse alegremente, 
 De quantas nesta vida me negou ; 
 
 Mas inda tanta pena me consente, 
 Que co' o contentamento me tirou 
 
 O gosto de algum 'hora ser contente.* 
 
 Camoens. 
 
 If after Hope so lost so spent in vain, 
 Love of his tyrant treatment should relent, 
 And, pitying all my lengthen'd woes, consent 
 
 That one fond hour should close a life of pain ; 
 
 My Soul now worn, and so by sorrow prest, 
 (When known the purport of this new decree) 
 
 Would scarcely strain the blessing to my breast, 
 So long denied to mis'ry and to me. 
 
 For I have liv'd a life of ceaseless grief, 
 
 And love, unkind, hath never urg'd his power, 
 To gild the gloom with one short happy hour 
 
 But hath withheld, obdurate, the relief 
 
 Thus when my joys receiv'd the cruel blight, 
 
 The wound destroy'd all feeling of delight. 
 
 Adamson. 
 
 * This sonnet is supposed to have been written in India.
 
 OF CAMOENS. 261 
 
 Alma minha gentil. que te partiste 
 
 Tan cedo dta vida descontente ; 
 
 Repousa la no ceo eternamente, 
 viva eu ca na terra tempre triite. 
 Se la no asaento Ethereo, onde subiste, 
 
 Memoria de->ta vida se consents, 
 
 Nao te esquec,as de aquelle amor ardente. 
 Que j nos olhos meus tan puro viste. 
 te vires que pode mcrecer-te 
 
 AlgGa cousa a dor, que me ficou 
 Da magoa, sem remedio de perder-te ; 
 
 Roga a Deos que teus annos encurtou, 
 Que ta<> cedo de ca me leve a ver-te, 
 
 Quan cedo de meus olhos te levou.* 
 
 C a mocks. 
 
 Go, gentle spirit ! now supremely blest 
 
 From scenes of pain and struggling virtue go. 
 From thy immortal seat of heavenly rest 
 
 Behold us lingering in a world of woe. 
 And if beyond the grave to Saints above. 
 
 Fond mem'ry still the transient past pourtrays ; 
 Blame not the ardour of my constant love. 
 
 Which in these longing eyes was wont to blaie. 
 But if from virtue's source my sorrows ri^e, 
 
 For the sad loss I never can repair, 
 Be thine to justify my endless sighs 
 
 And to the throne of grace prefer thy prayer. 
 That Heaven, which made thy span of life so brief. 
 May shorten mine and give my soul relief. 
 
 A xov. t Ma Hayi.kt. 
 
 " At page <M i* Mr Sou they ' translation of this sonnet. 
 Mr Hayley writes, it was mmpoaed " on the death of Dona 
 " Catalina de Atatde, who died at the age of 90." In the
 
 
 
 262 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Pensamentos, que agora novamente 
 
 Cuidados vaos em mi resuscitais, 
 
 Dizei-me : E ainda nan vos contentais 
 De ter a quem vos tern tao descontente ? 
 Que phantasia he esta, que presente 
 
 Cad'hora ante os meus olhos me mostrais ? 
 
 Com huus sonhos ta5 vaos, inda tentais 
 Quem nem por sonhos pode ser contente ? 
 Vejo-vos, pensamentos, alterados. 
 
 E nao quereis, de esquivos, declarar-me, 
 Que he isto que vos traz tao enleados ? 
 
 Nao me negueis, se andais para negar-me ; 
 Porque se centra mi estais levantados, 
 
 Eu vos ajudarei mesmo a matar -me. 
 
 Camoens. 
 
 Tell me, my thoughts ! which now before me raise, 
 Of woes the sad remembrance, and renew 
 The grief I fondly hop'd no more to view, 
 
 Is not my measure full of hapless days ? 
 
 How is it, that, in vacant forms of air, 
 
 Mine eye each hour some long lost vision sees ? 
 
 With dreams and shadows would you sooth the care 
 Of him, whom dreams and shadows ne'er could please ? 
 
 I see you sadly changed e'en with disdain 
 Refusing mention of the secret spell 
 
 That holds you thus in doubt the charm disclose 
 
 Though sworn to silence, let me not in vain 
 Intreat if leagu'd against my life yet tell 
 For 1 will join to end my term of woes.. 
 
 Adamson. 
 
 second volume of " A Fenix Renaseida," it ts given, with a 
 Glosa by Dr Antonio Barbosa Bacelar. There is another version 
 id " Translations from Camoens, &c." .Oxford, 1818.
 
 OF CAMOENS. 263 
 
 Moras breves de meu contentamento, 
 
 Nunca me pareceo quando vos tinha, 
 
 Que vos visse mudadas tan asiuha 
 Em t.i compridos annos de tormento. 
 As altas i. it 1 1 -.. que fundei no \ into. 
 
 Lcvou, cm ti in, u vento que as sostinha : 
 
 Do mal que me ficou a culpa he minlia, 
 Pois sobre cousas vaas fiz rundamctito. 
 Amor com brandas mostras apparece -, 
 
 Tudo possivel faz, tudo asscgura ; 
 Mas logo no melhor desapparece. 
 
 Estranho mal ! estranha desvcntura ! 
 Por hum pcqueno bem que desfallece, 
 
 Hum U in aventurar, que semprc cluni !* 
 
 CaMOEHS. 
 
 Short hours of joy ! onward ye fleeting |>ast ' 
 
 But little did I ween the gay delight 
 
 Would soon be follow'd hy so sad a blight, 
 And years of grief that should for ever last ! 
 Those airy prosjiects forin'd on fancy's scope. 
 
 Soon by the power that rais'd them were o'erthrown ; 
 f all my woes mine is the fault alone. 
 Who on such slight foundation built my hope. 
 In forms deluding, and enchanting shew 
 
 Deceitful Love appears to gain his power. 
 Kind condescending but to pangs of woe 
 
 Exulting leaves his victim. Luckless hour ' 
 When fortune will'd I should become his toy 
 
 Commuting peace secure for transient joy. 
 
 A DAMsos. 
 
 In " A Ferns Renucida." Tom. iii. p 252, la Uu sonnet, 
 with an omission of the last three lines of Catnocns. for which 
 thre# others are suli-tituied. It is ascribed to the Infante l*o.:i
 
 264 ON THE R1MAS 
 
 N'hum bosque, que das Nymphas se habitava, 
 Sibella, Nympha linda, andava hum dia ; 
 subida em huma arvore sombria, 
 
 As amarellas flores apanhava. 
 
 Cupido, que alii sempre costumava 
 A vir passar a sesta a sombra fria, 
 Em hum ramo, arco, e settas, que trazia, 
 
 Antes que adormecesse, pendurava. 
 
 A nympha, como idoneo tempo vira 
 Para tamanha empreza, nao dilata ; 
 
 Mas com as armas foge ao moco esquivo. 
 
 As settas traz nos olhos, com que tira. 
 O' Pastores ; fugi, que a todos mata 
 Senao a mini, que de matar-me vivo. ' 
 
 Camoens. 
 
 Within a grove the haunt of Nymph and Fay, 
 Sibella, fairest maid ! once chanc'd to stray, 
 And mounting high a tree that shady grew, 
 She cull'd its od'rous flowers of yellow hue. 
 There Cupid came, who long a rule had made 
 To come and take his Sesta in the shade ; 
 Upon a bough his bow and shaft unstrung, 
 Before he sunk to sleep, with care he hung. 
 The maid, who watch'd the time with eager eyes, 
 Delay'd not now to seize the dang'rous prize ; 
 The arms obtain'd, to careless me she hied, 
 And in her eyes the ardent shafts I spied. 
 O Shepherds ! fly, what all to death will give, 
 Save me, alone ! who still, tho' dying, live. 
 
 Anonymous. 
 
 Luis, and is called Soneto Moral. It was also published with 
 a trifling variation by Diogo Bernardes. 
 
 * The Sesta signifies the repose usually taken in the afternoon 
 in warm climates. " As settas traz nos olhos," is literally " she
 
 OP CAMOEN&. 265 
 
 Quern dii que amor he false, ou engarioso, 
 
 Ligeiro, ingrato, vao, desconhccido, 
 
 Sem f.ih.i lhe tera bem merecido 
 Que lbe seja cruel, ou rigeroso. 
 Amor he brando, he doce, c he piedoso ; 
 
 Quern o contrario die nan seja rrido ; 
 
 Seja por cego, e apaixonado tido, 
 E aos homces e inda aos deoses odioso. 
 Se males faz amor, em mi se vem ; 
 Em mi mostrando todo o &eu rigor, 
 
 Ao Mundo quiz mostrar quanto podia. 
 Mas todas suas iras sao de amor : 
 Todos estcs leu* males sao hum bem, 
 
 Que eu por todo outro bem na > trocaria.* 
 
 Camobk*. 
 
 Is there who says that love is like the wind, 
 Fickle, ungrateful, full of fraud and lies? 
 'ITiat wretched man hath sure deserv'd to find 
 From Love all vengeance and all cruelties ! 
 Gentle, benignant, merciful is I a>\ c ; 
 
 Believe not him who says love is not so ; 
 Let the vile slanderer live by men below 
 Despis'd, and hated by the Gods above. 
 If ever love work'd misery in me 
 May man the sum of all his evils tee, 
 Mc whom he seems delighted to opprc.s ; 
 The utmost rigour of his power I prove, 
 Yet would not change the miseries of love 
 For ill lite world besides calls happiness. 
 
 Soithi v. 
 Ix-ings the arrows in her eyes." Nonnui calls the Eyes the 
 Archer* of Love. *T<-m*i< tpr>. This sonnet was inserted 
 in lhe Monthly Mirror. IPOS. 
 
 This sonnet has been translated by Ix>rd Strangford. Aa-
 
 266 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Suspiros inflammados que cantais 
 
 A tristeza com que eu vivi tao ledo ; 
 
 Eu morro, e nao vos levo, porque hei medo 
 Que ao passar do Letheo vos percais. 
 Escriptos para sempre ja ficais 
 
 Onde vos mostrarao todos co' o dedo, 
 
 Como exemplo de males ; e eu concedo 
 Que para a viso de outros estejais. 
 Em quem, pois, virdes largas esperancas 
 
 De amor, e da fortuna, (cujos danos 
 Alguus terao por bemaventurancas) 
 
 Dizei-lhe, que os servistes muitos anos, 
 E que em fortuna tudo sao mudancas, 
 
 E que em amor nao ha sena'i enganos. 
 
 Camoens. 
 
 Ye sighs, which breathe the sadness of my soul, 
 With which I liv'd contented and serene ! 
 I die yet leave you in this mortal scene, 
 
 Dreading, lest as I go, from mem'ry's scroll 
 Effac'd yc sink beneath oblivion's dark controul. 
 
 For ever as a beacon here ye stand, 
 
 To guard from error those, who idly dream 
 That Love is joy that with her golden gleam 
 
 Fortune will fav'ring bow to their command 
 A mark to warn from shipwreck on a fatal strand ! 
 
 Say, ye have stoop'd in rev'rence at their feet 
 For long a slave but that at last ye found 
 Fortune was fickle, ever changing ground 
 
 And Love composed of falsehood and deceit. 
 
 Adamson. 
 
 other version appeared in " Translations from Camoens, &c.' 
 Oxford, 1818.
 
 OF CAMOENS. 267 
 
 Ditoso .eja aqucllc fjiic somcnte 
 
 Se queixa de amorosas oquivangas, 
 
 Pois por cllas nan perdc as espcranc,a* 
 Dc poder n'algum tcm|K> ver contente. 
 Ditoo seja quern cstando ausente 
 
 Na'> scnte mais que a pena das lcmhran^ai ; 
 
 Porqu' iml.i que M tenia dc mudan^as, 
 Menos se tcmc a dor quaudo so scnte. 
 Ditoso seja, cm fun, quaJquer cstado, 
 
 Onde enganos, desprczos, e isencan, 
 Trazcm hum cornea > atormentado. 
 Mas tristc quctn M scute magoado 
 
 Dc crros cm que IM i (mhIc haver pcrdao 
 Scni ficar m alma a miigoa do p.ccado. 
 
 Camozns. 
 
 Happy the man, who hut of I.ovc complain*, 
 His dear delusions and liis coy disdains 
 Some days of comfort may Ik- yet in store. 
 
 His hopes are tafe, and whin his trial's o'er 
 His lengthen 'd care may end, and peace succeed to pains. 
 
 Happy the man, who, absent from the source 
 Whence flow'd his grief, liis sorrows had their course, 
 Peel* hut the mem'ry of departed joy ; 
 Anticipated ills his thoughts employ; 
 Tims when the evil comes 'tis with dimiuish'd force. 
 
 Happy his state, who from contempt and scorn 
 Suffer* alone : Hut WOC to him the smart 
 Of faults to pardon which must wound the heart. 
 
 And place within the soul, of sin the thorn. 
 
 A I>A\|n<>.
 
 268 ON THE R1MAS 
 
 The alleged depredations upon the sonnets 
 of Camoens by Diogo Bernardes are consider- 
 able. Of these he is stated to have entirely ap- 
 propriated to himself nine, and three others, 
 with trifling alterations. Those entirely taken, 
 commence as follows, and stand in the works 
 of Bernardes, published at Lisbon in 1770, as 
 they are here numbered. 
 
 XVII. Se como em tudo o mais fostes perfeita. 
 XX. Hum firme coraao posto em ventura. 
 XXVII. Brandas agoas do Tejo que passando. 
 XXIX. Ja do Mondego as agoas apparecem. 
 LXI. Ar, que de meus suspiros vejo cheio. 
 LXXIII. Onde porei meus olhos, que nao vejo. 
 
 LXXV. Despois de tantos dias mal gastados. 
 LXXIX. Q,ue doudo pensamento he o que sigo. 
 CXLIII. Se quando vos perdi minha esperan^a. 
 
 The other three contain the following varia- 
 tions : r 
 
 XXVI. Eu me aparto de vos, nymphas do Tejo 
 
 Camoens. 
 Line 1 . Eu me aparto de vos, nymphas do Tejo, 
 
 2. Quando menos temia esta partida ; 
 
 3. E se a minha alma vai entristecida,
 
 OF CAMOENS. 2(J9 
 
 Caxoens. 
 Line 7. Presto verao o fim a triste vida, 
 
 9. Nunca a noite entretanto, nunca o dia 
 10. Verao partir dc mi vossa lembranca 
 1 3. Por mais que no tornar haja tardanca, 
 13. Me farad tempre triste rompanhia. 
 
 BlSN AIDES. 
 
 Line 1 . Eu me parto de v6s campos do Tejo, 
 
 2. Quando menos temi esta partida, 
 
 3. E se a minh' alma a dor rendida, 
 7. Asinha darao fim a triste vida, 
 
 9. Em tanto nunca vera noite, nem dia 
 
 10. A part arse de v6s minha lembranca; 
 
 1 2. Andarao sempre em rainha companbia, 
 
 13. Em quanto na tornada ouver tardanca. 
 
 LXTIII. Las penas retumbavan al gemido. 
 
 CaMOCNS. IltlXAIDPS. 
 
 Line Line 
 1 . retumbavan 1 . retumbaran. 
 
 3. que a 3. que de 
 
 4. de mi <>ltinado. 4. d'uno pensado. 
 
 8. En cavernosa valles. 8. De los Ecros del valle. 
 
 9. Responden a mil. 9. Retumban a mi. 
 10. Ay. 10. Aai 
 
 19. se imprime. 12. s'imprime 
 
 13. Dc oir. 13. d' oir. 
 
 I I. ! ahlando. 1 4. t' ablando.
 
 270 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 LXXV. Horas breves de meu contentamento. 
 
 Camoens. 
 Line 12. Eu o quiz, pois o quiz minha ventura 
 
 1 3. Que gemendo. e chorando conhecece 
 
 14. Quam fugitivo elle he, quam pouco dura. 
 
 Bernardes. 
 Line 1 2. Mas des que dentro n'alma reina, 
 
 13. Como na minha fez, quer que se veja, 
 
 14. Quao fugitivo he, quao pouco dura. 
 
 Amongst the writers of Cancons, Italy has 
 to boast of Petrarch, and Spain has reason to 
 be proud of Garcilaso de la Vega ; but the 
 admirers of Camoens, and persons qualified to 
 appreciate his abilities, however they are in- 
 clined to admit the excellence of these poets in 
 the composition of this species of poem, claim 
 for the Portuguese bard the superiority. They 
 acknowledge that Camoens shews in his Can- 
 cons how deeply he had dived into Petrarchal 
 poesy, and availed himself of the ease and ele- 
 gance observable in the works of the Italian 
 poet, yet they at the same time, assert, that in 
 boldness of thought and faithful representation, 
 he is entitled to higher praise. His descrip- 
 tions so completely carry with them the charac-
 
 OF CAMOENS. 271 
 
 ter of truth, as to vouch for their accuracy. 
 Of this describing talent the reader has had an 
 
 opportunity of forming his own judgment in 
 the extracts which have been given in the Life. 
 In the Cancon which commences with 
 
 Junto df hum secoo, duru, esteril monte, 
 
 which is said by Faria e Sousa to have been 
 the best production of the kind, that had ap- 
 peared at his day in any language, this talent is 
 allowed to be especially evinced. 
 The 
 
 Vinde ca raeu ta certo Sccretario, 
 
 wherein many of the occurrences of his eventful 
 life are detailed, and another beginning with 
 
 Com forija (UfMiN.ida. 
 
 in which the Island of Ternatc is described, 
 more particularly engage the attention. 
 
 Some of the others are also worthy of notice, 
 and amongst them, that which is generally
 
 272 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 placed as the first. The first four lines of this - 
 cancon, which is chiefly dedicated to a descrip- 
 tion of female charms, are very beautiful : 
 
 Formosa, e gentil Dama, quando vejo 
 A testa de ouro e neve, o lindo aspeito, 
 
 A boca graciosa, o riso honesto, 
 O collo de crystal, o brando peito. 
 
 In another he pleasingly ushers in a spring 
 morning, to which he compares the object of 
 his attachment : 
 
 Ja' a roxa manhaa clara 
 
 As portas do Oriente vinha abrindo, 
 
 Dos montes descobrindo 
 
 A negra escuridao da luz avara. 
 
 Da sua alegre vista saudoso, 
 
 Traz ella presuroso 
 
 Nos cavallos cansados do trabalho, 
 
 Que respiram nas hervas fresco orvalho, 
 
 Se estende claro, alegre, e luminoso, 
 
 Os passaros voando 
 
 De raminho em raminho va5 saltando ; 
 
 E com suave, e doce melodia 
 
 O claro dia estao manifestando, &c. 
 
 The Cancons are succeeded by the Odes, in 
 commenting on which Faria e Souza feels
 
 OF CAMOENS. 273 
 
 inclined to include them in the praise bestowed 
 by Surrupita upon the Cancons. It is not pre- 
 tended that in them are to be found that fire 
 which is displayed in the similar compositions 
 of Pindar, or the energy which characterises 
 most of those by Horace ; yet it may be re- 
 marked, that several of those happy touches 
 which we admire in the Roman bard are to be 
 met with, and that the romantic poetry of the 
 Troubadours is improved upo.i by the classical 
 taste of Camoens.* With the exception of 
 two, the one addressed to D. Francisco Cou- 
 tinho, Conde tie Kedondo, and Viceroy of In- 
 dia ; and the other to I). Manoel de Portugal, 
 which has already been noticed ; the Odes of 
 Camoens are mythological, or the effusions of 
 love. The first is dedicated to the moon, and 
 is said to have been written at Cintra, whose 
 towering summit is called the Mountain of the 
 Moon. In it the blending of the old Provencal 
 poetry with the more refined taste of C'amoen* 
 is very apparent ; the commencement is accord- 
 ing to the strict rules of poetry, whilst the con- 
 
 D. J. M. dt- Soma, Villa da Porta. 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274; ON THE RIMAS 
 
 elusion appertains to the romance style. The 
 invocation is as follows : 
 
 Detem hum pouco, Musa, o largo pranto 
 Que amor te abre do peito ; 
 E vestida de rico, e ledo manto, 
 Demos honra, e respeito, 
 A'quella, cujo objeito 
 Todo o Mundo allumia, 
 Trocando a noite escura em clara dia. 
 
 O' Delia, que a pezar de nevoa grossa, 
 Co' os teus raios de prata, 
 A' noite escura fazes que nao possa 
 . , . . Encontrar o que trata, 
 
 Tu, que de formossisimas estrellas 
 Coroas, e rodeas 
 
 Tua Candida fronte, e faces bellas ; 
 E os campos formoseas 
 Co' as rosas que semeas, 
 Co' as boninas que gera 
 O teu celeste humor na Primavera : &c. 
 
 The ode ends : 
 
 Secreta noite amiga, a que obedeco ; 
 Estas rosas (por quanto 
 Meus queixumes me ouviste) te offereco; 
 E este fresco amaranto,
 
 OF CAMOENS. 275 
 
 Humido inda do pranto, 
 
 lagrimas da esposa 
 
 Do cioso lit.u"., branca, e formosa. 
 
 In one of his odes : 
 
 Fogem as nevas frias, &c. 
 
 he describes the beginning of Spring, then 
 the Summer, the Autumn, and the Winter, 
 and as these seasons successively pass, the 
 one following the other, he draws a moral from 
 this constant change, as to the short span of 
 human life, and the prosperity of the world. 
 This piece is a close imitation, and in some 
 passages a translation of the seventh ode of the 
 fourth book of Horace. 
 Another commencing 
 
 Ja a calm a not dciiou 
 
 Sctn (lores as ribciras deleitosa* ; 
 
 is written on the same subject, the latter, how- 
 ever, beginning with the appearance of Winter 
 instead of Spring. As the ode immediately in 
 imitation of that of Horace is much esteemed, 
 T l l
 
 276 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 and as the life does not afford any specimen of 
 the poet's abilities in this description of verse, 
 it is here presented. 
 
 Fogem as neves frias 
 Dos altos montes quando reverdecem 
 As arvores sombrias; 
 As verdes hervas crecem, 
 E o prado ameno de mil cores teeem. 
 
 Zephyro brando cspira ; 
 Suas settas amor affia agora ; 
 Progne triste suspira, 
 E Philomela chora ; 
 O Ceo da fresca terra se namora. 
 
 Ja a linda Cytherea 
 Vem, do coro das Nymphas rodeada ; 
 A branca Pasitea 
 Despida, e delicada, 
 Com as duas irmaas acompanhada. 
 
 Em quanto as officinas 
 Dos Cyclopas Vulcano esta queimaudo, 
 Vao colhendo boninas 
 As Nymphas, e cantando ; 
 A terra co' o ligeiro pe tocando. 
 
 Desce do aspero monte 
 Diana, ja cansada da espessura, 
 Buscando a clara f'onte, 
 Onde por sorte dura 
 Perdeo Acteo a natural iigura.
 
 OF CAMOENS. 277 
 
 Asm kc vai passando 
 A yerdc Primavera, c seceo Estin . 
 O Outono vein entrando ; 
 E logo o Inverno frio, 
 Que taml>em passara por ccrto flo. 
 
 Ir-sc-ha einbranquecendo 
 Com a frigida neve o secco monte ; 
 E Jupiter chovendo 
 Turbarii a clara fontc, 
 Tcmera o marinhciro a Oriotrtp. 
 
 Porque, em fim, tudo pavsa ; 
 Nao sabe o tempo ter firmcza em nada 
 E a nossa vida escasaa 
 Fogc taT) aprewada, 
 Que quando se cornea he acal>ada. 
 
 Que se fet dos Troianos 
 Hcitor tcmido, Eneas piedoso - 
 Consumiram-tc os anos, 
 O' Cresso tao famoso, 
 Sem te valcr teu ouro precioso. 
 
 Todo o contentamento 
 Crias que estava em ter thesoum tifano ' 
 Oh falso pensamento. 
 Que a custa de teu dano 
 Do Sabio Solon create o desengano * 
 
 O bem que aqui se alcanna, 
 Nao dura por possante, ntm i>ur forte 
 Que a litinnciiiiir.iii, i 
 Duravel, de outra sorto 
 Se ha de .1 lea in, a r na vida para a inorte 
 T 3
 
 278 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Porque, em fim, nada basta 
 Contra o terrivel fim da noite eterna ; , 
 
 Nem pode a deosa casta 
 Tornar a luz superna 
 Hippolyto da escura sombra avema. 
 
 Nem Theseo esfonjado, 
 Ou com manha, ou com fonja valerosa, 
 Livrar pode o ousado 
 Perithoo da espantosa 
 Prisao Lethea escura, e tenebrosa. 
 
 The Sextinas follow the Odes. This singu- 
 lar species of poem, which owes its origin to 
 the Troubadours, and has exercised the skill of 
 various poets, is extremely difficult in its con- 
 struction. Faria e Sousa has thus defined the 
 rules requisite to be strictly attended to in the 
 formation of a regular sextina. The poem 
 must contain six lines in each stanza, and con- 
 sist of six stanzas, and three verses or lines for 
 the conclusion; in which as well as in the five 
 stanzas which precede it, must be repeated the 
 six words, with which the lines in the first 
 stanza conclude : amongst these there should 
 be neither consonante nor asonante* nor should 
 
 * Of these terminations of the Spanish verses, the curiou
 
 OF CAMOENS. 279 
 
 any of these words have more or less than 
 two syllables. After the first stanza 1ms Ixen 
 written, the second must be thus organis- 
 ed. The first line of the second stanza must 
 close with the same word with which the last 
 line of the first stanza was finished; the second 
 line of the second stanza must have the same 
 word at the end as the first line of the first 
 stanza; the third of the second stanza must 
 agree with the fifth of the first; the fourth of 
 the second with the second of the first ; the 
 fifth of the second with the fourth of the first ; 
 and the sixth of the second .with the third of 
 the first. The same order must be pursued as 
 to each succeeding stanza, referring to that 
 which has immediately preceded it ; and in 
 the concluding three lines the six final words 
 must also appear, two in each line, following 
 with respect to them the same sort of reference 
 as the sixth stanza has to the fifth ; so that 
 three of the terminating words will fall at tin- 
 end of the three lines, and the other three will 
 
 router nmy find tonra nrrount in the Appendix No. in. to 
 Lord IlolUmi'- Life of !^>|>c dc Ye^a. I'.dition of IM". 
 T r
 
 280 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 be found in the verses, in the order which has 
 been directed throughout the foregoing regu- 
 lations.* 
 
 Dom Joze Maria de Souza writes, that in 
 the composition of this difficult poem, Camoens 
 has not more shewn the flexibility of his genius, 
 than proven that there was not any species 
 of verse in which he could not excel. In illus- 
 tration of the rules laid down for the order 
 of the sextina, the first of Camoens is given. 
 In this the poet has closely followed the general 
 precepts, which are not regarded by him with 
 respect to the otbers, and which indeed have 
 been frequently departed from. There are some 
 also who have written poems of twelve stanzas 
 subject to similar rules, an example of which 
 may be seen in the works of Petrarch, and va- 
 rious other alterations have been made, accord- 
 ing to the caprice of the several persons who 
 have either amused themselves or taxed their 
 genius in producing such compositions. 
 
 Foge-me pouco a pouco a curta vida, 
 Se por caso he verdade que inda vivo. 
 
 * Commentaries on the Rimas.
 
 OF CAMOF.NS. 281 
 
 Vai-*e-me o breve tempo d'ante on olhos ; 
 Churo por o passado ; c em quanto fallo 
 Se me passam os dias passo a passo. 
 Vai-se-me, em fim, a idadc, e tica a pena. 
 
 Que maneira tao aspera de pena ! 
 Pois nunca hum'hora vio tan longa vida, 
 Em f|ue do inal, mover se visse hum passo. 
 Que main me monta ser motto que vivo ? 
 Para que choro, cm fim ? para que fallo, 
 Sc lograr-me uao pude de meus olhos ? 
 
 Oh formosos, gentis, e daros olhos, 
 Cuja ausenria me move a tanta |>ena, 
 Quanta renao romprende em quanto fallo ! 
 Se no fun dc ta> longa, e curta vida, 
 De vos ms in Rani masse in da o raio vivo, 
 Por hem teria todo o mat que passo. 
 
 Mas bctr. soi que primeiro o extreme passo 
 Me ha de vir a cerrnr os tristcs olhos. 
 Que amor me un.stre oquelles por quern vivo. 
 Testimunhas serao a tinta, e peiina. 
 Que escreveram de ta<> molest* vida 
 O menos que passe i, e o mais que fallo. 
 
 Oh ijiie nan sei que etcrevo, nun que fallo! 
 Pois se de hum pensamento cm outro passo, 
 Vejo tan triste genero de vida, 
 Que se the na<> valerem tantos olhos, 
 Na" posMi imaginar qua) seja a penna 
 Que esta pena traslade com que vivo. 
 
 Xa alma tenho contino bum fogn vivo, 
 tine seua i respirasse no que fallo, 
 Kstaria ja feiU eima a pernio.
 
 282 ON THE RIM AS 
 
 Mas sobre a maior dor que soffro, e passo, 
 O temperam com lagrimas os olhos, 
 Com que, se foge, nao se acr.ba a vida. 
 
 Morrendo estou na vida, e em morte vivo ; 
 Vejo sem olhos, e sem lingua fallo ; 
 E juntamente passo gloria, e pena. 
 
 In the Elegies are detailed many of the 
 striking scenes which chequered the life of Ca- 
 raoens ; and advantage has been taken of those 
 parts which were immediately connected with 
 the preceding memoir, and serviceable in mak- 
 ing the poet his own biographer. On a pe- 
 rusal of the extracts, which have been there 
 given, the truth of the remark will probably be 
 acknowledged, that the elegies, partaking too 
 much of the epistolary character, are thereby 
 divested, in some measure, of that poetical 
 interest which they would otherwise claim. Ad- 
 mitting the justness of this observation, and 
 also that Camoens did not in their composition 
 pay regard to the rules which guided the an- 
 cient poets in the fabrication of this poem ; we, 
 however, recognise many passages where the 
 sentiments and style, on some occasions impas- 
 sioned, and on others melancholy, are truly ele-
 
 OF CAMOF.NS. 283 
 
 giack ; and when these favourable circumstances 
 are coupled with the emotions we experience 
 from the narratives of his many and severe mis- 
 fortunes and disappointments which are here 
 brought home to our feelings, the places allud- 
 ed to in which prosaic passages may be found, 
 will be readily overlooked and excused. 
 
 The Estancias, the principal of which are 
 poetical epistles, are next in succession amongst 
 the works of Camoens ; and in the most ap- 
 proved of them we find the genuine and loyal 
 feelings of the poet fully pourtrayed. Of the 
 Estancias, two are most celebrated. Of the 
 first, addressed to Dom Antonio de Noronha, 
 and written on the " Desconcerto do Mundo," 
 Dom Joze Maria de Souza thus writes: " I 
 " am of opinion that it was composed in Africa. 
 " In it, pointing out to his friend the ' descon- 
 " certos' (irregularities) of the world, be shews 
 " how much his noble soul was grieved by the 
 " immorality with which it abounded. So young 
 " as he was, how worthy of praise is that just 
 
 sentiment of virtue, with which he censures 
 " the vices of the court and of the age; arid 
 " how amiable is that feeling with which he
 
 284 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 " explains to his friend his wish to live in 
 " retirement with him, and there to cultivate 
 " literature!" 
 
 The second, written to Dom Constantino de 
 Braganza, in imitation of the epistle of Horace 
 to Augustus, has been fully alluded to in the 
 life of Camoens.* 
 
 Amongst the others we have glosas of two 
 of his sonnets, an epistle to a Lady, a poem 
 on an arrow sent by the Pope to D. Sebas- 
 tian, in the year 1575, and lines addressed to 
 Santa Ursula. The last is disputed to be the 
 production of Camoens, and is very general- 
 ly supposed not to belong to him. It is also 
 found amongst the works of Bernardes. 
 
 The diligence of Surrupita enabled him to 
 bring to light eight Eclogues of Camoens. To 
 these, Faria e Sousa, his unwearied commenta- 
 tor, added seven, five of which he asserts had 
 been usurped by Diogo Bernardes. As the 
 Commentaries of Faria e Sousa were only pub- 
 lished down to the conclusion of the eighth 
 Eclogue, the editor of the " Obras," printed in 
 1779 80, was induced to have recourse to the 
 
 * Page 159, &c.
 
 OF CAMOENS. 285 
 
 original manuscript, which produced the dis- 
 covery mentioned at page 362 of the second 
 volume of this Work. This editor, therefore, 
 boasts of having, by this edition, restored to 
 their author those five poems, and of having 
 published two others which had never before 
 appeared. 
 
 Dom Joze Maria de Sou/a questions the ar- 
 guments adduced by Faria e Soma, in his 
 endeavour to prove this usurpation by Ber- 
 nardes ; and writes, that with the exception of 
 the Piscatory Eclogue, intituled " A Lilia," 
 of which the style is after the manner of Ca- 
 nioens, he is inclined to think the poems apper- 
 tain to Bernardes. 
 
 The Eclogues of Camoens, from their num- 
 ber and length, form an important portion of 
 his works; and although they are much esteem- 
 ed in Portugal as possessing more dignity in 
 their composition, yet they are considered as 
 not displaying equal ingenuity and simplicity 
 with those of Sa de Miranda. It is not intended, 
 in suiting this opinion, to convey any censure 
 on the Eclogues of Camoens ; it would indeed 
 be unjust so to do ; for whilst some of them,
 
 286 ON THE RiMAS 
 
 where he has adopted the style of the ancients, 
 bear similitude to the Bucolicks of Virgil, 
 others, and more particularly the Piscatory 
 pieces, in which the Italian authors have been 
 followed, are distinguished for great poetical 
 merit. 
 
 Dom Joze Maria de Souza observes, that the 
 reader should be apprised, that in some of them 
 their author has, under the assumed character 
 of a shepherd, related many of the incidents of 
 his life, and various facts respecting persons 
 well known at the time. 
 
 In the first Eclogue, wherein he laments the 
 deaths of his friend Dom Antonio de Noronha, 
 and of the Prince Dom Ioao, Camoens seizes 
 the opportunity, amidst the grief with which he 
 paints the loss sustained by the nation in their 
 premature decease, to proclaim that patriotism 
 and love of his country which were ever pre- 
 dominant in his heart. This poem, which is 
 too long for insertion, is allowed to possess 
 much beauty, as well in its style as in the sen- 
 timents contained in it, and to exhibit great 
 skill and genius, especially in the funereal 
 chaunts. The dialogue is carried on between
 
 OF CAMOEN8. 287 
 
 Umbrano and Frondelio, two shepherds, and 
 Aonia, under which name is represented Jo- 
 anna of Austria, the wife of the deceased prince, 
 whose feeling expressions of sorrow, in Spanish, 
 on the death of her husband, close the poem. 
 
 Camoens had written two other Eclogues to 
 D. Antonio de Noronha, the one commencing 
 " As doces Cantilenas, que cantavao," which 
 is said to have been composed in the beginning 
 of the year 15.53, and the " A quern darei 
 " queixumes namoradas." 
 
 " A rustics contenda desusada," &c. was 
 addressed to the Duke of Aveiro, D. Ioao de 
 Leucastro, the grandson of Ioao II, the patron 
 and friend of men of genius, and himself a poet. 
 
 The last, on the death of D. Catharina de 
 Atayde, asks for our particular attention. In 
 it Camoens transports his grief to us, and 
 makes us participate in the affliction which the 
 event caused him. 
 
 Having thus traced Camoens through the 
 various species of verses, in which he had 
 carefully studied and followed the Italian style, 
 we come now to those writings which have 
 descended to us under the name of Kedon-
 
 288 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 dilhas, comprising a great variety of pieces, 
 constructed in the old Portuguese measures. 
 In these latter we see, that strongly as he felt 
 the desire to ameliorate the language, and en- 
 rich the poetry of Portugal by the use of the 
 Italian metres, he was not unmindful of the na- 
 tional poems of his country. 
 
 In the Life of Camoens notices and extracts 
 respecting some of them have appeared, and 
 more particularly as ;o the " Disparates na In- 
 dia," and the paraphrase of the 137th Psalm, 
 which is dwelt upon with admiration by his 
 countrymen. The r.sdondilhas, which com- 
 mence with this paraphrase, consist of a num- 
 ber of minor poems, wherein is frequently dis- 
 played a singularity of conformation requiring 
 considerable ingenuity, together with a softness 
 and grace of expression. In this Redondil- 
 han measure, we find Trovas and Epistles or 
 Addresses to ladies, officers, and the friends of 
 the poet ; Cantigas, or Songs ; many Voltas, or 
 Glosses on motes or texts which had either been 
 proposed to him, or had originated with him- 
 self; the lines written for the entertainment he 
 gave in India, referred to in the memoirs, and
 
 OF CAMOEN6. 289 
 
 many others, as well in Portuguese as in Spa- 
 nish. Nor ought we, in observing upon these 
 little sports of his genius, to pass unnoticed a 
 poetical A. B. C. which appears amongst them. 
 The following specimens will convey to the 
 reader an idea of these Redondilhas: 
 
 A HOMA Dama, git Jl'RAVA it. l.<>s sil's OLHOfc.* 
 
 Quandu me quer cnganar, 
 A minha bella porjura. 
 Para mais me confirmar 
 O <|iic quer ccrtificar, 
 Polos hui olliii" me jura. 
 Como meu contentamento 
 Todo *e rege por elles, 
 Imagina o pensamento. 
 Que se fax aggravo a elles, 
 Nao crer tao grao juramenta 
 
 Porem como em casos taei 
 Ando jd visto, e corrente, 
 Sem outros certos signaes, 
 Quanto me clla jura maes, 
 Tanto mais cuido que mentc. 
 Entao vendo-lhe offender 
 Huns taes olhos como aqtiellev 
 Deixo-me antes tudo crer, 
 
 To a Lady, who twore by her ye*. 
 VOL. I. V
 
 290 
 
 ON THE RIMAfJ 
 
 So pela nao constranger 
 A jurar falso por elles. 
 
 Ekdechas a Barbara scjlava. 
 
 Aquella captiva, 
 Que me tern captivo, 
 Porque nella vivo, 
 Ja nao quer que viva. 
 Eu nunqua vi rosa 
 Em suaves molhos, 
 Que para meus olhos 
 Fosse mais formosa. 
 
 Nem no campo flores, 
 Nem no ceo estrellas, 
 Me parecem Delias, 
 Como os meus amores. 
 Rosto singular, 
 Olhos socegados, 
 Pretos, e cansados, 
 Mas nao de matar. 
 
 Huma gra$a viva, 
 Que nelles lhe mora, 
 Para ser senhora 
 De quern he captiva. 
 Pretos os cabellos, 
 Onde o povo vao, 
 Perde opiniao, 
 Que os louros sao belles. 
 
 Pretidao de amor. 
 Tad doce a figura, 
 Que a neve lhe jura 
 Que trocar a a cor, 
 Leda mansidao, 
 Que o siso acompanha : 
 Bern parece estranha, 
 Mas Barbara nao. 
 
 PifsencH serena, 
 Que a tormenta amansa : 
 Nella em fim descansa 
 Toda minha pena. 
 Esta he a captiva, 
 Que me tem captivo ; 
 E pois nella vivo, 
 He forca que viva.
 
 OF CAMOENS. 291 
 
 Cantioa. 
 
 Na fonte est4 Leonor, 
 I. iv.iiiiln a tiilh.i. e chorando. 
 A's amigas perguntando : 
 Visits la o meu amor ? 
 
 VoLTA*. 
 
 Potto o pensamento nelle, 
 
 Porque a tudo o amor a obriga, 
 
 Cantava, mas a cantiga 
 
 Eram suspiros por elle. 
 
 Nisto estava Leonor 
 
 O sen descjo cnganando. 
 
 A's amigas perguntando . 
 
 Visu i l.i o meu Amor ? 
 O rosto sobre hum* man, 
 
 Os olhos no chan pregados. 
 Que do chorar ja cansados, 
 Algum descanso lhc dao. 
 Desta sorte Lconor 
 Suspende de quando cm quando 
 Sua dor ; e em i tornando, 
 Mais pciada sente a dor. 
 
 Nan dcita dos olhos agoa. 
 Que nao quer que a dor sc abrande 
 Amor, porque cm magoa grand*- 
 Secca as lagrimas a magna. 
 Que despois de seu amor 
 Soubc novas perguntando. 
 U 2
 
 292 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 D'improviso a vi chorando 
 Olhai que extremos de dor ? 
 
 Mote Alheo. 
 
 Campos bemaventurados, 
 Tornai-vos agora tristes ; 
 Que os dias, em que me vistes, 
 Alegres ja sao passados. 
 
 Glosa. 
 
 Campos cheos de prazer, 
 Vos que estais reverdecendo, 
 Ja me alegrei com vos ver, 
 Agora venho a temer, 
 Que entristeais em me vendo. 
 E pois a vista alegrais 
 Dos olhos desesperados, 
 Nao quero que me vejais, 
 Para que sempre sejais 
 Campos bemnventurados. 
 
 Porem se por accidente 
 Vos pezar de meu tormento, 
 Sabereis que amor coiisente, 
 Que tudo me descontente, 
 Senao descontentamento. 
 Por isso vos, arvoredos, 
 Que ja nos meus olhos vistes 
 Mais alegria, que medos,
 
 OF CAMOENS. 293 
 
 Se mos querei* fazer ledov 
 Tornai-vot agora tristes. 
 
 Ja me vistes ledo ser, 
 Mas despois que o falso amor 
 Tan triste me fez viver, 
 Ledoi folgo de vos yct, 
 Porque me dobreis a dor. 
 E se este go*to sobejo 
 De mini). i dor me sentistes, 
 Julgni quanto mais desejo 
 As horas que vos nao vejo, 
 Que os dias, em que me vistes. 
 
 O tempo, que he ilesiguaL, 
 De seccos, verdes vos tem ; 
 Porque em vo&so natural, 
 Se muda o mal para o beat, 
 Mas o men para trior mal. 
 Se pvrguntais, verdes prados, 
 Pelos tempos diflferente* 
 Que de amor me Coram dados 
 Tristes, aqui sao presentes, 
 AUgresja $ao patsatios. 
 
 Vos teniis mi cora^ov. 
 
 Mi cora^on me ha robado ; 
 Y amor ricndo mis enojos. 
 Me dixo, fuete llevado 
 Por los mas hermom ojos, 
 3 I'
 
 294 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Que desque vivo he mirado. 
 Gracias sobrenaturales 
 Te lo tienen en prision ; 
 Y si amor tiene razon, 
 Senora, por las senales 
 Vbs tenets mi coraqon. 
 
 Only two entire letters of Camoens have 
 been preserved. Of the first, as in it were 
 given the poet's feelings on his quitting his 
 native country, and notices as to the state of 
 India on his arrival, an abridgment forms 
 part of the account of his life. The second is 
 a composition in prose and verse ; and, refer- 
 ing more particularly to things then known, 
 but of which we are now ignorant, is little un- 
 derstood at this day. In it, however, Dom 
 Joze Maria de Souza writes, we find imprinted 
 the character of Camoens. 
 
 The dramatic pieces of Camoens were either 
 written in his youth, or to relieve a mind se- 
 verely exercised by study and disappointment : 
 these, therefore, composed under such circum- 
 stances, and without pretension to excellence, 
 rather deprecate than invite the severity of 
 criticism. Their author, however well ac- 
 quainted he might have been with the Trage-
 
 OF CAMOEN*. 295 
 
 dies and Comedies of the Ancients, and with 
 the rules by which their productions were re- 
 gulated, followed, in his Comedies, the style 
 peculiar to his own country, and to the age in 
 which he lived; but whilst he thus pursued the 
 steps, he at the same time improved the man- 
 ner of his predecessors, by copiousness of dic- 
 tion and a better arrangement. 
 
 The master of Camoens in dramatic wri- 
 ting was Gil Vicente. Gil Vicente, the place 
 of whose birth, and the period at which 
 that event took place, are alike unknown, 
 was intended for a lawyer, and studied at 
 the University of Lisbon to qualify himself 
 for that profession ; yet, although the acute- 
 ness of his understanding might have en- 
 sured his arrival at the highest honours, his 
 genius, naturally lively and facetious, inclined 
 him to poetry, and he preferred the commerce 
 of the muse to legal fame. He composed va- 
 rious works, following in them the style of 
 Plautus ; and, displaying a maturity of judg- 
 ment accompanied by great novelty oi ideas, 
 he became the decided favourite of the court : 
 his productions l>eing repeatedly performed in 
 i I
 
 296 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 the. theatre of the palace, before the Kings Dom 
 Manoel and load III. and the Princes D. 
 Luiz, D. Affonso, and D. Henrique. The ap- 
 probation of these royal patrons is represented 
 by Machado to have been secured by the acute- 
 ness with which, by jocose phrases and the 
 introduction of rustic personages, he severely 
 censured vice and induced a predilection for 
 virtue ; an expedient afterwards adopted in 
 Spain by Lope de Vega and D. Francisco de 
 Quevedo. 
 
 The fame of Gil Vicente was not confined to 
 Portugal and Spain, it spread rapidly through- 
 out civilized Europe. Erasmus is reported to 
 have studied Portuguese for the purpose of 
 being able to read his works in their original 
 language, and to have expressed himself highly 
 gratified by their perusal. Full of honours, 
 having been named the Portuguese Plautus, 
 and greatly lamented, he died at Evora, to 
 which place he had accompanied the court in 
 1557, and was buried in the Convent of St 
 Francisco. He had been sometime married, 
 and left three children. His daughter Paula, 
 herself an author, was a distinguished "actress
 
 OF CAMOEN8. 297 
 
 of her father's Comedies ; his son Luiz, five years 
 after the death of Gil, published his works;* 
 and his other son, who bore hi* father** name, 
 was killed, whilst valiantly fighting in India. 
 Concerning this latter, a cloud obscures the 
 fame of Gil Vicente: the son, having evinced 
 talents superior to those of the father, and which 
 are stated to have been more particularly dis- 
 played in an Auto called " D. Luiz de los 
 Turcos," that he might not interfere with his 
 genius, was dispatched to India, where he fell, 
 not more remarkable for his prowess with the 
 sword than for his skill with the pen. The 
 Prince de Luiz, Antonio Pires Gonge, Antonio 
 Prestes, and others, were indeed distinguished 
 for their Autos; but the productions of Gil 
 Vicente have been always allowed to be far 
 superior to any of their compositions. 
 
 ('t)ni|iil;i<,:i ' de todas las obras de (iil Vicente a ijn.il se 
 repartc em tinco Uvroa. O primeiro ho dc tod. is --lias rouu 
 <!c devo^nm. () tcgundo as Comedi.iv () terceiro % Tragi- 
 comcdus. O quarto a Farsas. No quinto a* obrai mcudaa, 
 Lisboa por Joa > Mere*, 1562, folio, and a^ain in a more 
 correct edition by Andre I.obato. 1586, 4 to. Both thee 
 edition* are of die utmost and most peculiar rarity.
 
 298 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 It will be supposed, from what has been 
 said respecting the Comedies of Camoens, that 
 the expression : 
 
 Quod Muo sublimi, quod suavi Pindarus, alto 
 Quod Sophocles, tristi Naso quod ore canit j 
 
 in the epitaph written by Fr. Luis de Sousa, is 
 not applicable to the Portuguese poet ; as, how- 
 ever, these pieces make us acquainted with the 
 taste of the times, in which he shone, we have 
 no reason to regret their preservation. M. 
 Bouterwek* observes, that they belong more 
 peculiarly to the age of Camoens than to him- 
 self; but he adds, had the genius which 
 breathes in the Lusiad taken a dramatic turn, 
 Camoens would have become a Portuguese 
 Calderon before Lope de Vega had appeared 
 in Spain. 
 
 The first production may with great pro- 
 priety be denominated a Farce rather than a 
 Comedy, and Camoens has, in it, more than in 
 the others, followed the old Portuguese writers. 
 
 * Geschiehte de Poetic Tom. iv. Goti.in<ren. 1805.
 
 OF CAMOENS. 299 
 
 The story is that of Seleucua 1, who, having in 
 his old age married Stratonice, a young bride, 
 resigned her to his son Antioehus to prevent 
 his death in consequence of the love he had 
 conceived for his Btep-mother the queen. It is 
 quite evident that the author had no intention 
 of giving to this drama any other eharaeter 
 than that of a farce. The dialogue is lively, 
 frequently witty ; and the verses, which are in 
 the Kedondilhan measure, are not devoid of 
 elegance. 
 
 The Comedy is commenced by a comic prologue 
 or prelude, performed by the manager of the 
 theatre and his boy, and a personage of rank, who 
 attends as a spectator, accompanied by his squire ; 
 the manager's boy being the Graeioso of the piece, 
 whose jests and merriment may yet serve, says M. 
 Bouterwek, to keep in memory that species of popu- 
 lar wit, which was then in use among the common 
 people of Lisbon. The historical matter is managed 
 according to the forms of romance. 
 
 The Dramatis Persona? are as follows. In tin- 
 interlude : 
 
 O Mohdomo, or Manager. 
 Mahiin CiiiKcoaao, the pecUitor.
 
 300 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Ambrosio, the Squire of Chincerro. 
 Lancarote, the Manager's Servant. 
 
 In the Comedy : 
 
 El Rei Seleuco. 
 
 A Reina Estratonica. 
 
 O Principe Antiocho. 
 
 Leocadio, Page to Antiochus. 
 
 Frolalta, Servant to the Queen. 
 
 The Chamberlain. 
 
 A Chambermaid. 
 
 A Physician. 
 
 Sancho, the Physician's Boy. 
 
 Alexandre da Fonseca, a Musician. 
 
 The prologue occupies nearly ten octavo pages, 
 after which the Comedy begins with the entrance 
 of the King and Queen, who hold a conference on 
 the distressing situation of the Prince ; the King 
 commencing the dialogue with his regrets, that 
 whilst the Queen was so beautiful, he himself was 
 so old. The Prince shortly afterwards arrives on 
 the stage with Leocadio, to whom he speaks of his 
 passion, but conceals the name of its object. A 
 short scene now follows between the Prince and
 
 OF CAMOEN8. 301 
 
 King, which closes with the latter recommending 
 the attendance of his Physician. They retire, and 
 a Chambermaid enters and makes a bed for the 
 Prince : her soliloquy is interrupted by the Cham- 
 berlain, who comes disguised in a long cloak, and 
 is in love with her, which gives rise to an amusing 
 interlude, arrested only by the arrival of the Prince. 
 The Prince, after sighing out his grief in several 
 lines, desires his Page to call his father's musicians, 
 who enter accordingly, and Alexandre da Fonseca 
 for some time carries on a conversation with the 
 Page and Chamberlain respecting the condition of 
 the Prince. The Chamberlain is ordered to sing 
 some doleful song appropriate to the sorrow in 
 which his master is enveloped. This mandate is 
 obeyed, and the Prince sleeps, on which they retire. 
 The Queen and her Maid now enter; the former 
 learns, in consequence of her inquiries, that the 
 Prince's life is in danger, and that in the midst of 
 his grief he had let fall a paper, which she receives 
 from the Maid, and by which she is advised of the 
 Prince's feelings towards her. The Physician and 
 his Servant, who, to afFord novelty to the piece, 
 are represented as Spaniards, and who converse in 
 Spanish, are now produced ; the Servant being of 
 that comic description so often represented on the 
 Spanish stage. The Prince awakes, and after a
 
 302 ON THE R1MAS 
 
 soliloquy, wherein he relates the appearance of 
 Stratonice to him in a dream, he is accosted by his 
 father and the Physician. The King orders the 
 Physician to endeavour to discover the malady of 
 his son, which he does by a speech of the Prince on 
 the entry of the Queen. The Physician has now 
 rather a difficult part to play, and is obliged to have 
 recourse to an odd expedient to reveal to Seleucus 
 the real disorder of Antiochus. To the King's en- 
 quiries he is at first averse to give any reply, and 
 excuses himself by observing, that he would rather 
 he had not understood the cause: he at length says, 
 that although it is to his own dishonour to state it, 
 the Prince is in love with his the Physician's wife. 
 His majesty does not anticipate any refusal on the 
 part of the Physician to a proposition to give her up 
 for a remuneration by honors and riches ; and urges 
 that Antiochus is the sole heir to the kingdom, and 
 for his safety the sacrifice must be made. Having 
 prepared the King by continuing this argument at 
 some length, he discovers to him that it is his Ma- 
 jesty's new bride that has been the cause of the 
 Prince's illness. The King, Prince, and the Physi- 
 cian retire, the former expressing his determination 
 that the cure shall be granted : this resolution gives 
 rise to a dialogue between the Chamberlain and the 
 Page, wherein the affection of the former for the
 
 OK CAMOENS. 303 
 
 Maid is alluded to. The next is thg closing scene, 
 wherein the King transfers his Queen to Antiochus. 
 
 In " Os Amphitrioes," a piece of five acts, 
 which follows the " El Rei Seleuco," Camoens 
 has pursued another style of composition, and 
 has produced a regular comedy, in which he 
 has worked up, in a more free manner, the 
 materials employed by Plautus in his Comedy 
 on the same subject. The Portuguese} as it 
 seems, felt little inclination for this union be- 
 tween their national drama and that of the 
 Ancients; and, the authors yielding to the pub- 
 lic taste, that amelioration of this species of 
 writing was prevented, which otherwise would 
 probably hnve been the result, had this Co- 
 medy of Camoens succeeded, to which new 
 mode it might have afforded a foundation or 
 era. M. Bouterwek thus describes the Amphi- 
 trioes of Camoens : " The whole fable is mo- 
 dernised without weakening the effect of the 
 situations. Jupiter must indeed remain the 
 same personage ; but Mercury, who accompa- 
 nies his disguised master, becomes a complete 
 Portuguese Servant. Amphitrio represents a 
 Captain of a Vessel according to the Portuguese
 
 304- ON THE RIMAS 
 
 idea of that character. Sosia, his attendant, 
 is converted into a smart Gracioso, who speaks 
 Spanish. The burlesque scenes in which Sosia 
 figures, are heightened by the circumstance of 
 Mercury, whose dialect is Portuguese, endea- 
 vouring to speak Spanish, when he plays the 
 part of Sosia."* 
 
 Of the third piece, called Filodemo, we have 
 the argument in the edition of the Obras de 
 Camoens, published at Lisbon in 1782 3. 
 
 The characters are : 
 
 Filodemo. 
 
 Vilardo, his Servant. 
 
 Dionysa. 
 
 Solina, her Servant. 
 
 Venadoro. 
 
 monteiro. 
 
 Doriano, a Shepherd, the Friend of Filodemo. 
 
 A Bobo, or Buffoon, Son of the Shepherd. 
 
 Florimena, a Shepherdess. 
 
 Dom Lusidardo, the Father of Venadoro. 
 
 Three Shepherds, who dance. 
 
 y 
 
 Doloroso, the Friend of Vilardo. 
 
 * Geschichte de Poesie. Tom. 4. 
 \
 
 OF CAMOEN8. S05 
 
 A Portuguese Fidalgo, who by accident went 
 into Denmark, became the admirer of the King'* 
 daughter, with whom he was obliged to escape in a 
 gall.'y, because the Princess proved to be with 
 child. Having arrived on the coast of Spain, in 
 which country he had great possessions, the ship 
 was overtaken by a tempest, and being driven on 
 the rocks, all on board perished except the Prin- 
 cess, who reached the shore on a plank. Here she 
 brought forth twins, a boy and girl, and expired 
 just as the tender cries of the infants had attracted 
 a Castilian shepherd, who dwelt in those parts, to 
 the spot. The children grew up under the care and 
 attention of this shepherd. The boy, to whom they 
 had given the name of Filodemo, led by his natural 
 inclination, forsook the fields and repaired to the city, 
 where from his skill in music and his discretion he 
 became a great favourite in the house of 1). Lusi- 
 dardo, who proves to be the brother of his father. 
 Having served him some time, ignorant of the rela- 
 tionship, and inheriting from his father nothing but 
 a lofty spirit, he falls in love with Dion\sa, the 
 daughter of his master and uncle, and his addresses 
 are well received. It happened also that Venadoro, 
 the son of D. Lusidardo and much given to the 
 chase, was one day, in following a stag, separated 
 from his associates, and coming to a fountain where 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Florimena, the sister of Filodemo, was filling a 
 water jar, became enamoured of her, and would 
 not quit the retreat where she resided. D. Lusi- 
 dardo, after spending a considerable time in seek- 
 ing him, is at last informed who the orphans are, by 
 Doriano, who is skilled in magic, and the lovers 
 are all happily united. 
 
 This production has been named a dramatised 
 novel, having little plot, but being interspersed 
 with a lively association of serious and comic scenes. 
 In it Camoens has designedly introduced prose, 
 with the intent, as is reported, of banishing verse 
 from scenes, the comic performance of which he 
 thought would be better carried on without the 
 trammels of poetry. When, however, the style 
 is to be elevated, the Redondilhan measure is 
 resorted to, and with great effect. In the comic 
 scenes, the efforts of the Gracioso, who is made to 
 speak Spanish, are not without point and humour. 
 The Comedy appears to commence after Filodemo 
 has been introduced to the notice of D. Lusidardo. 
 The following is part of the scene between Vena- 
 doro and Florimena, wherein the former meets with 
 the latter at the fountain. 
 
 Flor. Senhor, mais nao perguntcis, 
 Porque outra cousa de mi,
 
 OF CAMOENS. 307 
 
 Sabei, que nan sabereis. 
 
 De vos agora salx>i, 
 
 O que nao tender sabido : 
 
 Se quereis agua bel>ci : 
 
 Se andais por dita perdido, 
 
 Eu vos encaminharei. 
 Yen. Scnhora, eu nao vos pedia. 
 
 Que ninguem m'encaminhasse ; 
 
 Que o caminho que eu queria, 
 
 Se o eu agora achasse, 
 
 Mais perdido me acharia. 
 
 Nao quero passar daqui ; 
 
 E nao vos pare^a cspanto, 
 
 Que em vos vendo me rendi ; 
 
 Porque quando me perdi. 
 
 Nao cuidet de ganhar taut... 
 Flor. Senhor, quern na serru mora 
 
 Tambem cntende a verdadc 
 
 Dos enganos da Cidade : 
 
 Va-se embora, ou 6que cmlxira, 
 
 Qual for mais sua vontadc. 
 Ven. O' lindissima donzella. 
 
 A quern a venture ordena 
 
 Que me guie como estrella ; 
 
 Quereis-me deixar a pena. 
 
 E Ievar-ine a causa della ? 
 
 E ja que vos conjurastes 
 
 Vos c amor para matar-nu-. 
 
 Oh nao deixeis d'esoutar-mr : 
 
 Pois a vida me tirastev 
 
 Nao mc tircis o queiiar-me. 
 X 8
 
 308 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Que eu era sangue, e em nobreza, 
 
 O claro Ceo me extremou ; 
 
 a fortuna me dotou 
 
 De grandes bees, e riqueza, 
 
 Que sempre a muitos negou. 
 
 Andando cacando aqui, 
 
 Apoz hum cervo ferido, 
 
 Permittio meu fado assi, 
 
 Que andando dos meus perdido, 
 
 Me venha perder a mi. 
 
 porque inda mais passasse 
 
 Do que tinha por passar, 
 
 Buscando quem m'ensinasse, 
 
 Porque via me tornasse, 
 
 Acho quem me faz near. 
 
 Que vinganca permittio 
 
 A fortuna n'hum perdido ! 
 
 Oh que tyranno partido, 
 
 Que quem o cervo ferio, 
 
 Va como cervo ferido ! 
 
 Ambos feridos n'hum monte, 
 
 Eu a elle, outrem a mi : 
 
 Huma differenca ha aqui, 
 
 Qu'elle vai sarar a fonte, 
 
 eu nella me feri. 
 
 pois que tao transformado 
 
 Me tem vossa formosura, 
 
 Hum de nos troque o estado, 
 
 Ou vos para o povoado, 
 
 Ou eu para a espessura.
 
 OF CAMOENS. 309 
 
 Flor. Dos arminhos he ccrteza, 
 
 Se lhe a cova alguem cujar, 
 
 Morar f6ra antes d'entrar : 
 
 D'estimar muito a limpeza 
 
 Pola \ ill. i a vai trocar. 
 
 Tambem qucm na scrra mora 
 
 Tanto cstima a honestidadc, 
 
 Qjie antes toma ser Pastora, 
 
 Que perder a honcstidade, 
 
 A troco de ser Scnhora. 
 
 Se mais qucreis, esta fonte 
 
 Vos descubra o mais de mim : 
 
 O que ella vio, ella o conte ; 
 
 Porque eu vou-me para o monte, 
 
 Porque ha ja muito que vim. 
 
 Vui-se Florim. 
 Vrn. O' Linda minha inimiga, 
 
 Gentil Pastora, espcrai : 
 
 Pois que tanto amor me obriga, 
 
 Consenti-me que vos siga ; 
 
 Va o corpo onde alma vai. 
 
 E pois por vos me perdi, 
 
 E ne*te estado amor me jW>s 
 
 Os olhos com que vos \ i, 
 
 Pois o> deixatta mih mi. 
 
 Oh nao os deixeis seni vos. 
 
 l'orquo a fortuna me disso. 
 
 Que nas terras, onde andais, 
 
 Em cstcs cxtremos tait, 
 
 Nao era bem que (k \is*- 
 
 x 3
 
 310 ON THE RIMAS 
 
 Para nao ver de vos mais. 
 E pois amor se quiz ver 
 Da livre vida vingado, 
 Em que eu sohia viver, 
 Faca em mi o que quizer, 
 Que aqui vou ao jugo atado. 
 
 Vai-se Venadoro apoz de Florimenu. 
 
 THE END OF VOLUME I. 
 
 NEWCASTLE : 
 PRINTED HY EDWARD WALKER. 
 
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