THE LUSIAD. FIS BE C AMO El'^S Id]!. THE LUSIAD OP LUIS DE CAMOENS. BOOKS I. TO V. TRANSLATED By EDWARD QUILLINAN. WITH NOTES By JOHN ADAMSON, K.T.S. and K.C. of Portugal; Corresp. Memb. Roy. Acad, of Sciences of Lisbon; F.L.S., F.R.G.S., &c. &c. &c. LONDON : EDWARD MOXON, DOVER STREET. 1863. PRESERVATION n, 1.0ND0N : BUAfiBURT AN» EVANS, PRINTKBS.WHITEFBIARS. Zo^ej^ THE SENHOR JOSE GOMES MONTEIRO. My dear Sir, During the last years of the life of our mutual and lamented friend Mr. Quillinan, I was in communication with him, both personally and by correspondence, with respect to the publica- tion of his translation of part of the Lusiad of Camoens; in which part are comprised the two finest passages in the poem — the story of the unfortunate Dona Ignez de Castro, and the vision at the Cape of Good Hope. This work he expressed his intention of dedicating jointly to you and to me. To you he tM\tkQ^:z considered himself greatly obliged by various explanations as to particular passages ; to me, for the use of my almost unrivalled collection of editions, translations, and books, relating to our favourite author; and to both, as being the only two persons from whom he had sought for aid : and also from our appearing before the public in immediate connection with the poet ; alluding to your having been the editor, along with the Senhor Barreto Feio, of the best, or at all events the best punctuated, edition of the works of Camoens ; and to my being his biographer. The manuscript having been entrusted to me, I think I shall best fulfil the intention of the translator by placing your name at the com- mencement, and my own at the end of this brief notice. It is a source of deep regret that our friend was summoned from his earthly career without having had the superintendence of the printing of his work, and without having given his last supervision to the versification. We may there- fore venture to hope that the publication willftf- escape any severe degree of criticism. It was the intention of Mr. Quillinan to have accompanied his translation with notes, which, from his known zeal, and the access he had had to the most ample stores of information, would doubtless have been a valuable appendage. In some measure to meet the loss occasioned by their absence, I have hastily prepared some anno- tations, which I hope may be found useful to the general reader : as explaining the modern names of the places mentioned, and some of the classical personages who appear in the poem. I know that I shall be carrying out part of Mr. Quillinan's plan by subjoining as accurate a list as I am able of the various editions of the works of Camoens, and of the translations of them, nearly the whole of which are in my own collection. I do so more particularly, as it affords me the opportunity of expressing my readiness to allow of their inspection by any ^^uture authors, who may employ themselves in illustrating the works, or eulogising the genius, of the Portuguese bard. I am, my dear Sir, With much esteem. Yours most sincerely, JOHN ADAMSON. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, March 9tk, 1853. EDITIONS OF THE WORKS LUIS DE CAMOENS. Those marked with a* in the first column are in Mr. Adamson^s CoUectum. If 1 s 1 Pi j 1 Q Size. Place where Printed. Printers' Name. * .. * 1572 4to. Lisbon Antonio Go^alvez, * * 1572 4to. Lisbon Antonio Go?alvez. ' * 1584 1587 8vo. Lisbon! . Manoel de Lyra. ^_ * 1591 Svo. Lisbon Manoel de Lyra. » .* 1595 4to. Lisbon Manoel de Lyra. * .. * 1597 4to. Lisbon Manoel de Lyra. * •• * 1598 1601 4to. 4to. Lisbon Lisbon g . Pedro Crasbeeck, * * 1607 1607 Uto. Lisbon II . Pedro Crasbeeck. * * 1609 4to. Lisbon . Pedro Crasbeeck., * * 1612 4to. Lisbon Vicente Alvarez. * * 1613 4to. Lisbon . Pedro Crasbeeck. * .. * 1614 4to. Lisbon Vicente Alvarez. 1615 4to. Lisbon Vicente Alvarez. * 1616 4to. Lisbon . Pedro Crasbeeck. * 1620 32mo. t t First Edition, with Commentary, very rare. J Doubtful— supposed Lisbon. ^ This edii ion is very doubtful. || Different woodcut in the Title-pages. H Mentioned by Machado... 6 EDITIONS OF THE WORKS «! 1 1 ! 2 p Size. Place where Printed. Printers' Name. * 1621 4to. Lisbon . Antonio Alvarez. * * 1623 32mo. Lisbon . LourenQO Crasbeeck. * * 1626 32mo. Lisbon . Pedro Crasbeeck. * * 1629 32mo. Lisbon . Pedro Crasbeeck. * * 1631 32mo. Lisbon Pedro Crasbeeck. « * ., 1633 32mo. Lisbon . Louren?o Crasbeeck. « -^ 1639 folio Madrid . Jioan Sanchez. * * 1644 32mo. Lisbon Paulo Crasbeeck. * * 1645 24mo. Lisbon Pedro Crasbeeck. * 1651 24mo. Lisbon . Pedro Crasbeeck. 1651 24mo. Lisbon Pedro Crasbeeck. * * ' * 1663 12mo. Tiisbon . Lourengo Crasbeeck. * * 1663 12mo. Lisbon Lourenfo Crasbeeck. * 1666 4to. Lisbon . ( Antonio Craesbeeck \ de MeUo. * * 1669 4to. Lisbon . f Antonio Craesbeeck t deMello. ' * * 1669 4to. Lisbon f Antonio Craesbeeck \ de Mello. - » 1669 4to. Lisbon f Antonio Craesbeeck t de Mello. * * 1670 12mo. Lisbon f Antonio Craesbeeck \ de Mello. - « 1670 12mo. Lisbon . f Antonio Craesbeeck t de Mello. 4t * 1685 1689 1702 1 folio Lisbon Lisbon (Theotonio Damaso 1 de Mello. f Manoel Lopes Fer- \ reyra. * * 1720 Lisbon . ( Joseph Lopes Fer- \ reyra. * * 1721 12mo. Lisbon Officina Ferreyriana. * * 1721 12mo. Lisbon Officina Ferreyriana. * * 1731 1732 ]• 4to. (Naples) •| and J- rOflacina Pai-riniana ■< and Ofi&cina de ) (Rome. ) ( Antonio Rossi. * 1749 Lisbon . j Manoel Coelho ( Amado. * * 1759 12mo. Paris Franc. Ambros. Didot. * * 1772 12mo. Lisbon Miguel Rodriguez. ' * •• 1779 1780 j- 8vo. Lisbon OflBcina Luisiana. OP LUIS DE CAMOENS. « s a I J Size. Place where Printed. Printers' Name. * 1782 1783 }-8vo. Lisbon fSima5 Thaddeo \ Ferreira. * 1800 18mo. Coimbra . (Imprensa da Uni- ( versidada. *? 1805 1808 18mo. Lisbon ? f Na Typografia ( Lacerdina. J. E. Hetzig. * 1815 12ino. Paris P. Didot, Sen. * 1817 4to. Paris Firmin Didot. * 1818 12ino. Avignon . Francisco Seguiu. : 1819 1820 8vo. Paris Paris Firmin Didot. S. Smith. • 1821 12mo. ( Rio de ) ( Janeiro j P. C. Dalbin & Co. * * 1823 1827 1834 18mo. Paris Lisbon . Hamburgh J. P. AiUaud. Na Imprensa Regia. Langhott. * 1836 8vo. Lisbon . (■ Na Typografia Rol- 1 landiana. * 1836 8vo. Paris J. P. Aillaud. * 1841 12mo. f Rio de ) ( Janeiro/ f Typografia de ( Laemmert. * 1842 12mo. Lisbon CNa Typografia R. \ Rollandiana. - * 1843 12mo. Lisbon (Na Typografia R. ( RoUandiana. - * ^ !^43 8vo. Lisbon* . f Livraria Europea I de Baudry, Paris. * • • * 1846 12mo. Paris ( Livraria Europea ( de Baudry. * 1847 12mo. Paris Firmin Didot. * This edition is that which was edited by the Senhors Feio and Monteiro. It appeared in Hamburgh, but Monsieur Baudry having purchased a large proportion of the copies, had new title-pages printed, showing the work as published in Lisbon, and that it might be had at his establishment in Paris. TKANSLATIONS OF THE LUSTAD. Language. Name of Translator. Where published. Date. Size. * Latin D. fr. Thomas de Faria . Lisbon . 1622 8vo. * Spanish Benito Caldera Alcala de Henares 1580 4to. * Spanish Luys Gomez de Tapia Madrid . . 1580 4to. * Spanish Henrique Garces Madrid 1591 4to. * Spanish Don Lamberto Gill Madrid . . 1818 8vo. * Italian Carlo Antonio Paggi Tiisbon 1658 12mo. * Italian Carlo Antonio Paggi Lisbon . . 1659 12mo. * ItaUan Anonymous Turin 1712 12mo. * ItaUan Antonio Nervi . . Genoa . . . 1814 8vo. * Italian Antonio Nervi Genoa 1821 8vo. * Italian A. Briccolani . . Paris . . 1826 ISpao. * French Duperron de Castera Paris 1735 12mo. * f French S. Gaubier de Barrault . Lisbon . . 1772 4to. * French D'Hermilly & La Harpe Paris 1776 8vo. * French J. B. J. Millie . . Paris . . 1825 8vo. * French Foumier et Desaules Paris 1841 8vo. * German F.A.Kuhn&C. T.Winkler Leipsic . . 1807 8vo. * German Dr. C. C. Heise . . Hamburgh 1808 12mo. * I German Anonymous Hamburgh . . 18mo. * German J. J. C. Dormer . . Stuttgard 1823 8vo. * Danish H. V. Lundbye Copenhagen 1828 8vo. Swedish Vils Loven . . . Stockholm 1839 12mo. * EngUsh Sir Richard Fanshaw . London . . 1655 foUo. *§ English "William Julius Mickle . London & Oxford 1776 4to. * English Thomas M. Musgrave . London . . 1826 8vo. * 11 English Lord Strangford . London 1805 8vo. The whole of the above translations, except the Swedish, are in the collec- tion of Mr. Adamson. There are also several translations of portions of " The Lusiad, " and of the smaller poems, both in French and English ; and in English are translations by Lord Strangford, Mr. Hayley, Mr. Southey, Mrs. Ilemans, Mr. Adamson, and others, of some of the Rimas, principally of Sonnets. t Only part. X Only one Canto. k Many subsequent editions. Only specimen. SONNET, ADDRESSED TO VASCO DA GAMA BY TASSO. TRANSLATED BY WILLIAM JULIUS 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 Oreek such length of seas explore. The Greek who sorrow to the Cyclops 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 Caraoens 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. CORRECTIONS. Canto I., Stanza vii., /or " Emalthian " read " Emathian." ,, Stanzas xcix. and c, for " Quitoa" read " Quiloa." Canto v.. Stanza lix., for " Thetir " read " Thetis." THE LUSIAD. THE LUSIAD, CANTO THE FIEST. I. Arms, and the men heroic of the AVest, Who from their native Lusitanian shore, By seas till then unnavigated prest Even beyond Taprobane, and more Than seemM of human force the hardest test. Through wars and perils resolutely bore. Raised a new empire in a distant clime. And crownM it with a glory all sublime. These, and the kings of memory dear to fame. Who, widening out dominion, spread the Faitli, Afflicted Afric as a chastening flame. And Asia, rank with the idolater's breath — And many a warrior who redeemed his name By deeds of prowess from the law of death — These shall my song proclaim in every part. If Genius aid me, and melodious Art. THE LUSIAD. Let wonder cease at voyages of old By the wise Greek and by the Trojan made ; Let Ammon's son and Trajan cease to hold The palm for eastern victories displayed : I sing the illustrious Lusian heart so bold. Whom Neptune's self and stubborn Mars obey'd. HushM be all praise that ancient Muses sing, For later valour soars on stronger wing ! And you, O nymphs of Tagus, ever dear, As this new ardour in my soul ye raise, — If still 'twas my delight from year to year. In lowly verse to sing your river's praise, A style now give me, stately, flowing, clear, A voice which shall be heard in after-days ; For so may Phoebus graciously ordain That Tagus shall not envy Hippocrene. Give me that frenzy, give the passionate tone. Not of agrarian reed or pastoral cane ; But of the trumpet by the warrior blown. That kindles up the heart and thriUs the brain. Teach me a pean worthy of your own Famed people — Mars-befriended; such a strain As through the world shall spread, resounded long. If worth so great can be comprised in song. THE LUSIAD. VI. And thou, O timely honi, the pledge secured For ancient Lusitanian liberty ; IMor less to Christendom the hope assured Of wider range and ampler boundary ! Thou, new terror to the Paynim sword. The wonder-fated of our age to be ; Unto the world by God, the All-ruler given. To win large portion of the world for Heaven ! Young tender scion of a tree more blest. In the dear love of the Kedeemer mild. Than all that ever llourish\l in the West, Whether most Christian or Imperial styled ! Behold the proof upon thy shield imprest, A victory past it shows thee, royal child; A day whereon He gave thine ancestor Tor arms the same that on the Cross He bore. Thou, powerful King, whose empire vast the sun When dawning on the world the first descries. And still surveys when half his course is run. And leaves the last when he forsakes the skies : Thou, as we trust, the yoke that shall anon The false and stubborn Ishmaelite chastise. And oriental Moslem, and the heathen brood That drink the water of the sacred flood ! THE LUSIAD. IX. Hither awhile the majesty incline Which on that infant face I recognise ; Already showing how at last ^twill shine, When to the eternal Temple thou shalt rise Cast here below a kingly look benign : A new example here shall greet thine eyes Of patriot love by Lusian glory fired. Divulged in numbers by that love inspired. A love of country, on no sordid aim Intent, but on a high immortal hope : To be the poet of my countr/s fame. Is no ambition of a vulgar scope. Thou, their supernal lord, thy hero's name Shalt hear resounded to the starry cope ; And judge if 'twere a loftier pride of place To rule the world or govern such a race. Attend ! and thou in their applause shalt hear No vain exploits, fantastic, false, or feign'd, Such as strange Muses have devised to cheer Their own delight in fancies over-strainM. Thy people's deeds, enroll' d by Truth severe. Excel the fables, in those lays contain' d. Of Eodomonte and Eugero too, And Roland, even if his feats were true. THE LUSIAD. XII. Pierce Nuilo, champion of the throne and state, Eor them I give, and Tuas and Moniz : The Tliree with honour due to celebrate. Oh for the harp of old Mseonides ! The Peers of Charles, Magricio^s more than mate. The Twelve of England tilting o'er the seas. Illustrious Gama too is ours ; a name That robs the wandering Trojan of his fame. And if for Charles himself, the boast of Trance, Or e^en for Caesar, thou demand a peer, — Behold the jBrst Affonso, by whose lance Obscured all foreign glories disappear ; And John who workM his realm's deliverance. And left the challenged land from insult clear ; A second John, the unconquer'd royal Lord ; The fourth and fifth Affonso, and the third. Nor unremember'd shall my numbers leave Those chiefs, the heroes of stupendous wars. Who yonder led thy victor-flag to wave Triumphant on Aurora's palmy shores : Pacheco, the romantically brave ; The Almeidas, whom their Tagus yet deplores ; Dread Albuquerque, and Castro firm and wise ; And more, whose name the power of death defies. THE LUSIAD. XV. And while of these, and not of Thee, I sing, Because 1 dare not to that height aspire, Assume the reins, and thou wilt give, O King, A fresh and nobler impulse to the lyre — That all the world with thy renown may ring. And fear to rouse the spirit they admire. Let Afric shores and Asian waters feel The weight of armies and the shock of steel. The daunted Paynim contemplating Thee, Beholds his ruin figured at this hour ; The barbarous Gentile hopeless bends the knee. And yields his neck unto the yoke of power. All her cerulean majesty of sea Tethys holds ready for thy spousal dower : For with thy fair and tender beauty won. She fain would win thee thus to be her son. On Thee, from their ethereal dwelling-place. The Spirits of thy Grandsires — famed below. One for a golden reign of sacred peace. And one for strenuous wars with many a foe, — Look down as on a mirror where the grace Of their own worth already seems to glow : And yonder, in the eternal fane, they wait To give thee welcome at a distant date. THE LUSIAD. But while the time to' inaugurate thy sway Por a desiring nation comes too slow, Grace with thy smile tliis new heroic lay ; Be thine the daring numbers as they flow. And" thou shalt see, cleaving the silvery spray, Thine Argonauts afar ; that they may know Their king beholds them struggling with the sea^ Inure thyself betimes invoked to be. Lo ! where their prows explore the watery vast, Shouldering aside the billows on their course, The winds breathe gently o'er the heaving waste And fill the concave sails with easy force : The rippling keels, a trail of foam have traced. In bubbles dancing on the waters hoarse. As thus the' Armada cleaves the sacred tide Where roam tlie flocks of Proteus far and wide. And now the Gods to that bright court on high Whence human fortunes take their various sway. Repair to weigh in solemn colloquy The' eventful future of the realms of day. From various points to one, the crystal sky They cross, and jointly thrid, the milky way ; Assembled, at the Thunderer's command. By Maia''s son who bears the charmed wand. THE LUSIAD. xxr. They quit the seven celestial regencies Which to their charge a Power superior gave. Transcendent Power that with a thought applies Rule over heaven and earth and angry wave. At once, as quickly as a moment flies, Come those who reign where snowy tempests rave, Those that in Auster dwell, or where the Sun Upsprings, or where his golden race is won. Sublime o'er all, and worthy of his state. The wielder of the thunderbolt was seen ; Upon a throne of stars the Pather sate. Superb, severe, and sovereign his mien : Breathing an air divine that might create Life out of death, immortal of terrene. His crown and sceptre blazed with gems unknown. Of purer water than the diamond stone. On glittering seats with pearl and gold inlaid. But stationed lower than the throne of Jove, The summoned Deities were all arrayed. As rule and reason equally approve ; With due regard to age and honour paid. The young below, the elder Gods above ; When thus the Sire address^ them, and he spake With such a voice as made Olympus shake : — THE LUSIAD. " Eternal denizens of boundless space, Who dwell in starry altitudes supreme, If the proud courage of this ancient race Ye have not lost as a forgotten dream, The will of Eate ye surely may retrace Pronounced on their audacity extreme. That they should sink beneath their greater glory Assyrian, Persian, Greek, and Roman story. XXV. " To them, as you beheld, ^twas given of yore To wrest by force of hand, though unallied And few in number, from the potent Moor The land where Tejo's pleasant waters glide. Then too against the fear'd Castihan^s power Celestial grace was ever on their side ; So that, in short, from every field they brought The pendent trophies of a day well fought. " I speak not, Gods ! of that more ancient fame The men of Eomulus were forced to yield. When Yiriatus raised a patriot flame That scorchM the Roman laurel in the field ; Nor of the time that Kfts them to a name When to a Roman exile they appealed. And chose him leader, who with spirit fine Peign'd in the Doe a counsellor divine. 10 THE LUSIAD. XXVII. " Behold tliem now, embarFd on doubtful seas, Intent on loftier aim, they brave the tide In fragile planks o'er never-tempted ways. The Southern gale and Lybian gust defied. Por, long with climes familiar where the days Contract or lengthen as the Seasons guide, They now persist to know where light is born. And view the very cradle of the morn. xxvin. " Pledged is the word of Pate, whose high decree. Irrevocably past, no power may shake. That they shall long be masters of the Sea Which first beholds the purple dawn awake. Toil-worn they come, and perishing they be Erom winter on the harsh Atlantic Lake, And good it seems that they should now be shown The new domain predestined for their own. " And after all the dangers they have past. As ye have witness^ on their great emprise ; So many struggles with the surge and blast. Such hard vicissitudes of climes and skies ; The much-enduring men shall find at last. Such is my will, a harbour and allies On yonder Ethiop coast, renew their force. And then resume their long laborious course.'^ THE LUSIAD. 11 XXX. So spake the sovereign Arbiter of heaven : The Gods by turn responded^ in debate One with another, reasons diverse given. Obdurate Bacchus, ev^n with Jove and Eate, Blind with a jealous fury, would have striven. Because he knew that from the dreaded date When Lusian ships should reach an Indian shore. His eastern triumphs would be told no more. XXXI. Over the ocean-flood would come, he knew, A martial race of Spain, by Pate foreshown. And all that Doris laves of Ind, subdue. And raise on Orient shores a "Western throne; And by their victories then should conquer too. All former glory, foreign or their own. Deep were his grief to lose the fame revered Ev'n yet in Nysa where his youth was reared. Since first he stood, a victor bright and young, On Indus' banks, nor Chance nor Pate impugnM His right as India's conqueror to be sung By them, whose lips to melody were tuned At the live fount of Castaly : but flung Aside, in dull oblivious waters drown' d. Will be his name, he fears, if yonder band. Afloat, gain footing on an Orient strand. 12 THE LUSIAD. XXXIII. Against him Yenus for the Lusians stood : A race she cherishM for the stamp they bore Of those old Eomans of the Dardan blood, Whose heart in these appeared to beat once more ; Por their bright star in Afric too, that glowed Like Scipio's, fatal to the Punic shore ; And for their speech ; so like the Latin tongue. The kindred music to her fancy clung. By these regards is Cytherea led. And more because she knows the Fates ordain That wheresoever the warlike people spread. There Yenus shall have worship and a fane. Thus, one for menaced dignity in dread. Another, for the honour she would gain. Each in debate as stubbornly contends. And both have aiding voices in their friends. As when the fierce south- wind, or bleaker north. Has burst into the thickest of a wood. And rushing on, to force a passage forth Beliind him leaves a prostrate forest strewed. And drives before him with a madman's mirth The foliage flying by his roar pursued. Prom top to base the sylvan mountain quakes — So great a tumult now Olympus shakes. THE LUSIAD. 13 XXXVI. But Mars, in whom the radiant Goddess found Among them all her firmest advocate, Incited by his former love, or bound To serve the Lusians for their worth innate, With melancholy aspect, glancing round. Amidst the stormy synod rose irate. His ponderous breast-plate he behind him flung, As if too near a swelling heart it hung. XXXVII. The visor up, his diamond helmet lent A fearful lustre to his face. Before The throne of Jove he stood, as one who meant Plain speech and fearless, and, if need were, more. Ere yet he spoke, his lance he grasp'd and sent The haft down clanging on the crystal floor. Heaven trembled, and the startled Sun turnM pale. And seemM a moment of his light to fail. xxxvin. And thus spoke Mars : " O Sire, in love or fear. All things created must thy will obey ; Those brave men seek another hemisphere. As by thyself appointed — And shall they Whose worth and valour thou hast held so dear, Now suffer wrong opprobrious on the w^ay ? Attend no more, O Judge, as thou art just. To one whose pleas but serve his own mistrust. 14 THE LUSIAD. XXXIX. '' For were not reason masterM by excess Of jealous fear, the Father of- the Vine Should be the last their fortunes to depress : The friend of Lusus should support his line, But, for his present heat, — nor more nor less Than peevish spleen that prompts an ill design — Why, let it pass. Virtue will have its meed. Though Envy grudge the. good by heaven decreed. "And Thou, Sire ! in whom the fixed mind Should dwell as in a tower of strength unshaken. Thy will declared maintain ; the weak or blind Of purpose, leave the thing begun forsaken. Thy herald. Mercury, by whom the wind And volant arrow are with ease overtaken. Will guide the Lusian to some harbour near. Where he may rest, and news of India hear." Thus cogent Mars. The Sovereign Father nods Assent, and sheds on all the sacred dew. Silent, along the Lacteal path, the Gods — At once arising — by the starry clew Directed, to their own serene abodes Depart, their several functions to renew. After due reverence made before the throne Of Him who sits supernal and alone. THE LUSIAD. 15 XLII. As thus in Jove's ethereal domicile, Of high debate is prosperous issue won. The martial people on the seas the while Up from the south, and eastward bearing, run Betwixt that Ethiop coast and famous Isle Of Madagascar, at what time the sun Inflames the starry twain who took the shape Of fishes, dread Typhoeus to escape. The wind so gently wafted them along. It seemM to know that heaven was now their friend ; Serene the air, no cloud above them hung, Nor sign around that danger might portend. On Ethiop's coast — a name when earth was young — The Cape of Prassus smoothly clearM, they wend. Till now the sea reveals new isles, a group Enlink'd and fondled in its wavy loop. No cause perceived for tarriance, even brief. On shores that showM no trace of human kind, Yasco da Gama, the high-hearted chief — A man by nature for command designM, True to his aim, alike in joy or grief. And loved by Eortune for his constant mind — Eight onward would have held, but here the' event Crossed his surmise, and baffled his intent. 16 THE LUSIAD. XLV. Por lo ! from yonder islet within hail Of the main-land, to which it nearest lies, A sudden fleet of boats with crowded sail Comes skimming the long seas ! In glad surprise. As if for joy all other senses fail But sight, the people gaze with asking eyes : '' What men are these ? " they rather muse than say, " What rites, what laws, what ruler follow they ? " Those skiffs for speed were fashion^ long and slight, Sharp-beaFd and narrow, delicate to steer. The sails of palm-tree leaves were firm and light. So firmly matted was that simple gear. The strangers' skin was of the hue of night Bequeathe by Phaeton, the charioteer. With more of courage than of wit endued. As Padus knows, and Lampethusa rued. The cotton down supplies the garb they wear. Of various colours, white and listed, borne Loose from the shoulder with a flaunting air ; Or at the girdle tied, succinctly worn. While all above from waist to brow is bare. And this the turban's artful folds adorn : Por arms they carried scimitar and shield. And o'er the waves their clamorous trumpets peaFd. THE LUSIAD. , 17 XLVIII. Extended arms and flutter^ robes invite The Lusitanian people to delay : But these have tacked already, bearing right Toward the Isles, to anchor in the bay ; The joyous seamen toil with all their might As if their labours are to end to day. They slacken sail ; they strike the topsails ; dash The anchors go, the wounded waves up-flash. Ere yet the forked iron finds its bed The strangers by the cordage nimbly climb ; Their joyful faces speak them free of dread, And kind their welcome from the Chief sublime ; Who straight commands the tables to be spread. And juice Lyean of the Lusian clime, In crystal goblets served : the ruby draught With right good will the scorcht of Phaeton quafPd. Regaling merrily, their hosts, they plied In Arab speech with questions whence they came. What seas had traversed and what coasts descried. Their name, their country, and their final aim ? The gallant Lusitanians nothing hide Yet in a form discreet their answers frame : — " Erom shores far west, from Portugal our home, In search of Oriental shores we roam. 18 THE LUSIAD. LI. '* And all the length of Afric we have run, Seen many a land and weatlierM many a sky. The northern star beheld our course begun. Now stars antarctic watch us from on high : And nought that tries our loyalty we shun, To serve a King for whom we live or die ; Content for him to range the billowy vast. Or pass the Lake that can but once be past. "By his command our devious way we feel. Seeking the land that Indus irrigates ; For him we wander where till now the seal Has known no voyagers but his uncouth mates. But reason bids that you in turn reveal. If truth among you as a virtue rates. What men ye be, and what the shores around. And whether trace of India here be found ? ^' " Aliens are we ! ^^ — one from the Isle replied — " Aliens by country, origin and creed. The natives of these isles, of sense devoid As nature made them, law nor reason heed. But we are true believers ; we conj&de In that pure Faith, that takes of all the lead ; The Faith by Abram's famed descendant taught. Whom Pagan sire of Hebrew wife begot. THE LUSIAD. 19 LIV. " This island where we sojourn^ though but small. Allures the wandering traffic of the coast ; For every trading town a port of call : Quiloa, Sofala, Mombassa most : So here for lucre — hardly gained withal. But patient thrift endures a churlish host — We dwell with those who call the island theirs, And Mozambique is the name it bears. " But you, who tempt so far the brawling tide, Indus, Hydaspes, and the shores of spice Demanding, here will find a willing guide Your course to regulate with skill precise. 'Tis opportune too that we here provide Whatever succours for your store suffice ; And that our Regent see you, and give heed How best to aid you to what most you need ! " This said, the Moor and all the swarthy crew Betook them to their slender boats again ; With all the courtesies for kindness due, From Gama parting and his gallant men : And Phoebus now beneath the waters blue Had veiFd the glory of his crystal wain ; Charge to his sister given to watch the night. And while he slumbered soothe the world with light. 20 THE LUSIAD. LVII. In joy unwonted in the weary fleet, Joy quicken^ by surprise, the night was past ; Of that far land for which so long they beat They now had lighted on the trace at last ! About these strangers too, perplexM conceit Was busy, musing on their manners, cast. And creed, and wondering how a faith so blind Beguiled and led such myriads of mankind. LVIII. The moon's clear radiance falls in silver showers Resplendent on the surface of the deep ; The firmament is like a field of flowers. The stars to-night so throngM a vigil keep ; The winds, disarmM of their unruly powers, Down in their caves profound are locked in sleep. Yet not the less the Armada's people share Alternate watch, their long accustomed care. But soon as Morn with kindling blush was seen. Her tresses all dispread and bright with dew. Opening the purple gates of heaven serene To let Hyperion, just awaken' d, through ; Their decks with festal awnings then to screen And dress their masts with flags, began the crew. Preparing for a welcome guest at hand. The coming Eegent of the sea-girt land. THE LUSIAD, 21 LX. AV ho joyfully advanced, with press of sail, To view the buoyant armament, and brought Fresh fruits, the island produce, to regale These of the race inhuman as he thought That made the nations Asiatic quail. When bursting from their Caspian bounds, they wrought Portentous change, crushing by will Divine, Tlie reverend empery of Constantine. LXI. The Chief received on deck with smiles benign The Moor, and all who served him for escort. And gave him gaudy silks of tissue fine. For such foreseen occasion stored apart ; And set before him sweet conserves and wine. The fervour that exhilarates the heart. The silken gift well pleased Mm, but the zest Of juice forbidden pleased the Moslem best. Aloft, the Lusitanian people mann'd The yards, and in the shrouds admiring hung. Noting the manners of the sable band And barbarous jargon of their Caffre tongue. As much perplexM, the subtle Moslem scanned Their garb, their colour, their Armada strong, And askM, suspicion in his mind at work, If they were subjects of the Sultan Turk. 22 THE LUSIAD. Lxm. Demands he too their sacred books to see ; Their code of faith, of precept, or of law. That he may know if it with his agree, Or if — for that way his conjectures draw — They trust in Him who died upon the tree. And not more shrewd in marking all he saw Than keen that nothing should escape his sight. He fain would view the arms they use in fight. LXIV. By one weU skilFd in the dark tongue, the Chief Of steadfast soul replied : '^Illustrious sir. Of what I am, suffice relation brief, And what the faith I hold, the arms I bear. Of Hagar^s race I share not the belief. Nor mine the spurious blood derived from her : In fair and warlike Europe was I born, I seek the famous kingdoms of the morn. " I hold the faith prescribed by Him who reigns Over all visible and invisible things ; Who made the world, and aU that it contains Insensible or sentient ; bore the stings Of calumny and scorn, endured the pains Of unjust death by barbarous sufferings ; Who, in a word, by Heaven to earth was given To raise the mortals of the earth to heaven. THE LUSIAD. 23 LXVI. " Of this Man-God, Most High, and Infinite, The holy books thou hast desired to see I carry not, nor need on paper write The law that graven in the soul should be. But for the arms wherewith our scores we quit With foes, we hide them not from friends ; to thee As to a friend we show them, for I know Thou ne^er wouldst test their temper as a foe/' Thus saying, them who the command await He bids the various gear of war disclose, Trank-hamess, habergeons, and coats of plate. Fine mail entwined, or scaled in artful rows. And shields with diverse blazonry ornate ; Spingards of seasonM metal, balls, cross-bows. Quivers with arrows stored of point minute, Curt-handled pikes, and partisans acute ; And, charged with fiery- seed, the hollow spheres. Grenades and shells that burst in ruin blind ; But suffers not the Chief his bombardiers To rouse the latent thunder ; for the mind Generous as brave solicits not the fears Of men like these, a weak untutored kind. With vain ostent of rage, — the triumph cheap Of power that plays the Hon among sheep. 24 THE LUSIAD. LXIX. But from the light the Moslem here obtainM, And after all he saw with eye attent, A settled hatred in his soul remained, An evil will on evil purpose bent ; "Which not a gesture nor a look explained, For with a smiling gaj allure he meant To treat them blandly, and his hour await To show the force and meaning of his hate. Pilots to lead him to an Indian port Eequests the Lusitanian of the Moor, Yowing to pay their toil in such a sort They shall not think the recompense is poor. The Sheik in promise grants them, while his heart Teems with such venom, were the means but sure, Death would he send him, nor the blow delay ; Instead of pilots, death that very day. Such was the malice, sudden in its growth. Conceived against the strangers when he knew That they were followers of the blessed truth As taught by Christ, the one preceptor true. O secrets of eternity ! — in sooth Too high for human judgment to pursue. There never fails, intent on treacherous ends. Some lurking foe to those whom Heaven befriends. THE LU3IAD. 25 LXXII. With all the grace of an impostor gay, A very master of insidious arts. And farewell smiles for all he would betray. At last the Moslem with his train departs : Eight for the landing, — brief the frothy way, — Boat after boat across the channel darts ; A crowd obsequious greets him on the strand. And thence he hastens to his home at hand. The mighty Theban god (to birth matured In Jove's paternal thigh) from heaven's clear height Observing how the Moor but ill endured The Lusian presence, hateful to his sight, Eevolved a flattering project, that assured The ruin of the fleet, in fate's despite : And by that haunting passion importuned. Thus with himself he sullenly communed : — " Pate has decreed that there shall come a time When these shall triumph in the realms of day. When all the warlike tribes of India's clime Shall bend to Portugal's victorious sway ! And I alone. Son of the Sire sublime. With all endowments that my birth display, I must endure expulsion and disgrace. That Fate may set her minion in my place ! 26 THE LUSIAD. ' LXXV. " Erewhile the gods consented to endow The son of Philip, on that very field. With power so great that all were forced to bow Beneath his yoke by dreadful Mars compelFd. . But is it to be borne that Fate shall now Give to so few such force and art to wield, That mine, the Emalthian and the Eoman name, Must shrink abash'd by Lusitanian fame ? " It shaU not be : they never shall arrive To flaunt their banner by an Indian shore ; So sure as hate can artfully contrive Some shrewd device this Captain shall secure : I will to earth descend, and keep alive Wrath in the bosom of the indignant Moor ; For he who seizes the first chance he may Takes the sure course, and by the shortest way." This said with fury as of one distraught. Downward he rush'd, alighting at a swoop On foreland Prassus. There to weave his thought With surer subtlety and freer scope, The human feature he assumed, and wrought The change as best might serve his treacherous hope. Taking the semblance of a Moorish seer. Whom Mozambique's prince and tribe revere. THE LUSIAD. 27 LXXVIII. And entering thus — and leave obtained to speak, In hour the fittest to infuse his guile — The strangers he denounces to the Sheik As rovers cruising in research of spoil, Whom current fame from every port and creek Where they have moorM proclaims as robbers vile ; Whose greed increases as their gains increase. Though ever anchoring with pretence of peace. " And further hear,'^ he said, " what I have heard : That these blood-thirsty Christians on their course Have harried all the sea with fire and sword, And every insolence of lawless force. No milder fate — their scheme is long prepared Intend for us these men without remorse ; They come resolved to plunder us and slay, . And bear our wives and children far away. " And know, too, that to-morrow they will land, Tor water, at the earliest glimpse of morn. The Captain with his people, arms in hand, For fear is of an evil conscience born. Lead thou, before the dawn, an armed band : Wait them in ambush, let no sound forewarn ; So, unobservant of the snare, shall they Fall to thy sudden hand, an easy prey. 28 THE LUSIAD. LXXXI. " And lest we leave the vengeance incomplete. Nor all exterminate by this device, I have revolved the ruin of their fleet ; But yet another snare that may suffice. Send them a pilot, choose a man discreet. Daring in craft but in its conduct nice. By whom misled they shall escape no more, Wreckt, slain, or captive on some hostile shore. Scarce had he ceased, when the delighted Sheik, Nor young nor dull in crooked wisdom^s lore. His arms threw round the seeming Moslem's neck. And thankM him for his counsel o'er and o'er : Tlien hastened to concert the morn attack And muster his barbaric throng of war. That here those rovers of the Ocean-flood Might, seeking water, find it turn to blood. Nor fail'd he to select, for after need, A pilot to his mind, a miscreant tried In mischief, ripe for any evil deed ; One to whose subtle wit he might confide A task of note. Him he reserves to lead The fleet, if nearer vengeance it avoid. To shores beyond, and leave it stranded there, A broken navy, past the pilot's care. THE LUSIAD. 29 LXXXIV. Scarce was the gleam, that tells of day at haiid_, Enkindled on the Nabathean mounts, Da Gam a was prepared his crews to land In quest of water from the island founts : Against surprise his boats are arm'd and mannM As if on treachery foreknown he counts : Warned by the whisper of an instinct wise. The presage of the heart which never Kes. Erewhile too, when impatient of delays He claimed the promised pilot, more like foes Than friends the Moors replied in churlish phrase False to his hope : for this, and for he knows How he who trusts a foe himself betrays, ArmM by his care the chosen service goes. Though few in number, yet a host in nerve ; Three boats, no more, on this adventure serve. The Moors along the inhospitable strand To bar them from the wellsprings intervene. One with his shield on arm, his lance in hand. Another with strong bow and shaft venene. Awaiting till the warlike strangers land. The mass behind the sandhills lurk unseen. While as a lure, an easy prey, a few Advancing to the seaboard, court the view. 30 THE LUSIAD. Lxxxvir. Along the sandy margin of the tide These sable warriors vapour to and fro, With lifted shields and threatening spears they chide And hail them on as if they came too slow. The generous Lasitanians,, thus defied. Not long permit the dogs their teeth to show : All leap to land with simultaneous burst, And none can say that he was there the first. So in the ensanguined ring the lover gay. In sight of her whose beauty fires his mind. Confronts the bull, runs round him, leaps away. Shouts, hisses, now before him, now behind ; Till all at once, infuriate with the play. The horned brute, eyes closed, and head decHned, Roaring pursues, overtakes him at a bound. Gores, tosses, leaves him dead upon the ground. Then too the ships in voice of thunder callM ; The tempest of artillery outspoke ; Peal after peal the savage Isle appalFd, And wandering echoes counted every stroke. Great fear the spirit of the Moors enthrallM ; The hissing air, the flash, the peal, the smoke, PerplexM their senses : those in ambush fly. These in the shower of lead and iron die. THE LUSIAD. 31 xc. Not yet content, the Portuguese hunt. down The scattered ambuscade, and devastate With shot, and shell, and balls of fire, the town Of mural fence devoid. The Sheik too late BewaiFd the challenge he had rashly thrown. And thought to have redeemed at cheaper rate ; He cursed the war, and him who counsell'd war. And cursed the mother that the dotard bore. And ever and anon, the Moors in flight Pause with weak hand that coward haste alarms. To fling the javelin or to wreak their spite With sticks and stones ; blind fury gives them arms : The mass abandoning in their affright All thought but of escape, desert in swarms The Isle, and struggle for the main terrene. Across the narrow frith that runs between. Some swim for life, and dasVd by the sea- swells. Disgorge the brine, and strike with main and might ; Some swim for death ; the strangling wave expels The life that panted for the shore in sight : More crowd their boats ; the mortars ply their shells. Shattering the thin pangayos of that flight Of savages : The Lusitanian thus Deals with a foe malign and treacherous. 32 THE LUSIAD. XCIII. In triumph to their ships tlie victors bear The prizes of the day, abundant spoils, And now may freely to the wells repair. No hostile hand molests their peaceful toils. . The Moor lies writhing in his new-sought lair ; Hate, prisoner in his heart, the fiercer boils ; And vengeful Hope, that dares not walk abroad, Rests on the second and the safer fraud. XCIV. As if repentant then, for peace to treat. The Sheik of that vile land an envoy sent. And with him, too, a pilot for the fleet, A promised boon and pledge of fair intent. The Lusitanians saw not the deceit That profferM peace when deadher war was meant ; Nor guessM the mission of this smiling knave, A pilot schooFd to lead them to the grave. The Chief whom it behove the hour to seize And bear away once more with zeal untired. For season opportune and favouring breeze Invite him eastward to the land desired. Gave gracious audience to insidious pleas. And joyful welcome to the guide required ; Dismissed the answer^ messenger, and bade The canvas to the liberal wind be spread. THE LUSIAD. Thus expedite, on Amphitrite's reign The brave Armada plies the furrowing prore, The nymphs of Nereus round their friends again Disport, companions sweet and blithe and sure. Da Gama, nought imagining the train Laid for liis prompt destruction by the Moor, Confers with him at large on all he knows Of India, and the coasts that interpose. XCVII. The dark-brow'd man, made perfect in deceits By Bacchus, the malevolent of mind. While in his thought the Lusian lord he cheats To death or bondage ere his goal he find ; With easy frankness every question meets, As one familiar with the ports of Ind, Till all who listen are the dupes of art, Por faithful valour hath a trusting heart. With art like that of Sinon when his guile Deceived the leaguerM Phrygians to their fate. He tells the Lusitanians of an Isle By Christians held from immemorial date : The chief, all ear for this impostor vile. Caught at the sound, and with the news elate An ample largess to the traitor paid. Demanding thither to be straight conveyM. 34 THE LUSIAD. XCIX. Thus on his very predetermined path. The Christian urged the wily Moslem's course ; Por on this Isle dwell none of other faith Than false Mohammed taught, a race perverse : And here, the Moor forebodes, intrigue and death Await the stranger ; for its power and force Out measure the Mozambican ; its name Quitoa, frequent in the mouth of Fame. So thither for Quitoa's Isle they veer ; But Cytherea, their celestial guard. Noting how blindly from their course they steer, To death, that waits to seize them unprepared, Consents not that her favourite people here Shall perish, on a barbarous coast ensnared : And suddenly evokes a furious gale That drives the squadron past the shore of bale. CL But the malignant Moslem, dispossest Of one expedient to effect his will. Moulds yet another in his tortuous breast ; Stanch to his aim and resolute in ill. He tells that though by wind and current prest The drifted ships have baffled all his skill. The chance has brought them near another shore. The joint abode of Christian and of Moor. THE LUSIAD. 36 CII. Here too the slave was false in every word^ And faithful only to his Sheik's command ; The Isle was peopled by a Moslem herd And not a Christian breathed in all the land. In frank belief of what the Moor averred, Da Gama tacked toward the port at hand ; But here the guardian Goddess checked his way, He missed the bar, and anchored in the bay. So near the Isle unto the mainland lay. Nought but a narrow channel ran between ; Along the shelving margin of the bay Appeared a city of imposing mien, A stately range of edifices gay. Or such they seem'd at flattering distance seen : Mombassa was the name of Isle and town, A man of reverend years possessed the crown. CIV. And here arriving, much the Chief rejoiced At thought that he should presently behold A class regenerate at the font of Christ, Of whom the pilot Infidel had told : When lo, a pomp of boats towards him pressed To give him greeting from the monarch old, Already of his guest by one advised, Who seem'd a Moor ; again the Power disguised 36 THE LUSIAD. cv. The message that they bring is from a friend. The meaning that it hides is from a foe ; How fairest words may darkest aims intend, The venom underworking soon will show : O train of cares and perils without end ! road of life whose pitfalls none can know ! Wherever Hope leads on with surest tread, Some covered gulf awaits the mortal led. What shocks at sea ! What storms around him roar ! The spectre Death, how oft before his eye ! What rage, what strife, what deadlier guile, on shore. And oh, how much abhorred necessity ! Where shall frail man, though he the world explore, Pind out some nook, some charterM sanctuary. Where Heaven will let him live his little term In peace, nor launch its thunder at a worm ! CANTO THE SECOND. The Star that travels daily to the West, Developing the hours in order bright, Had reacVd liis humid goal, and secret rest. The dome subaqueous — where the God of Night The portal openM, and the welcome guest In glided, shrouding from the world his light. When forth those savage prowlers came to greet With Libyan faith, the newly anchored fleet. Among them, one, the main commissioner Of fawning treachery, that creeps to slay. Addressed the Chief : " Undaunted voyager ! The first that hither has achieved his way Across yon ocean- deserts, realm of fear. And howling tempests hungry for their prey. Our Island-King, rejoicing, would behold And serve the champion of a feat so bold. OF THE lJNl\/C-Dc^ 38 THE LUSIAD. III. " And, for his ardour is extreme to greet A man on whom renown has set its mark. Within the port he bids thee moor thy fleet, Nor pause by doubt refrained, or caution dark And, piteous of the seaman's hard estate, He grants thy crews free license to debark. With so long toil enfeebled and distrest. And urged by nature to solicit rest. " And if the golden East thy search entice For products of the clime, the merchant's lure. Clove, cinnamon, or other ardent spice. Or drugs of charm to sooth and power to cure- Or if thou seek the lucent gems of price. The flawless ruby and the diamond pure — All these, abundant here, thy choice invite. Enough of wealth to surfeit appetite.'' For this, the royal word, a worthless pawn. Responds the trusting Chief in grateful tone. That now, the sun behind the sea withdrawn, 'Twere rash to navigate a bar unknown ; But that as soon as by the light of dawn The safe approach shall for the fleet be shown. Then will he cheerfully to harboui- bring His ships, obedient to the generous King. THE LUSIAD. 89 VI. Enquires he then if in the Isle abide A Christian people, as the pilot told ; The subtle envoy readily replied, That most who dwell thereon are of the fold Of Christ : so from his breast he roots aside Suspicion and the germs of caution cold, Implanting there securely as he thought. Trust in a nation false and evil-taught. But from a class condemned at home for crime, Reprieved from death, and with the Armada sent To be adventured, at the Chieftain's time. Where risk of nobler life were wealth misspent. Two he selects, in wit and skill the prime. To test the wily Infidels' intent ; Survey their town, and strength, and face to face See, whom all yearn to see, that Christian race. By these deputed twain Da Gama sends Gifts for the King, that his goodwill may hold. Firm, constant, pure, benign as he pretends — A cloak of venom, false in every fold. Swift o'er the surge, away the mission wends. Blithe from the fleet, by perfidy cajoled ; And crowds of Moslems press the shore to meet With feign'd delight the strangers from the fleet. 40 THE LUSIAD. These, after they had tendered to the Prince Their lord's obeisance and the gifts they brought. Perambulate the town, to carry thence Far less of knowledge than to glean they thought ; So jealously the Paynims' crafty sense Abstains from showing all for which they sought ; For where reigns malice, there will fears suggest Its co-existence in another's breast. But He, on whose delusive brow rejoiced The ingenuous grace of endless youth, the God Bimater, He whose falsehood still enticed To snares of death the roamer of the flood, In semblance of a votary of Christ Within a mansion of the city stood. Before a sumptuous altar he had made. And there his simulated homage paid. XI. And o'er that altar, to the life displa/d. The symbol of the Spirit, the white dove. Over the phcenix sole, the spotless maid, Hover'd with brooding wings of holy love : There too the twelve Apostles were pourtray'd As in the hour of fear, when from above Rush'd like a mighty wind the tongues of flame. And gave them voice for climes of every name. THE LUSIAD. 41 XII. When hither brought, where show so well exprest Deceived their sense, the two companions laid Their knees to earth, their hearts to Heaven address^ ; While clouds of incense, breathing as they playM The odorous breath of Araby the Blest, Turned from the censer by Thyoneus swayed : Thus, after all his impious arts can do, The false Divinity adores the true. The Christian visitants on shore that night Were harbourM with all hospitable care ; Nor dream' d they how a sanctimonious sleight Had duped their easy faith into a snare ; But when the rays of upward- struggling light Announced the coming sun to earth and air. And on the horizon of the flushing water Peered the bright face of Titan's rosy daughter. The royal envoys, from the land again Despatched to Gama, his approach entreat ; With these return his own deputed men. On whom the King had lavished bland deceit ; The Lusitanian unconvinced till then That peril lurkM not in the Moor's retreat. And re-assured of Christians on the shore, To trust the river hesitates no more. 42 THE LUSIAD. XV. His scouts advise him of a holy priest And altars blazing to the solemn rite, Of cherished guests to quiet sleep released When darkness mantled with her cloak the light ; Of king and people showing not the least Of aught but such content, so frank and bright. As vanish^ all suspicion of deceit In show of truth so clear and so complete. And now he greets the Moslems with the pride Of honest joy that no suspicion checks ; For noble natures willingly confide, And truthlike arts the wisest may perplex : Leaving their boats along his vesseFs side. The wily wretches swarm upon the decks : They pant with joy : the prize for which they gasp Appears already certain in their grasp. The warriors on the isle are all prepared. And wait the moment to effect their scheme, To seize the fleet, within the bar ensnared And tetherM to its anchors in the stream ; Nor less than massacre of all on board Will satisfy their fury, which they deem A sacred thirst of vengeance, for they seek Their brothers to avenge of Mozambique. THE LUSIAD. 43 xvni. The iiautic cheer that helps the windlass round Calls up the sullen anchors^ slow to rise ; With foresheet only to the wind unbound, The Armada, by the landmarks steering, plies Right for the bar. But, of her charge renownM Still watchful, Erycina, who descries The peril, darts on ocean from above Swift as an arrow from the bow of Love. She summoned the white Nereids to her aid. And all their mates of the cerulean plain : Her voice the willing Power of Waters swayM And aU the listening sisters of the main Their Aphrodite cheerfully obeyed. Prompt at her word, they follow to restrain The lured Armada from the fatal river. Where once entangled it is lost for ever. Away they race, and foremost of the throng Nerine, flashing onward in the pride Of force consummate, flings herself along ; Nisa goes bounding o'er the bounding tide ; Doto, in more than wonted fury strong. Breasts the tall billows : the curved waves divide In awe to give the rushing Nereids way — Long lines behind them gleam of argent spray. 44 THE LUSIAD. XXI. Majestic passion sparkling in her eyes^ Upon the shoulders of a Triton sate The lovely Dionoea ; lightly lies On him the burden, proud of such a freight — . The fleet, that under easy canvas tries The ill-omenM pass, they reach ere yet too late, And, instant, wheeling as the leader guides, A troop of Nymphs around each vessel glides. The Goddess and her troop confront the sail Of Gama, hindering access to the bar With such effect that all in vain the gale Blows aft. Their bosoms, resolute as fair. Against the bows enforced, back, back compel The strong-ribbM ship, while with as strenuous care Others astern, cling grappling at the hull : — The shuddering ship recoils with canvas full ! XXIII. As emmets, provident against their foe The shrewd and nipping winter, to their cell Trailing some bulky weight well-balanced show What mighty hearts in little room may dwell. And tugging, straining, over high and low. Straight to their hoard the giant prize compel — So toil the Nymphs from ruin foul to save Their Lusian friends and comrades of the wave. THE LUSIAD. 45 XXIV. The staggerM ship to leeward falls, and drifts In spite of those who toil with shrilly cry At cord and sail ; the raging steersman shifts His helm from side to side incessantly : The Master from the poop in vain uplifts His warning voice that tells of peril nigh ; For breakers now upon his quarter loom, A reef of sea-beat rocks that threaten doom. The fearful whooping the rough seamen raise. Clangs to their toil : the clamour and the press Of furious energies the Moors amaze. As if they were amid the horrent stress Of battle ; whither the loud tumult sways. Or what it bodes, they know not, but they guess The weft unravellM of their artful snare. And vengeance bursting on them, then, and there. Impelled by irresistible dismay, Lo ! on a sudden, overboard they leap. Whirling from this side and from that away ! Some vault to their almades and skim the deep ; Others plange headlong in the upb oiling sea. Adventuring rather through its coil and sweep To struggle for the chance of life, than know What fate may wait them from an injured foe. 46 THE LUSIAD. XXVII. As on the bosky margin of a lake, Having emerged incautious from the mere, Progs (in old time a Lycian people) take Affright perchance at some intruder near, And leaping, splashing, hither, thither, make The troubled water vocal with their fear, And huddle to their customary screen. Nought but their heads above the surface seen,- So flit the Moors : and he of Mozambique, Who led the ships to that great jeopardy, Believing his imposture known, alike Escapes by plunging to the bitter sea : But lest upon the steadfast rock they strike. Where life, so sweet and precious, lost must be. The flagship drops the anchor at a cast ; The rest, hard by their leader, moor as fast. The careful Chieftain, seeing tliis affright. So strange and sudden, of the Moors, and how The pilot as abruptly takes to flight. Can understand the brutal people now ; And having seen — by no prevailing might Of winds opposed, nor current's force — his prow DebarrM of onward power, therein he feels The hand of Heaven, and thus to Heaven appeals THE LUSIAD. 47 XXX. " O wonder great beyond the scope of reason ! manifest effect of grace divine ! O unimagined fraud divulged in season ! faithless race of infidels malign ! Who shall escape the subtle reach of treason. What light of wisdom pierce a dark design, If yonder all-potential Ward on high His aid to human feebleness deny ? . XXXI. " With wary eye these fearful ports to scan A signal Providence has warned us well : How goodly show can mask an evil plan. Henceforth our confidence abused may tell. But since no honest skill of mortal man Can fathom to their depths such arts of hell. Do Thou, Guard Omnipotent, extend Thy help to us who have no other friend. " And if our plight forlorn so moves thy ruth For miserable wanderers as we be. That, of thy grace, and that alone in sooth, Erom foes malignant Thou hast set us free. To some sure haven now, where there is truth. Conduct us, weary pilgrims of the sea. Or show the sought-for land, so long unfound. For on thy service only we are bound." ;«,. 48 THE LUSIAD. XXXIII. His melancholy orison was heard By beauteous Dionoea ; touched thereby. She vanished from the Nereids, who deplored Her so abrupt transition to the sky : Anon, among the radiant stars she soarM ; Now, the third sphere received her flashing by ; Nor paused in her ascent the Queen of Love Till the sixth Heaven she reached, the seat of Jove. FlusVd by her speed and vehemence of flight, She shone so beauteous on the worlds above. All that beheld her kindled at the sight ; The stars, the sky, the very air was love ; Her eyes, where Cupid nestles, flash out light Instinct with spirit that can all things move ; With conscious warmth the frozen poles inspire, And turn the frigid hemisphere to fire. And, to enchant the Sovereign Father more. Who held her ever fondly dear, she stood Within his presence, as she stood before The Trojan arbiter in Ida's wood. Had thus the hunter seen her — he of yore Transform^, for Dian in the fountain view'd, He ne^er had perish'd to his hounds a prey. But erst of this bright vision pined away. THE LUSIAD. XXXVI. — XXXVII. Adown her neck, than snow-drift whiter, fell The wavy filaments of golden hair, Her milk-white bosom beat with quickened swell. For Love invisible was playing there. The flame whose use the archer knows so well, Shot from her zone of jewels passing rare ; A modest gauze, with careless seeming art. The beauty heighten^ that it veiFd in part, — And showing on her countenance divine With a sweet smile a sweeter sadness blended. Like to a damsel by her Valentine In amorous play incautiously offended. Who chiding, smiling makes so shadowy-fine The self-same moment, — so, with half pretended. Half genuine woe, and witchery all her own. She plained in tender more than angry tone. " Sire Supreme, I ever thought to find, For objects of my cherished care, in Thee A friend indulgent, gentle, more than kind. Though crossed thereby some adverse will might be ; But since displeasure actuates Thy mind Against me blameless — as too well I see — Henceforward let the Yine-God be content ; I will at last to my disgrace assent. 50 THE LUSIAD. XL. " On these, my people, whom without avail My tears deplore — for none my tears will heed — Enough of sorrow does my love entail. Bent as Thou art my wishes to impede ; The more on their behalf I weep and wail The more against myself and them I plead : Well, since they suffer because I befriend, Fll learn to hate them, Thou wilt then defend. XLI. '^ Yes in the brutal hands of that dark race Now let them die — for I have been,^'' and here The burning tears did sparkle on her face As on the rosebud shine the dew-drops clear ; And, after pausing for a little space As if her utterance faiFd for grief severe. She tried to speak again but scarce unclosed Her lips before the Thunderer interposed. xLn. And, moved by tones and gestures bland that might Have toucVd a tiger's cruel heart, he smiled With that supernal smile which turns to light And peace the darkened air and tempest wild : On her he turn'd that aspect mildly bright. And would have dried her tears ; but like a child That after chastisement but sobs the more If wooM by fond caresses to give o'er. THE LUST AD. 51 XLIII. She when her Father clasps her to his breast, The faster weeps : as if her woe resents The tender kisses on her cheek imprest, Thereat the passion of her grief augments. To lay the tumult in her heart at rest He brings before her immatured events, And thus the course of future things relates. Revolving the dark secrets of the Fates, — "My beauteous daughter cast away all fears For these thy friends of Lusitanian line ; Nor deem that aught can move me more than tears Thus flowing from those sovereign eyes of thine : For this I promise, these resolved compeers The Greek, the Roman, shall in fame outshine. Such deeds illustrious shall by them be done In yonder glorious kingdoms of the Sun. " If wise Ulysses, whom no spell could stay. From endless bondage in Ogygia fled. And if Antenor pierced the Illyrian bay And roaring waters by Timavus fed. If reverent ^neas push'd his way 'Twixt Scylla and Charybdis' gulf of dread. Thy Lusians born to greater things than those, Shall worlds yet latent to the world disclose. 52 THK LUSIAD. XLVI. " Raised by their power fair cities shalt thou see. Vast walls and citadels of towered stone : The Paynim, stubborn warrior though he be, In every struggle shall be overthrown : The Kings of India, now secure and free, A mightier King's supremacy shall own. And happier laws diffused throughout the land. Shall vindicate the Lusian's conquering hand. " This fearless man, now pressing through the deep By perils haunted in his search of Ind, Shall make the very heart of Neptune leap. And awe-struck waters quake without a wind : matchless wonder ! all the winds asleep. Yet Ocean trembhng at a constant mind ! O high-souFd race ! the elements avow A presence greater than they knew till now. " And yonder Isle, where water was denied. Shall be a port of refuge and of rest, From the long conflict with the ocean-tide To future navies crowding from the West : Yon shores, in fine, — where now from side to side Mortiferous plots are woven, — the behest Of power invisible shall all obey. And tribute to the dreadful Lusian pay. THE LUSIAD. XLIX. " His lustrous arms shall turn the waters pale Of Erjthra^ renowned from days of yore; Twice shall the kingly strength of Ormus fail, And twice surrender to the Lusian power. And there reverted 'Iby the baffling gale The Moorish shaft shall pierce the furious Moor, And teach their Paynim enemies to know Who wars on them is to himself a foe. " A twofold siege will strong Diu sustain. Impregnable, because by Lusians manned. There shall their worth shine out and genuine strain. By deeds of arms above example grand : Even Mars will eye the host of leaguers slain Not without envy of that leaguer^ band. And Moslem warriors as they writhe in death- Shall curse the Prophet with their latest breath. " And Goa, wrested from the Moor, shall rise To greatness and become in after-time By virtue of this people's enterprise The Queen of oriental realms ; subhme With triumph, awful with her threatening eyes To gentile nations sullied with the crime Of Idol- worship ; and afar and near Barbaric foes shall feel her curb severe. 54 THE LUSIAD. LII. " With scanty garrison shall Cananore To native kings oppose her steadfast wall ; While strong in numbers, on her busy shore Renowned for power, Calicut shall fall : A lordly heart, true mettle to me core. Shall loyal Cochin^s enemies appal, By exploits worthier of immortal fame Than ever cithern sounded to proclaim. Lm. " When young Augustus, upon Actium's wave. Overthrew the unjust Triumvir (gorged with spoil Won from the sons of morn, the people brave Of Scythian Bactra, and from famous Nile, Himself a prize to Egypt's queen, a slave To lawless beauty, and a wanton smile), Not then Leucate kindled with alarms Of Mars procinct and terrible in arms. " As yonder Indian seas shall flash and roar When Lusus"* sons, in fiery struggle tried. Shall subjugate Idolater and Moor, . And triumph over nations far and wide ; To golden Chersonesus, to the shore Of far Cathay their keels shall proudly glide. And isles remote that bask in orient day : And all that ocean shall confess their sway. THE LUSIAD. 55 LV. '' And thus, my child, shall they achieve their fate By labours such as never mortal bore ; And never will their prowess find its mate. No, not from Ganges to the Gadite shore. Not from Arcturus to the southern Strait Which first an injured Lusian will explore ; Though all the brave of old heroic days Should rise competitors for equal praise/' This said, he sends the son divine of May To choose some hospitable port and sure. Wherein may pause the Armada on its way Erom angry gales and evil minds secure ; And, lest by lingering in Mombassa's bay The Chief revive the projects of the Moor, Jove bids his herald in a dream disclose The friendly land and harbour of repose. Prompt at the sovereign word, alights on land The lithe Cyllenian of the feathered feet ; He bears the charmM caduceus in his hand Wherewith he lulls worn eyes in slumber sweet ; He sways the wind with this portentous wand; And wins the dead from Hades' dismal seat ; The winged helm from human eye conceals The God ; his presence all Melinda feels. 56 THE LUSIAD. LVIII. And close upon him glides attendant Fame To tell of Lusian worth, so rare and proud, For there is magic in a lauded name That wins the frank affection of the crowd : With artful tongue that speeds her gracious aim The Lusian virtues she declares aloud. Till all the town is burning to behold The stamp and bearing of a race so bold. Thence to Mombassa, where the navy lay Too near a foe, the herald power departs. To warn the Lusian from the fatal bay And region peopled with suspicious hearts ; Tor strength and skill of small avail are they Against obdurate wills and hellish arts ; Soul, wit, and conduct, are of small avail If counsel from the source of wisdom fail. LX. Midway had travelled now the placid night ; O'er the broad surface of the land and deep The lamps celestial shed their borrowed light ; The weary mariners are hush'd in sleep. All but the midnight watch, who with those bright And faithful stars of heaven their vigil keep : The illustrious Chief to short repose resigned A frame outwearied by a watchful mind. THE LUSIAD. When lo ! appears before him in a dream The warning power : — " Hence, Lusitanian, hence ! Avoid by timely flight the fatal scheme That dooms thee by a king's malevolence. The lights of heaven with favouring aspect gleam ; Wind, time, and tide befriend thee ; and a Prince, Another and a kindlier king, elsewhere ; Safe is the shelter that awaits thee there. " To greet thee here such welcome sole attends As Diomedes, of inhuman mood. To strangers gave, on whom, received as friends. His steeds he nourish^, their accustomed food. O'er thee while lingering here the doom impends Of those unhappy creatures with whose blood The altars of Busiris reek'd obscene : Ply from these savage and perfidious men ! " Hie thee along the mainland coast in sight. And thou shalt reach a land where truth abides ; Near to the burning line, where day and night The Sun in like admeasurement divides ; There shall a king receive thee with delight. And prove his truth by many a grace besides ; There wilt thou furl thy sails in peace, and find A faithful pilot to the shores of Ind.'' 58 THE LUSIAD. LXIV. So Hermes spake, and waved the wand of might ; Da Gama, waking in a strange dismay. Saw the mid-darkness pierced with sacred light, A thrilling and a momentary ray ! As clearly flasVd upon his inner sight The warning wisdom that rebuked delay : He haird the master with rekindled mind. And bade him give the canvas to the wind. " Unreef ! " he cried, " Make sail before the breeze ! The Deity hath spoken ! Prom on high A spirit ministrant to heaven^ s decrees Is sent to guide us, — him beheld have I." All hands are now alive : the foremost seize The capstan bars, and call with shrilly cry The anchors home, and as they heave and weigh Their sinewy strength, the seamen's pride, display. Meanwhile the restless Paynims on the scout Stole to the mooring under night's disguise. And softly strove to cleave the cables stout. Whereby to strand the navy they devise: But, keen of vision as the lynx, looked out The Lusitanians, proof against surprise : Admonished of their vigilance, the Moors Pled as if with wings impelled instead of oars. THE LUSIAD. 59 Lxvn. And now the beaked prows along their course Were cleaving the white waters ; yards inclined, And canvas steady to the gentle force And equal pressure of a quarter wind ; On late and old adventures in discourse The crews expatiate, for not soon the mind Forgets occasions imminent to life By fortune hardly rescued from the strife. Once had the sun revolved in full career And now again commenced his daily race. When, far away as can be seen, appear Two vessels creeping on the water's face. Moors they must be : the Lusitanians veer, And bear towards the land to give them chase. One for the nearest coast in terror flew And ran aground in haste to save the crew : Not so the other, less alert for speed ; But into Lusian hands about to fall Without the fierce constraint of Mars, or need Of Yulcan's angry bluster to appal. Too few to venture on a daring deed For conscious weakness had disheartened all, The people yield, and wisely ; for the weak By vain resistance but destruction seek. 60 THE LUSIAD. LXX. And as a pilot for the land he sought Was still the want that pressed on Gama's care, Among the Moors to find one he had thought ;- A hope that now th' event dissolved in air. What sky overarches India, nor of aught He fain would learn, can none of these declare : But all assure him of Melinda nigh, And there the port that will a guide supply. And all extol the Monarch reigning there, For princely qualities that none exceeds. For liberal condition, soul sincere ; Eor state magnificent, for bounteous deeds. And large humanity that all revere. The Chief believes them, for his dream he reads : And shapes his course, as Man and Heaven invite. Led by the Moor and by that vision bright. 'Twas in the pleasant season when the light Of Phoebus strikes in either horn the steer That bore away Europa : earth was dight With Flora and the promise of the year From Amalthea's horn. The sun, in flight Aereal, constant on his swift career, Recaird the day when the Creator laid His seal on his good work which He had made. THE LUSIAD. 61 LXXIII. Then first the Lusitanian Navy rode Those waters skirting the Melindan bay ; "The ships, with arras hung, their bravery showed In honour of the consecrated day ; The streamers llutterM, and the standard flowM, Its purple hue distinguished far away ; The timbrel sounded and the rattling drum, And thus like warriors jubilant they come. To view the floating pomp a countless train Of natives gather on the sandy bound ; A race of better faith and more humane Than all till now on Afric borders found. The ships bear up, anon their cables strain, Slow swinging as their anchors bite the ground. A Moor of those just seized, is sent to greet MeHnda's Monarch from the Lusian fleet. The Prince, already conscious to the fame Of Lusian chivalry by land and tide. As much exults to harbour such a name As that is worthy of his generous pride ; And, with a noble nature^s single aim. Sends out his welcome as to friends alHed, And bids them land and here console their cares Pree of the soil as if the realm were theirs. 62 THE LUSIAD. LXXVI. Frank overtures are these, ingenuous words, — And, as an earnest of how true they are, He sends them tropic fruits, and pamper' d birds Domestic, and (to men who sail from far. Sight fairer than the flocks that Proteus herds) Sheep, from the long-wool'd flocks of Zanzibar ; Such boons are wealth to seamen long adrift. And here the giver's will excels the gift. The gracious word that fills tlie Chief with joy As joyful was the messenger to bring. As fair a tribute as his stores supply Da Gama promptly tenders to the King ; A gorgeous tissue of the scarlet dye. And corals branched, that under ocean spring, - Of soft accretion there ; but branch and stem To air exposed, indurate to a gem. With these to treat of friendship, and beseech The royal grace that he abstain from shore. He sends an envoy versed in arts of speech. And fluent master of the Arab lore. The zealous herald failed not soon to reach The palace and the presence of the Moor, And him he thus accosted, in a strain By wisdom prompted and a teeming brain : — THE LUSIAD. G3 LXXIX. " High King, on whom from yon supernal sphere Consummate justice liath bestowed command. That rules the stubborn mass by love and fear. While all affect thy strong and gentle hand ; Thy port we sought as most from peril clear. The safest known along the Lybian strand ; * Thyself we come to seek that we may gain, In thee, the solace long required in vain. " No base marauders we, with fire and sword Surprising feeble townships as we roam. And dealing slaughter for the lust abhorrM Of plunder rapt from the defenceless home. By mandate of our own imperial Lord Erom sovereign Europe's western marge we come. Sailing the seas with loyal heart, to find The far-off shores of large prolific Ind. " What race of men, if men they be, are those ? What monstrous customs use they in the land ? Who not alone the port to strangers close. But ev'n exclude them from the desert sand ? What have we done ? How shown the front of foes. To raise their terror of so small a band ? And wherefore arniM with frauds so fine, should they To ruin hunt us as their libbard prey ? 64 THE LUSIAD. LXXXII. " But, with a trust unshaken, we confide In thy superior truth, King benign. And such relief as Scheria^s throne supplied To wandering Ithacus we hope from thine. Our ships at anchor in thy haven ride, * Led thither by the Interpreter divine : Tlierefore we know thee well for what thou art. The rare example of a faithful heart. " And if our Chief refrains to tender here His homage to the Euler of the land. Deem not, O King, that he is held by fear Of less than kingly usage at thy hand : But know that bound by the restraint severe Of duty, he obeys his King's command That till his orient mission be complete. Nor coast nor harbour tempt him from the fleet. " And since the laws of vassalage require Subservience of the members to the liead. Thou, holding regal office, wilt desire No subject a forbidden path to tread. But for the gratitude he owes thee. Sire, He vows, 'tis all he can, thy fame to spread. And pledges too his nation's friendship won So long as rivers to the ocean run." THE LUSIAD. 65 LXXXV. The herald ceased, and all the accordant ring Of auditors were loud in praise of these Strange men, whose ships, so long upon the wing, Persisted through immeasurable seas Beneath strange stars. Nor lightly prized the King The allegiant spirit of the Portuguese, And great, he thought, as he this temper weighed, Must be their Monarch, so far off obeyed. With gracious heart in glowing smiles exprest. Thus to the honourM Envoy he replies : " Extirpate all suspicion from your breast : Away with doubt and every cold surmise ! Your worth essay'd by many a hardy test Is of the genuine stamp the world should prize ; Nor unto them who would have done you wrong Can honour or exalted thoughts belong. " That all your people visit not the shore, Erom strict obedience to supremacy. Is well ; for though their absence I deplore, Yet much I hold to perfect fealty. If discipline consents not, then no more Will I consent that but to pleasure me They pass the wonted limit, and obscure The lustre of a loyalty so pure. THE LUSIAD. LXXXVIII. " And when yon setting orb appears anew To-morrow with the morning's earliest ray, Will we go forth in our almades to view Your navy — sight desired for many a day. And if it come in plight dismantled, through The stormy gales and long bewildering way. Here shall ye find — in free concession yours — A skilful pilot, muniments and stores." LXXXIX. As thus the Monarch spake the words desired, Latona's son beneath the wave withdrew : The joyful envoy and his train retired ; Back to the fleet his eager pinnace flew. On board, his tidings every heart inspired With rapture : now indeed was found the clue To the mysterious goal ; and, one and all. They made that night a glorious festival. No lack was there of stars of artful ray Like comets trembling as aloft they rove : The cannoniers made good their fiery play. As if the Cyclops were at work for Jove ; Earth, sea, and firmament astounded they. As if his thunder to outvoice they strove : And in the pauses of the cannonade Shrill-breathed clarions martial concert made. THE LUSIAD. 67 xci. The shores give answer. Wildfire serpents there, Whizzing among the crowded revel, win Innocuous triumph : radiant wheels in air Their flaming rings in swift gyration spin. As bursting forth the sulphurous ashes tear ; Spouts multitudinous the welkin din ; Earth, sea, and sky are all alive with light, While sea and coast contend in mimic fight. XCII. Brief rest ensued, when night began to fail. But Day is lord of man's laborious powers : Sleep's foe, Aurora, broke into the pale Of dreams, attended by the radiant Hours, Shivering the drowsy mists to dewy grail That softly falling sparkled on the flowers ; Then from the land the King Mehndan went To view afloat the stately Armament. xcni. The sandy sliores with life and lustre glow. So vast the crowds that to the scene repair ; So gay and bright their purple mantles show. And tissues flaunting in the morning air. Instead of martial lances and the bow Shaped like the crescent, in their hands they bear Green shoots of palm, the tree of peace, whose boughs Supply the truest crown for victors' brows. 68 THE LUSIAD. XCIV. A stately barge and spacious, canopied With particolored silks of texture fine. Bears the Melindan King, accompanied By magnates of his realm and men of line. He comes array' d in rich and costly pride ; As custom and his dignity enjoin : His brow a turban girds in many a fold Of cotton interweaved with silk and gold : And rich and rare his damask tunic shines. Of Tyrian dye, the colour here esteemM : A chain of purest gold his neck entwines. The work yet costlier than the substance deemM A splendid baldric to his side confines The laboured ataghan with jewels gemmM : Seed-pearl and gold in prodigal display The sandals' sable velvet overlay. An officer, behind, with silken mace — A concave screen fixt on a gilded wand. Forbids the solar beam that mounts apace To scorch or daze the Monarch of the land. Strange music, at the prow, of music's grace Devoid, resounds obstreperous from a band Of convoluted horns of asper voice. That without concert horribly rejoice. THE LUSIAD. 69 xcvn. Nor less of pomp the Lusitanian shows When, with his gallant retinue, advance The Armada's boats, midway to welcome those Of the Melindan on the bay's expanse. Clad in the vogue of Spain Da Gama goes. All but the cloak, a gorgeous robe of Prance, The web Venetian satin, and the dye A glorious crimson that delights the eye. XCVIII. And golden studs the gathered sleeve restrain. Whereon the sun a dazzling lustre throws ; With the same ore, so many ask in vain Of Fortune, broider'd shines his martial hose. Points delicately worked, of gold again. The welted slashes of his doublet close. EngraiFd with gold his sword Italic shines, And slightly on his cap a plume inclines. His people's dress is of the dark red hue The murex to the dyer's skill supplies; The differing garbs and fashions, to the view At once presented, charm the wondering eyes : Eor all the spectacle is strange and new By force of reconciled varieties ; Fair as the meteor arc in heaven display'd Of sweet Thaumantis, Juno's Herald-Maid. 70 THE LUSIAD. C. Now peals the Lusian trumpet, and the sound Makes the heart leap. The Moor's flotilla gay Comes booming on, curdling the waves around ; The silken curtains ripple in the spray. The fleet salutes him, and the guns astound^ Exhaling clouds of smoke that veil the day. Again, again, those thunders, and the Moor, With hand on ear comprest, shuts out the roar. CI. The Monarch, passing to Da Gama's boat, StretchM forth his arms and clasp'd him to his breast He with the courtesy to kings devote By reason, paid due homage to liis guest. Awhile the Moslem eyed liim, taking note Of every lineament, as one imprest With admiration of the strenuous mind That compassed from so far the shores of Ind. Then with all liberal instance he renews His offer of the plenty of the land. And bids liim of the realm's resources choose, For what he needs he has but to demand. He tells him, too, that though but now he views The Lusian feature, — from a far-off strand The Lusians' fame had reached him, and their wars Against the Moslem of the Punic shores. THE LUSIAD. 7I cm, " And Africa/' he said, " from coast to coast Resounded with the deeds that they had done When warring with a fierce Maurusian host, The crown of the Hesperides they won." Such feats, the least the Lusian arms could boast. Though yet the greatest to Melinda known. The King with generous ardour magnified : But thus the Lusitanian Chief replied : — " Thou, the King benign, in whom alone We find compassion of our lorn estate. We who till now but misery have known In weary coil with seas infuriate ; May He who guides from His eternal throne The spheres of heaven and course of human fate. Requite thy signal bounty, royal Moor, Since we in all but gratitude are poor. '' From none but thee beneath the torrid ray Has peace consoled the strangers from the deep ; In thee at last a solace and a stay Are ours, and refuge from the whirlpools' sweep : For which, while earth shall know the light of day. While either pole its starry flock shall keep. Where'er may live Da Gama's name, be sure. In fame and glory will thy praise endure." 72 THE LUSIAD. CVI. Urged by the flashing oar, as thus he spake, The gay procession glided to the fleet ; The boats a circuit of the Armada make, Each ship in turn the Moors desire to meet. The boding flash again the Hnstocks wake, And festal thunders the Melindan greet ; The trumpets hail him, and an answer shrills Exultant from the Moslem anafils. cvir. But when the admiring Moor had taken note Of all, still challenged to renewM amaze By that strange clamour from the cannon's throat, "Which seems to threaten whom it peals to praise ; He claimM a truce of noise, and bade the boat Be staid at anchor, that awhile, at ease. Discourse with Gama he might freely hold Of things by rumour indistinctly told. cvni. Well pleased, the Moslem o'er an ample space Of question travelled, in discursive vein ; Now he would follow, in the gory trace Of Fame, the Lusian wars with Mauritane : Now ask of Gama's home, and every race Within the wide circumference of Spain, Now of the neighbours of that distant realm. Now of the waters traversed by his helm. THE LUSIAD. 73 cix. " But be it first, brave chief/^ he said, " thy care To tell us of thine own paternal land ; Its clime, its features, even the region where It lies, but dimly yet we understand : Your lineage too from time remote declare. And old foundation of a power so grand ; Your nation's wars relate from early days. For though we know them not we know their praise. " And tell us of thy course in tliis emprise That Ocean^s jealous rage so oft impedes. At many a turn revealing to thine eyes Strange customs our untutorM Afric breeds Along her coasts. Begin, for yonder rise. On fresh Aurora's purple track, the steeds Gold-bitted, drawing the enamelFd wain Of day. The winds are hush'd and still the main. " And not less prompt is our desire to hear Than is the time propitious for the theme ; Por who that ever unto fame gave ear But knows your race has won the world's esteem ? Yon solar orb in its effulgence clear Shines not so far from us that ye should deem Melindan minds too dull to entertain The deeds of heroes, or on land or main. 74 THE LUSIAD. cxn. " The haughty giants, in their senseless pride Of strength, storra'd the serene Olympic height, Pirithous and Theseus blindly tried On Pluto's dark and dreadful realm their might If ever sons of earth so hardly vied. No smoother task, nor less in honour's sight Than madly daring heaven and hell, has he Who braves the rage of the majestic sea. "Erostratus, intent to make his name The Ephesian wonder of succeeding time, A torch applied to that consummate frame Of Ctesiphon, Diana's fane sublime : If thus the passion for enduring Eame Entices mortals to be great in crime "Well may the man undying glory crave Whose deeds deserve their franchise from the grave." CANTO THE THIED. Instruct me now, Calliope, to tell What to the King illustrious Gama told ; Inspire this mortal breast that loves thee well. With song immortal, voice divinely bold : So may the inventor of the healing spell. Sire of thine Orpheus, never more withhold For Daphne, Clytia, nor Leucothea's arms The love due only to their peerless charms. Give me, Nymph, to strike the heroic string In numbers worthy of my country's sons ; That aU the world may know from Tejo's spring The genuine lymph of Aganippe runs ; Leave Pindus' flowers, Apollo with thee bring, To bathe me in the sovereign flood he suns. Else shall I deem thee jealous lest thy own Beloved Orpheus into shade be thrown. 76 THE LUSIAD. ni. The hushed Melindans all expectant sought To hear the voice of that illustrious man ; And Gama soon, after a pause of thought, Eaising his head, the narrative began. — " Thou wouldst, O Monarch, by my lips be taught Prom what high source our ancient lineage ran ; Thy will prescribes no theme of alien story. But even the praises of my nation's glory ! '^ Pleading another's worth our own we raise. It is a seemly and ingenuous plea ; But self-encomium wants the grace of praise. And so I fear will that of mine from me ; Time too must fail me, for if hours were days My fertile theme would unexhausted be ; But thou commandest and 'tis mine to obey. In spite of scruples, briefly as I may. " What further binds me to the task is this, I cannot magnify the theme, nor build To Lusian fame so wide an edifice As haK the gathered trophies might have filFd ; But, lest by fault of order I should miss Clear apprehension ; — first, as thou hast will'd. The region whence we come will I unveil. And then our sanguinary wars detail. THE LUSIAD. 77 vi. ^* Between the zone which pants with torrid heat By Cancer ruled, the bright sun's northern goal — And that whereon with equal torment beat The dreadful rigours of the frozen Pole, The milder clime is stately Europe's seat : Ocean's salt waves her western shore control And that which lies beneath Arcturus' star ; The midland waters are her southern bar. '^ Two liquid boundaries on the orient side Prom Asia part her ; Tanais winter-tamed — Winding adown Eiphean hills, to glide Into the Lake Meotis — and the famed ^gean flood where Greece in warlike pride Pierce triumphs won of yore, and far proclaimed ; Where now the seaman to Sigeeum nigh. In fancy only sees imperial Troy. " Par northward, towering beneath the Wain, The mountains Hyperborean stretch their arms. And they of their Eolian title vain, Por there reigns iEolus the King of Storms ; And there the orb whose rays the world sustain A languid radiance sheds that never warms : A shroud of snow for ever wraps the mountains, Prost locks the sea, and frost enchains the fountains. 78 THE LUSIAD. IX. " There hoards of Scythians roam — a countless flock. Whose ancient fathers rail'd with those of Nile ; Each vaunting theirs to be the parent stock Whence earth was peopled, continent and isle ; But pride is human reason's stumbling-block, And truth was distant from them all the while : He that his origin would truly scan Must ask of Syrian dust the birth of man. " Yonder the cheerless waste of Lapland lies. And rugged Norway, stranger to the plough ; And Scandinavia, proud of victories Which Italy's gray ruins yet avow. There, when enfranchised from their thrall of ice By summer suns, the Baltic waters flow. Along the reach of the Sarmatic main Sail the brave Swede, the Prussian and the Dane. " Strange nations, Russ, Livonian, Muscovite, Spread from this sea to where the Tanais rolls, Sarmatians once. Hercynia's woody height Shelters a race of Marcomans or Poles. Saxon, Pannonian, Marobucluite, Within her empire Germany enrols And many nations more, where snow-born Ehine And Danube, Albis, and Amasis shine. THE LUSIAD. 79 XII. " Between far Ister, and the narrow Sound, Where with her life young Helle left her name. Is Thrace, a land for valiant men renownM Whom Mars rejoices as his sons to claim. Eough Hsemus there and Ehodope snow-crown'd Are subject to the Soldau, and, shame ! Byzantium too endures that sway indign. False to the memory of great Constantine. " The next in order, Macedonia stands. By Asius traversed to Naupactum's wave ; And you too, incomparable lands. Soil of the wise, the polisVd and the brave ! Mother of eloquent tongues and artful hands. And wizard minds with fancy for their slave ; In arms sublime too as in arts of peace Thy glories reach the stars, immortal Greece ! " Dalmatia is her neighbour, in the bay Where rose Antenor's city, Padua now ; Venice, so lowly in her early day. Amid the waters lifts her haughty brow. There Italy outstretches o'er the sea That forceful arm which made the nations bow. And not the virtue of her sword alone. But mightier genius made the world her own. 80 THE LUSIAD. XV. " Around her shores the purple waters twine Save where a wall of Alps her frontier bars ; Along her centre strides the Apennine, Eternal trophy to your Lybian Mars : But He who holds on earth the keys divine Now sways enfeebled Eome, unskillM in wars. Gone is the pride of power — her ancient leaven, So dear is meek humility to Heaven. " There lies the realm of Gaul, by Csesar's lore For wars with Csesar through the world renowned ; The Seine and Rhone her fertile plains explore, The chilly Garonne and the Ehine profound. South, where Pyrene sank bewildered, soar The enormous hills, her monumental mound. Whose woody sides, once fired, as legends told, PourM rivers down of silver and of gold. " And southward of the Pyrenean height The noble head of Europe is descried, Eomantic Spain whose glories in despite Of every turn of Eortune's wheel abide ; Eor never, or by stratagem or might. Could restless Fortune so perplex her pride. That daring heart and formidable hand Were ever scarce in her beUigerent land. THE LUSIAD. 81 XVIII. '' Confronting Abyla with Calpe's rock. At that famed Strait the Theban's last emprize The intermediate sea she seems to lock_, And threaten Tingis with her watchful eyes ; But her domain, peopled from many a stock, A zone of waters to Pyrene ties. Her divers races all such lustre boast That every race esteems itself the most. XIX. " Her's are the Sons of Arragon ; let bold Parthenope chastised their fame declare : Her's staid Galicia, and those bulwarks old Against the Moor, Asturias and Navarre ; Her's Leon and sublime Castille whose star Prom Moorish thraldom rescued Spain and ruled ; Granada her's, to Paynim memory dear. And Seville, pride of great Guadalquivir. " And then behold the Crown of Europe's Head, Bright Lusitania gleaming on the marge Of earth and ocean, o'er a golden bed Of waves, the couch of Phoebus. Heaven in charge Gave to her sons the sword of justice dread That drove the Mauritanian thro^ the surge Back to his fiery wilds, nor leaves him there At rest, but goads the savage in his lair. THE LUSIAD. XXI. " That is my own beloved delightful land. To which if Heaven accord me safe return, — This work accomplish^ for her glory plannM — There may my light of life its remnant burn. Lusus or Lysa, roving to her strand, To Lusitania gave her name eterne. Sons they, or comrades, of the ivy-crownM, And primal dwellers on that antique ground. " There he whose name his manly prowess tells, The shepherd champion of the land was born ; Whose fame in arms no rival glory quells Since haughty Rome's may blush but cannot scorn. That land, the stealthy sire, whom Fate compels AU his own offspring to devour in turn. To regal state has reared through cycles past Time's favoured child to be devourM the last. " Thus rose the Monarchy ; a king of Spain, Alonzo wrought the Moor incessant woe : By warlike strategy, by might and main. Much land he won, much blood he caused to flow ; Prom Calpe to the Caspian ridge, the strain Of his high deeds aroused the jealous throe Of honour in brave bosoms, warriors came In crowds, to share liis peril and his fame. THE LUSIAD. 83 XXIV. " From various lands they troop' d, their country dear^ Their household charities resigned, to press Into the ranks of martial toil severe. Eager for high heroic action, less Prom love of worldly honour than the clear And genuine zeal of faithful holiness : Alonzo, just to signal worth, decreed To every champion his befitting meed. XXV. " Of these the Count Henriquez (second sou, Tradition tells, of a Pannonian King) In fief the rule of Lusitania won, A land as yet nor prized nor flourishing. Still more to honour the transcendant Hun His child Teresa, in her beauty's spring, Alonzo gave him at the self-same hour. And with the bride the Count possessed the dower. " Him, after many a conflict with the race Of bondmaid Hagar, greatly fought and won. And many a province added to the space Of Christian rule, had proved his duty done — Heaven, not unmindful of those deeds of grace. In happy hour rewarded with a son : To illustrate soon, in no degenerate vein. The proud and martial Lusitanian reign. 84 THE LUSIAD. XXVII. " Among the knights, when Godfrey led the van Of Europe's armies on the Jordan flood, Eiver baptismal of the God-in-Man, Henriquez fought and conquered for the Eood ; Nor till the city of the Shrine they won And all Judea to the cross subdued, Returned, with many, his compeers in praise, A troop of princes crownM with sacred bays. "The grand Hungarian when the final goal Of life was reached, a bourne the bravest fears. To God who gave resigned his trembling soul. Leaving his son as yet in tender years. But like himself to shine on glory's scroll, Por sire and son in chivalry were peers : The world that never held a braver pair Prom such a sire had looked for such an heir. " But old report, I know not true or feign' d, JPor nought is certain of such ancient date, Tells that Henriquez' widow not disdain'd To wed another ; seizing all the state, Her's the sole right slie loftily maintained. Of sway deputed to her former mate. Gift of her father's, as a spousal dower. And thus she wrong'd her orphan son for power. THE LUSIAD. 85 XXX, " The Prince Affonso, from his grandsire named, — Disfranchised of his own, and pushM aside, No share assignM him of the rule he claimM, A stepsire's will his mother's only guide, — With his own heart, by martial ire inflamed. Held council how to seize the right denied ; Long in his mind the various means revolved. But paused not long from action once resolved. XXXI. " The curse of civil war was on the land ; The fields of Guimaraens were stainM with gore ; And there the hatred of a mother fannM The flame that raged against the son she bore ; Against his bosom edged the rebeFs brand ; Nor saw the proud one, while the realm she tore. How great to God and Nature her offence, For sensual passion quenchM maternal sense. XXXII. " savage Progne ! O Medea, dire Enchantress ! if your very sons ye slew — The wife's tremendous vengeance on the sire — Behold Teresa guiltier e'en than you ! Out of a double root the foul desire Of rule, and viler heat her fury grew : Scylla betray'd her father's life from one. Here both have arm'd a mother 'gainst her son. 86 THE LUSIAD. XXXIII. " But soon the Prince, the ascendant gaining, queird His stepsire and his more unnatural foe, And in a moment at his feet beheld The rebel force that would have laid him low : Then by the frenzy of his wrath impelFd, In chains he left his mother to her woe : Crime that avenging Heaven will soon pursue So great the reverence to parents due. " Lo where, indignant of Teresa's wrong. The proud Castilian comes in force arrayM : And him the Lusitanian ever strong Tor toil and danger when they heaviest weighM, Confronts with heart that challenges the throng Of cruel battle ; and angelic aid Yet unwithheld ; not only scorns to yield But drives the hot invader from the field. " Sore from defeat and arm'd with mightier power. Brief interval overpast, return the foes : Abruptly seizing an unguarded hour. Around the walls of Guimaraens they close ; The Prince beleaguer^ in his town and tower, Perchance was lost, when a deliverer rose : His tutor Egas, fearless, faitliful, sage. Committed to the storm his reverend age. THE LUSIAD. 87 XXXVI. "The loyal vassal, conscious that his lord Was ill-prepared, nor powerful for defence, The Spaniard sought, and on his knightly word Engaged to Spain the homage of his prince : His trusted promise sheathed the leaguer^ s sword. The siege was raised, the foe departed thence : But honest zeal had pledged the Prince in vain. His haughty spirit brooFd no suzerain. '' The King Castilian to the border side Withdrew, propitious to the knight's appeal. Expecting there at the appointed tide The Prince in plighted fealty to kneel. But Egas, when he saw his word belied. His knightly honour forfeit to Castille, At once resolved his precious life to yield In quittance of the promise unfulfJlM. xxxvm. " And with his sons and consort he departs, — With these dear treasures to redeem his gage, — Barefoot, bareheaded, with such humble arts As rather move to pity than to rage. ' High king,' he said, ' if vengeance be thy heart's Demand for trust whose rashness shames mine age. Behold me here to pacify the strife Between ray honour and my truth with life. 88 THE LUSIAD. XXXIX. " ^ Here too I lead for sacrifice my young, My guiltless offspring and their mother meek, If pure and noble pleasure can be wrung From cruel death inflicted on the weak. Mine are the hands offending, mine the tongue. On me alone thine indignation wreak. Me, me to death, to tortures keen condemn. The worst by man devised, but pity them.' " Even as a doomed wretch whose hour is come. Who, yet alive, of death foretastes the gall. Bends to the block and waits with horror dumb The dreadful stroke that suddenly will fall. So he, as sure his days had reached their sum. Low boVd his hoary head, resigned to all. Before the indignant king whose generous wrath Dissolved in pity at such wondrous truth. " O height of Lusitanian faithfulness Which so sublimed the loyalty of old ! Was this devotion than that Persian's less Whose zeal his mutilated visage told ? Whom oft his lord in generous distress. The great Darius sighing would behold And say, ' Through Zopyrus defeatured thus The prize of twenty Babylons were loss.' THE LUSIAD. 89 XLII. " The Prince Affonso next against the Moor That dwelt beyond the Tejo fair and bright EquippM and led the Lusitanian power, A joyous army, panting for the fight : On wide Ourique, famous from that hour. He dared the brunt of Saracenic might : A phalanx proud and fierce the Prince could boast. And such he needs, so few against a host. XLIII. " Por such the odds on that eventful field, A hundred Moslem cavaliers were told For every knight that bore a Christian shield : Some calmer judgments, in experience old. Within the careful breast but ill-conceard. Their blame of headlong ardour overbold : But Prince Affonso, for his cause is just, This day in God alone has put his trust. " Pive Moorish kings, the greatest named Ismar, And all of ripe celebrity in arms. Head the battalions of Moresco war : And female champions, trained to war^s alarms. Undaunted at their side the peril share. Penthesilea, heedless of her charms. Thus lent her prowess to the Trojan ranks ; Thus warr'd her sisters from Thermodon's banks. 90 THE LUSIAD. XLV. ''The polar stars, faint glimmering, one by one, Went out as chilly morn uprose serene. When lo, in air a vision of the Son Of Mary on the holy cross was seen ! Before the Prince, to cheer his soul, it shone. And he adoring cried with fervour keen, ' Show to yon infidel those wounds, Lord ; Not unto me who own thy power and word.' " That sight miraculous the hearts inflamed Of Lusitanian warriors. With a shout Of rapture, all, as with one voice, proclaimed King of the land whom Heaven had singled out By sign so special : their loved Prince they named With cries that filFd the welkin round about. Startling the Moslem foe. ''Eeal ! Real ! Por high Affonso, King of Portugal ! " '' As when a mastiff, hounded on by cheer Of hunters' voices, on the sylvan steeps Braves the wild bull, now fastening on his ear, Wow on his flank, with yells, and sudden leaps That foil the horned fury of the steer ; So lightly the fierce dog around him sweeps. Until his rabid fangs enfix his throat. And down at last tumbles the exhausted brute. THE LUSIAD. 91 XLVIII. " Thus the new king, at once cheer'd on by Heaven, And by his little arm/s glad acclaim, A moment's glance to the barbarian given, Eush'd at the burly foe with heart on flame : Then rose the Moslem war-cry ; air was riven With clamour ; arms they seized, and on they came. With stir of bows and spears, with trumpets' blare. And all their instrumental clang of war. XLIX. " As 'mid the shrubby pastures sere with drought. When nightly shepherds by their watchfire drowse. If whistling Boreas suddenly come out And drive the embers flaming through the boughs ; The blaze of herbage and the crackling rout Those frighten'd swains incontinently rouse. The live combustion spreading wide they see. Haste to collect their flocks and homeward flee. " So was the Moor aroused, in like amaze. So to liis arms he rush'd with equal speed, Though not for flight ; no terror he betrays. To meet the shock he goads the fiery steed : But brief the tilt twixt Moor and Portuguese ; With spears transfixt the foremost Pagans bleed. Some drop half dead, some tumble dead outright. And others on their Prophet call, and fight. 92 THE LUSIAD. LI. " (Earth felt the trident, and out sprang the Horse ! ) Dire is the encounter, horrible the crush, The shock might shake a mountain with its force. When furious to the charge the war-steeds rush ; When glittering steel in hands without remorse Collides, and startles Nature with the flash. But steel nor steed 'gainst Lusus' sons avail. They hack, hew, shiver, harness, turban, mail. " DisseverM heads go rolling down the hiU ; Limbs without owners strew the trampled heath. Corses with entrails palpitating still. And faces ghastly with the light of death : The field is lost to the proud Infidel ; Eivers of blood run reeking with the breath Of slaughter ; the white sands are crimsonM o''er ; The fields that should be green are red with gore. UII. " Gathering the spoil and trophies of the killM, And wealth abandoned by the Moslems fled. Three days and nights upon the battle-field EncampM the Conqueror amidst the dead : And here he painted on his argent shield. Where still the glorious triumph may be read. Five scutcheons azure, thus in blazon shown To certify as many kings overthrown. THE LUSIAD. 93 LIV. " On these five shields the thirty coins he scored Por which the God of life to death was sold, In various tint denoting thus the Lord Whose grace had prosper^ his adventure bold. The shields transversely charged,, the Cross record ; The thirty silver pieces thus are told ; Pive on each azure scutcheon, counting twice The central number, to complete the price. '' That signal feat achieved, to proud repose He homeward turned. Meanwhile Leiria falls, A short-lived triumph to his vanquished foes. Aroused, the captive fort he disenthrals. On strong Arronches then his fury throws. Expels the Iberian Moor, and storms the walls Of Santarem, that ever-glorious site. Where Tagus glides along mth pure delight. " These noble towns subjected to liis rule. On Mafra next he falls, and wins it soon ; And Cintra too, for ever green and cool. Amid the rocky mountains of the moon ; Sweet Cintra, where in fount or crystal pool The Naiads dive, the net of ]jOve to shun ; In vain the waters screen them from the snare, Por Love has arrows that can reach them there. 94 THE LUSIAD. LVII. " And thou, whose old foundations boast the hand Of him whose art the Dardan towers o'ertlirew, Superb Lisboa, known through every land, The Queen of Cities, and of Ocean too. E'en thou wert shaken on thy rocky strand. Till to the Lusian victor open flew Thy gates ! But not without the aid was he Of foreign champions from the boreal sea. " Crusaders they whose keels so far had ploughed The billows, from Germanic Elbe and Ehine, And Britain cold ; in sacred union vow'd To sweep the crescent forth of Palestine : Anchoring in Tagus, 'gainst the city proud Their force with great Affonso's they combine ; Eager to share his fame, to land they bound. And close the Ulyssean walls around. " Eive times the moon had fiUM her horn with light. As oft the Phantom waned and died away, Ere yet the city, in dismantled plight. Surrendered to the terrible array. Eierce to the last and bloody was the fight. And wild the slaughter on the fatal day. As needs must be when victors ruthless are. And vanquished men infuriate with despair. THE LUSIAD. 95 LX. " Thus fell the city whose unquailing pride Would own no conqueror in ancient time, Beleaguering armaments had still defied. And e^en those Yandals of the snowy clime, Whose savage triumphs sweeping far and wide Made Tagus tremble where its fountains chime. And Ebro too, — while wondering Betis heard The name Vandalia on its plains conferrM. LXT. " But if in him whose fame is wide as air Lisboa thus at last a master owns, What hardy cities could unshaken bear The Lusian storming at their rocky thrones ? Obidos, Torres Yedras, Alemquer, Whose leaping waters sing among the stones, — He won them all, and all the Moorish keeps That crown'd Estremadura's craggy steeps. " Ye too he conquerM, Transtagan lands. Famed for the gifts that golden Ceres showers ! Obedient to the force that none withstands. To him ye cede the ramparts and the flowers. Alas for the poor peasant Moslem ! hands Shall reap the harvest that were not the sowers. Strong Elvas, famous Moura, Serpa, fall. And won and lost Alcagere do Sal. 96 THE LUSIAD. Lxm. " Lo where of old, a rebel nobly daring, Sertorius gloried in his Evora proud — Whither, on blessed mission yet repairing, The waters travel like a silver clond : Sustained aloft on regal arches bearing The far-fetcVd treasure to the busy crowd — That gallant city — ^'twas a task austere — Giraldo took, the knight that knew not fear. " Careless of rest, and evermore intent Brief Hfe to lengthen out with stirring act. His arms on Beja next Alfonso bent. To wreak his vengeance for Trancoso sackt And all its people slain. Too soon the event Made guilty Beja rue the savage fact. In vain the merciless for mercy caU, And not a Moor survived the cit/s faU. " Palmella too surrendered, and the town Of fishermen, Cezimbra, near whose gate A mighty army as it hasten^ down To raise the siege, he foiFd with aU its weight ; So brightly shone the star of his renown ! The city felt, its lord beheld their fate. Heedless along the mountain pass they wind. Nor guess the dreadful greeting they shaU find. THE LUSIAD. 97 LXVI. " 'Tis he of Badajos, a haughty Moor : With twice two thousand gallant horse he rides, FoUowM by countless Peons maiFd in ore. With lance and glaive resplendent at their sides. But, as the savage bull who feels the power Of May, in veins that rage with fiery tides. If chance a traveller cross his jealous path Drives at the unwary man with headlong wrath ; " So falls Affonso, in as fierce a strain, On those the careless troop that take the lead He w^ounds, he kills, he charges on amain : Their king escaping, life his only heed, A panic terror seizes aU his train. They fly : the army emulate their speed. Strange rout ! accomplished less by force than fears ; That field was won by sixty cavaliers ! " The great and indefatigable King Disdains in victory's career to pause ; Throughout his realm he bids the tocsin ring And aU the brave around his standard draws ; Warriors to conquest trainM beneath his wing. Thus strengthened, he beleaguers Badajos : And valour soon, with art consummate guided. True to his hope, the cit/s fate decided. 98 THE LUSIAD. LXIX. '' But now the hour was come when God, who long Suspends his justice o'er the sinner's head, — Or that He waits contrition for the wrong, Or that some purpose unreveard be sped, — And who had saved the Prince so far, along The path of danger 'twas his choice to tread. Would let him feel, by a condign reverse. The weight of his imprisoned Mother's curse. " Eor, when the stately city he had gain'd. Though Leon's fief and never Portuguese, The place by right of conquest he retain' d. And there beleaguer'd by the Leonese, Soon dearly rued ambition overstrain' d; Por pride is often tax'd with costly fees. Porth riding headlong to confront the war, A limb he shatter' d 'gainst an iron bar. " And hurl'd to earth was Leon's crippled thrall. Shade of illustrious Pompey, mourn no more, That rigorous Nemesis decreed thy fall By Csesar's hand unjust. Though Phasis frore And many a land that wears an icy pall Beneath austere Bootes, though the shore Of shadowless Syene fear'd thy name And all the Line had trembled at thy fame. THE LUSIAD. LXXII. " Though thou hadst curbed the fierce Heniochi ; Arabia, Colchis of the Fleece of Gold ; Judea (worshipping the One Most High) ; The soft Sophenian ; the Cilician bold And cruel ; Cappadocia's slaves hard by ; And land of Aram, where so proudly hold Their course, the rivers twain whose hidden fount Is far aloft upon a holy mount : "Though all the nations from the "Western Deep, Even to the ridge of Scythian Taurus, plied To thee their victor — let thy wonder sleep That on Pharsalia^s plain thy fortune died : Eor here behold Affonso win the steep Of Fame, like thee, then stumble in his pride. The father of thy consort vanquish d thee. And him his daughter's spouse, 'twas Heaven's decree. LXXIV. " When, chasten'd by the justice of the Lord, The noble king returned, his realm again Was threatened by the Saracenic sword In Santarem, besieging him, in vain. — Then — after he had piously interred Saint Yincent in Lisboa's holiest fane The corse translated from that headland hoar Which bears the Martyr's name for evermore.— 100 THE LUSIAD. LXXV. *' The weary king, whose age demanded rest, To Alemtejo sent his valiant son With arms and men to rout the Moorish nest And consummate the work by him begun. Sancho with eager spirit onward prest And made with Moslem blood the river run That laves Sevilia's walls — Guadalquivir, The winding river, wont to run so clear. " Inspired by victory, the youth but yearns The more for conquest and disdains repose : With fiercer rage to Beja's aid he turns Against the leaguers that her walls enclose ; And speedily the happy warrior earns Expected triumph o'er a host of foes ; Yet brave amid disaster, hopes the Moor !For all his loss to make his vengeance sure. " Erom Atlas — (once a Titan that upbore The skies, but by the Gorgon's gaze transformed) Erom Tingis, where Antseus ruled of yore, Erom Ampelusa's cape, the Paynims swarm'd. The dwellers on Mount Abyla no more Their flocks remembering, at the summons arm'd Of Mauritanian trumpets ; rugged strain That roused, too, noble Juba's ancient reign. THE LUSIAD. , ,101 Lxxvin. 1 > 1 * " On Portugal with all this vast array, , The great Ameer-al-Moumineen came down. With thirteen Moorish kings of potent sway, But subject all to his imperial crown. Whatever ill they could along their way They wrought, on hamlet, farm, or open town, Till on the Infante's refuge, Santarem, Their strength they turnM, in evil hour for them. " The wrathful Moor provokes incessant fights. And goads the Christian prince on every side. And tries him with a thousand warlike sleights ; But all his efforts are alike defied. Nor secret mine nor thundering ram affrights The noble Sancho, nor the stony tide Pour'd from the dread balista : force nor art Confounds a prince all eye and hand and heart. " Within the city whose surrounding meads Mondego's waters keep for ever green. The king meanwhile enjoys the rest he needs Whose life one long and arduous toil has been. But when the peril of his son he reads. Besieged in Santarem by foes so keen, Coimbra no more detains him : age in vain Weighs on the parent — he is young again. 102^ THE LUSIAD. ' •' '• •' LXXXI. ; .^^'A^. v^^teran band, all men of fame, the sire Conducts to Sancho's rescue. Thus enforced. The Portuguese with all their wonted fire Forth on the Moor in awful ruin burst : The field is strewn with many-hued attire, Short tunics, hooded cloaks of men unhorsed. Harness and mail, in rich confusion spread : And steeds run neighing round their masters dead. " All that escaped the carnage, from the scene In horror turning o^er the border sped, All but the High Ameer- Al-Momnineen, Who scorn'd to flee, and fought till life was fled. Hosannahs to the Lord of Battles then Rang from the cohort by his grace bested : Tor when so few overbear such fearful odds 'Tis plain the victory is not man's, but God's. LXXXIII. *' So triumphed old Affonso. the great king, From youth to age the marvel of his peers, When he, while yet intent on conquering. By Time was conquered, 'midst a nation's tears. Pale sickness touch' d with fatal hand the spring Of life, enfeebled with the weight of years. And thus at last the warrior full of days The debt to dismal Libitina pays. THE LUSIAD. 103 LXXXIV. " Him did the lofty promontories mourn, For him the rivers, from their courses sweeping, AVanderM lamenting in a flood forlorn And drownM invaded harvests with their weeping. But glorious deeds his memory adorn Tor ever, through all space their freshness keeping ; The echoes ever in his own domain Affonso call, Affonso ! but in vain. LXXXV. " Sancho, the young and valiant, mounts the throne. And follows on his father's proud career : He, while yet lived the sire, in arms had shone When blood incarnadined Guadalquivir, Where Andalusia's Paynim king overthrown Taught IsmaeFs sons, that youthful arm to fear : Yet more when Beja's gladdenM walls beheld Her hot besiegers by his arm repelFd. LXXXVI. " Not long had Sancho worn the kingly crown Ere Sylves heard him thundering at her gate. While they whose toil the glebe around had sown. The Moorish swains, foresaw their bitter fate : A northern fleet at anchor off the town. To help the Lusians disembark^ their freight Of chosen men of arms, a welcome train Bound eastward, lost Judea to regain. 104 THE LUSIAD. LXXXVII. " To speed red Frederick's emprize they saiPd, Who with his sacred army hoped to win The plains of Salem, ere the Turk prevailed Where Christ was sacrificed for human sin. But Guido there by parching drought compelled Had yielded to the mighty Saladin ; Whose happier troops possessed on every side The waters to Jerusalem denied. " By hostile winds arrested in its course. And driven to harbour within Tejo's bar, The fair Armada with the Lusian force Combined, for this too was a holy war : By help thus wafted from a northern source. As erst Lisboa to the father's star Pell Sylves to the son's ; and all its brave Or sued for grace, or perish'd by the glaive. " And if from Mohammed he plucks away So many trophies, not the less he cares Old wrongs on hardy Leon to repay, A land accustom'd to the brunts of Mars. He hastes on haughty Tuy's neck to lay His yoke, and many a neighbouring city shares Her fate, and many a high embattled tower. All humbled, Sancho, by thy haughtier power. THE LUSIAD. 105 "While thus he scaled the palmy hill of fame, Death sprang upon him, eager for his fall. His son AfFonso, second of the name, Tliird of our kings, restored the hopes of all : ■'Twas his to obliterate the generous shame Which blushM for lost Alcagere-do-Sal ; That oft-contested prize was now secure By final extirpation of the Moor. " Alfonso dead, the second Sancho reignM, A gentle easy Prince by mhiions fooFd ; The shadow of a sceptre he sustained Overruled by vassals whom in name he ruled ; For which another but too early gainM The regal staff he coveted to hold : When evil ministers surround the throne The king that sufPers makes their crimes his own. " And yet no monster was this hapless king. No Nero, who if chroniclers be just Was none of Nature's making, but a thing In Tartarus spawn'd and thence by demons thrust. Nor Sancho's was the malice that could fling The torch to lay his capital in dust ; Nor soft Assyrian Ibarite was he ; Nor type of Rome's imperial gluttony. 106 THE LUSIAD. XCIII. " Nor, like Siciiia's tyrants, did he load The people with oppression's iron chain ; Nor meditate, like Phalaris, the mode Of perfecting the dreadful arts of pain. But used to princes on whom Heaven bestowed The sovereign mind that fits the kingly strain, The haughty realm endures no meaner sway ; Who rules the people must be great as they. ''^Affonso therefore ; the Bolonian Count, And brother of the monarch set aside, Ere called by lineal right the throne to mount Its power assumes till slothful Sancho died. This prince a spirit brave and vigilant Pirst to secure the realm his cares applied. Then to enlarge its limits, too confined Por tall ambition and his swelling mind. '' Of both Algarves, his hymeneal dower. The intrusive Paynims held an ample space : By art belligerent and warhke power He thence expelFd the Mars-forsaken race. To seignorize that southern coast no more; And Lusitania, freed from the disgrace Of those brave tyrants, by a braver hand Thenceforth was queen and mistress of the land. THE LUSIAD. 107 XCVI. " After this bold Affonso reign'd Diniz, A scion worthy of the parent root : His large munificence, so fame decrees, O'ershades the Macedonian's wide repute. The prosperous realm beneath his auspices — (For peace divine matured the golden fruit) With laws, with order, and with arts was blest. The shining products of a land at rest. " He first in Coimbra fix'd for noble toil. The Seers of Thought who Wisdom's law instil : The muses to Mondego's fertile soil First lured from Helicon's harmonious hill. There high Apollo treasures Attic spoil Tor youth that seeks it with a strenuous will ; There twines with gold the wreaths for brows serene Of baccharis and laurel ever green. " New towns he built majestically planned. And gallant towers and ponderous castles rear'd. Till, with its pride of walls and domes the land As if a realm reedified appeared. But after Atropos, with tardy hand. Had cut the thread of life so long revered. His heir, the fourth Affonso, filFd the throne, A mighty monarch though a graceless son. 108 THE LUSIAD. XCIX. '' He with a constant haughtiness serene The pride would ever of Castile repress ; That Lusitania^s strength might still be seen To fear no greatness though its own were less. But when the Mauritanian^ with roused spleen, The Hesperian soil prepared to repossess, Threatening Castile with an overwhelming horde, Forth to the rescue marcliM the Lusian lord. " Indian Hydaspes saw not such a host When proud Semiramis its plains overspread. Nor fair Italia on her shuddering coast So vast a horde from icy regions led By Attila, self-styled in impious boast ' The scourge of God,' as now from Afric sped. And with Granada's chivalry allied. Menaced the vales Tartessian far and wide. CI. " Castile's high monarch, hopeless to sustain The coming shock, unaided in the strife. And fearing for a second fall of Spain, A land far dearer to his heart than life, Turn'd not his hope on Portugal in vain. Eor thither sending his beloved wife. The daughter of the prince whose aid he needs. By those dear lips with double force he pleads. THE LUSIAD. 109 " Once more the beautiful Maria stood Within the palace where a child she play'd : Sweet was her glance, but grief her eyes bedew'd And down her cheeks the tear-drops glittering strayM; Her angel tresses as a golden flood O'erswept her ivory shoulders. Sorrow made Her beauty dearer in her father's sight. Who listenM to her voice with sad delight. " ' Whatever nations of ferocious vein Engenders Afric, nurse of homicides. To seize and occupy illustrious Spain, The imperial tyrant of Morocco guides. So vast an army never scourM the plain Since earth was compassM by the salt sea-tides ; So fierce and terrible, they strike with dread The living and astound the very dead. " ' Against this onslaught of the Paynira sword. Too feeble for defence, in honour's van. He whom thy pleasure made my wedded Lord Is resolute to die, 'tis all he can ; Unless they succour to his hopes afford. The Lusian arm that mocks the Prophet's ban ; Else wilt thou see thy child of fortune shorn, A throneless, widow' d, exiled wretch forlorn. 110 THE LUSIAD. cv. " ' Therefore, king, for very dread of whom The currents of Moluca do congeal. Doubt not, delay not, to the rescue come And win the blessing of distressed Castile. If that bright smile be true, it breaks the gloom. That is a father's smile, affection's seal ! Haste, haste, my father ; or thy speed restrain. Then seek for him whom thou wouldst help, in vain/ " Maria pleaded with such trembhng love. Such soft and irresistible devotion. As Yenus importuned her parent Jove Por him of Troy, her son, the sport of ocean. Till he whose thunder awes ev'n powers above, Dropt the red bolt in his profound emotion. And with a father's pity granted all, And only grieved she ask'd a boon so small. *' The banner'd trumpet hath a voice again, Eesounding down the hollow glens afar ; Hearts long unused to that inspiring strain Leap at the summons to the ranks of war ; And lo, the squadron'd host in arms for Spain ; The neighing steeds array'd in battle-gear ; The blaze of armour, lances, swords and shields. All glorious in the sun on Evora's fields. THE LUSIAD. HI CVIII. " Majestical in stature as in place Behold the valiant King Alfonso riding Amid his warriors^ with a towering grace, The royal banner o'er the pomp presiding : If feebler spirits look but on his face They scorn the fear that to their heart was gliding : And thus he marshals towards the threaten^ scene His gentle daughter, the Castilian Queen. " The Lusian and the Spaniard meet at last. And join their forces on Tarifa's plain, Fronting the heathen, for whose army vast Too small an area seems the wide champaign : And not a Christian now but looks aghast. However so bold, on that enormous train ; Save only they who clearly understand Christ fights the battle with his people's hand. " The race of Hagar, while they laugh to scorn The little phalanx doomed to work their shame. Already dream the land in portions torn. The score dividing ere they win the game. These vain pretenders of a bondmaid born. Who boast the famous Saracenic name. So with a vaunt as bare of truth, they call Their own a noble realm that spurns them all. 112 THE LUSIAD. CXI. " As when the barbarous Gatliite, huge of limb. Not without cause the dread of Saul the king, Seeing a youth advance in shepherd's trim. With no defence but courage and a sling — To dare Philistia's giant, even him, — With tongue opprobious scoffed the stripling thing, Who whirFd the thong and in a moment taught How human strength to Paith opposed is nought. " So the malignant infidels deride The Christian in the blindness of their souls. And will not know that He is on his side Whose might the horrent powers of Hell controls. Strong in that aid against Morocco's tide Castile the steady stream of battle rolls. While on the warriors of Granada's crown The Lusian like a torrent flashes down. " Hark at the music of the clashing spears. And swords on armour, clinking, dreadful strain ! Hark at the gallant foemen's rival cheers, 'Mohammed' for the Moor! 'Saint James' for Spain! The shrieks of wounded men assault the spheres, Their life-blood ebbing on the trampled plain. Full many a wretch but half alive before. Is smother' d, weltering in a slough of gore. THE LUSIAD. 113 cxiv, '' In tens of thousands, spite of mail and targe, Granada^s warriors strew'd the bloody lea. With such terrific force the Lusian charge Had broken down the Alhambra's chivalry. But vexM so soon to have reaped a field so large, (For martial honour scorns facility) In aid of brave Castile the strong-armM Lusian Now turned his wrath against the stout Maurusian. " The sultry sun that rose upon the fight, Now, near the home of Thetis, screened his ray. And Vesper, brightening in her westward flight, Shone on the setting of that famous day, Before the Christian king had quelFd the might Of that immense and barbarous array. With tragic slaughter such as ne'er till then Had drenchM the arena of contending men. " The dead, when choked with dead the river rose Where Marius bade his legions quench their thirst, Equaird in number not a fourth of those Who died where this tremendous vengeance burst ; Nor they whom he, the vowM one of the foes To Rome, in Punic hatred born and nurst, At Cannse smote when Roman Knights were killM, Whose rings alone three bushel measures filFd. Q 114 THE LUSIAD. CXVII. " Or if, when Salem's holy walls were riven, Down the dark river of eternal night, As many of her spirits dark were driven, The blind adherents to their ancient rite; — Not thine, O Titus, but the arm of Heaven Avenging smote the stiff-neck' d Israelite : Por this the Prophets had foreseen of old. And this the true Messiah had foretold. ''That great emprize achieved, the border- side The king recross'd, and on a peaceful throne The hardwon glories of his wars enjoy' d. Alas, soon darkened was his bright renown ! Darkened for ever when his victim died Who after burial wore an earthly crown. Fit theme for Memory that disinters The murder'd from their dreadful sepulchres. CXIX. " By Thee, cruel love ! — with strength insidious On ruin ever human hearts compelling — By Thee she died as if thy foe perfidious. She whose pure bosom was thy surest dwelling. False Tyrant, to the heart's best hopes invidious, 'Tis truly said that tears from fond eyes welling Ne'er slaked thy thirst ; for thou art ever seeking With human blood to see thine altars reeking. THE LUSIAD. 115 CXX. " Beautiful Ignez, from the world apart, In sweet fruition of thy youthful years, While soft Mondego as he stole athwart Thy path was brightened with thy happy tears, Trusting that dear illusion of the heart Which soon by Fortune's malice disappears. Thou wert in whispers teaching hill and grove The name engraven in thy breast by Love. CXXI. " And faithfully thy prince's heart replied. Deep in his soul was tenderness as true ; And e'en when absence to his sight denied Thy lovely eyes, he held thee still in view ; By night in vivid dreams that sweetly lied. By day in thoughts that ever round thee flew : And all his thoughts and visions fancy free Were one delightful memory of thee. " Illustrious beauties, dames of princely race. In vain aspired to wed the royal heir : True love, the slave of one bewitching face. Can see no other that is half so fair. The wary king, embarrassed with the case. And of his people's discontent aware, Look'd on this passion with an old man's eye. And doom'd the enchantress of his son to die. 116 THE LUSIAD. cxxin. " The light extinguished of those eyes adored, So might the princess fantasy expire : As if the blood of innocence out-pour'd Could slake an inextinguishable fire ! What fury could consent that the keen sword Which all the weight could bear of Moslem ire. Should serve so savage and so mean a part Against a weak defenceless woman's heart ? " Grim emissaries dragged her to the king, Who seeing, pitied : — but around him stood His demons, an inexorable ring Of false accusers clamorous for blood. She, while her lips in prayer were quivering. Prayer wrung from yearning love's solicitude For those whom she must leave, her sons, her lord. Whose grief cut deeper than the dreaded sword ; " With piteous tearful eyes beseeching gazed Upon the crystal firmament awhile ; — Her eyes alone not hands to heaven were raised, EestrainM by one of the tormentors vile — Then cast upon her infant sons amazed. Orphans so soon to be, a fearful smile. And, all the mother in her heart on fire. She thus addressed the Father of their Sire. THE LUSIAD. 117 cxxvi. " * If savage brutes by instinct taught to slay, By Nature's self instructed not to spare ; If vagrant birds that hovering watch for prey, Or chase their quarry through the yielding air ; TouchM with compassion have been known to pay To babes forsaken all a nurse's care (Witness Semiramis a desert-child, And Eome's twin-founders suckled in the wild) : " * Thou whose looks are human, if indeed Out of a human breast the thought could start. That dooms a woman, young and weak, to bleed. Only for having won her conqueror's heart, Look on his babes ! their innocence may plead. Blind to the hapless mother's as thou art ; Though, pitiless, her death thou would' st decree. Behold these infants and commiserate me. " ' And if thou knowest on thy foe the Moor To deal avenging death by glaive and fire. Know too the strength of mercy, and restore Life unto one who merits not thine ire. Or cast me forth on some terrific shore. If innocence deserve a fate so dire. To freeze in Scythia or in Lybia burn, A weeping exile never to return. 118 THE LUSIAD. CXXIX. " ' Place me where cruelty is nature's law. With lions and with tigers : I may then Learn whether woman's misery can awe Wild beasts to mercy sought in vain of men. There, with the will that love alone can draw FU rear my young, their nursery a den : True till the last to him for whom I die, Sad solace of a mother's agony/ cxxx. " The King was moved ; those touching words inclined His heart the cruel sentence to repeal ; But fierce accusers turn'd his wavering mind. And her own destiny inflamed their zeal. Forth leap the glittering swords of men who find Pretext for murder in the public weal. Out on ye, ruffians ; swords against a dame ! Oh, unexampled butchers, knighthood's shame ! " On mild Polyxena, the young and fair, And last fond comfort of a mother old. As ruthless Pyrrhus rush'd with weapon bare. That so Achilles' shade might be consoled : While she, with eyes whose beauty charm'd the air. Meek as a lamb devoted from the fold. Gazed on her parent frantic with the woe, And unresisting took the fatal blow : THE LUSIAD. 119 CXXXII. " On Ignez thus the brute assassins fall ; The distant vengeance startles not their fears ; They dye their swords — and the white flowers that nil Beneath her yet were trembling from her tears — Witli blood of her white neck ; the column tall Of that fair head whose charms in after years Pursued her lover still, a haunting fate. Until he crown'd her corse his queenly mate. "Well mightest thou, O Sun ! at such a sight Thy course that day indignant have reversed ; As once recoilM thy horror-stricken light From vengeful Atreus and the feast accursed. Ye hollow vales that shuddered with affright. The last shrill cry that from her anguish burst. Her Pedro's name, invoked in death, ye heard, And all your echoes trembled with the word. "As when a girl to prank her glossy hair. Caught with the morning lustre of a flower. Some tender bud surpassing rich and rare. Plucks in her haste, it withers in an hour, — So perished Ignez, for a face too fair. Bending beneath of death the ruthless power ; Gone from her cheek the hues that play'd at strife. The white, the red, gone, gone with her sweet life. 120 THE LUSIAD. cxxxv. " Mondego's Naiads, long disconsolate, Wept in remembrance of their Ignez dead. And, for eternal memory of her fate. Changed to a crystal spring the tears they shed. That spring, from Ignez' loves and hapless state, '* The Tount of Love " they named by pity led. Thint how the flowers around that fountain gleam Where tears the waters are, and love the name. " Not long those mortal gashes calFd in vain On Pedro their avenger : kingly power Soon gave his arm the reach that dragged from Spain The lurking butchers, to their final hour. Another fiercer Pedro — for the twain Were leagued like Eome's triumvirate of yore In compact fatal to each other's foes — Gave up the wretches, doom'd to bitter throes. " While Pedro reign' d, within the Lusian bound No grace for murder nor adultery then : His proud indignant melancholy found A solace in the pains of evil men : On all the vices bred in courts he frown'd. And camps and cities quail'd beneath his ken : His justice swept more robbers from the land Than wandering Theseus' or Alcides' hand. THE LUSIAD. 121 CXXXVIII. " Heir of this prince severely just, behold — And mark how nature here is out of tune — The careless, soft, remiss Fernando fold His arms, while all the realm, laid open soon, Is prey to the Castilian uncontrolled ; Who devastates the land and shakes the throne, Till Lisbon totters on her old foundation : A feeble monarch makes a feeble nation. CXXXIX. " His weakness was perhaps the pain condign Por Leonora from her husband torn, And wed, in mockery of law divine. On blind pretences by the king forsworn : Or haply to the age a warning sign How vice degrades the heart unmanned to scorn In him that takes her lure : for still we find . A grovelling love debihtates the mind. "Those who surrender to that subtle shame Their will, God surely visits for the sin ; The rape of Helena wrapt Troy in flame ; Appius and Tarquin were in fate akin. Por whom did sacred David blight his name ? How fell the illustrious tribe of Benjamin ? The king of Nile chastised for Sara's fear, Shechem for Dinars wrong, are lessons clear. 122 THE LUSIAD. CXLI. " Would great and lofty breasts be warned to slmii The frenzy of incontinent desire. Let them but look upon Alcmena's son ; Alcides spins in Omphale's attire ! By what was glorious Antony undone ? The swart Egyptian''s wildering glance of fire ; The Apulian girl that conquered Hannibal Saved Rome, and hurried Carthage to her fall. CXLII. " But who can say he ne'er was caught perchance By Love that finely spreads his artful snare 'Mid living roses, and the lights which dance On alabaster brow and auburn hair ; Ne'er felt the sorcery of a woman's glance, — Say rather, a Medusa's awfal air. That strikes its spell of beauty through the frame. The heart converting not to stone but flame. CXLIII. " Who can resist the softly stedfast gaze Of Beauty, and her meek angelic smile, Which draws into itself the soul that plays Too near the sweetness of that perfect guile ? He whom experience tells how love betrays Will spare Fernando lest the bolt recoil : But he whose heart as yet is fancy-free Will judge more harshly, till he need the plea. CANTO THE FOIJETH. '' After the horrors of a storm at sea, A howling tempest on a starless night, A placid Morn allays the ruffled lea. And hope reviving hails the port in sight : As from the sun the ghostly shadows flee. So from the mind ill omens wing their flight : Thus with the realm it fared ; a stormy tide Preluded peace, when King Fernando died. " And if, for many a wrong and many a crime By those vile minions of Fernando wrought. Who knew with reptile subtlety to climb And profit by their monarch's lack of thought ;- We lookM for an avenger, little time The keen resentment of the nation sought The man : of birth illicit, — but true son Of Pedro, John was lifted to the throne. 124 THE LUSIAD. III. " Illustrious ever, and by heavenly choice Made Pedro's heir, as wonders plainly preach, As when in Evora in words precise An infant named him ere the time of speech : The cradled babe upstood, and hand and voice Exalting, Heaven's undoubted will to teach. Twice in clear accents thus was heard to call : ' Don John is the new king of Portugal ! ' " The people, changed in nature by the hate That long had filFd arid now o'erflow'd its fount, Let loose their ire ; and savage as irate. All common bounds to cruelty surmount ; Wherever they can find they immolate The friends and kindred of the adulterous Count, And Queen, whose bold incontinence was more In widowhood apparent than before. " But he by guilt dishonoured was at last Stabb'd coldly to the heart before her eyes ; And the wild flame of vengeance spread so fast The guiltless sank in the same sacrifice : One like Astyanax from a tower is cast, A sacred mitred priest : an abbess dies Even at the shrine she clasp' d in hope forlorn : Some, dragg'd along the streets, are piecemeal torn. THE LUSIAD. 125 VI. "The ghastly massacres that Rome beheld When Marius plunged among her startled crowd, The deeds of Sylla, when^ his foe expelFd, He walkM in blood, oblivion now may shroud ! Queen Leonore, whose heart with anguish swelFd For her dead Count, proclaim^ her grief aloud. And called Castile to seize the Lusian throne. Asserted heirdom of her child alone. " That child was Beatrice ; through whom her spouse The king Castilian to the crown pretends ; Fernando's daughter she, if fame allows A claim that grave suspicion reprehends. Ambitious hopes the pleased Castilian rouse. In arms he answers to the call, and blends In force compact his various strength of war ; His vassals, and auxiliaries afar. vni. " From all the land whose name is blindly traced To Brigus, name itself in darkness hid ; From regions whence the tyrant Moor was chased By Ferdinand and Eoderick the Cid, They come, with them whose plough compellM the waste Of Leon to be fertile ; men who bid Defiance to all danger, as of yore They proved their hardihood against the Moor. \?BRA^ 126 THE LUSlAD. IX. " The Vandals glorying in ancestral worth And courage, still maintained in honour clear, From Andalusia's hills are marching forth And levels waterM by Guadalquivir : The noble islanders who boast their birth From Tyrian settlers, don their martial gear, Alcides' pillars on their flag displayed Symbols of strength by labour undismayed. " Forth came Toledo's men : that noble town Whose walls are lapt in Tagus' bland embrace — From Cuenea's mountains glides the river down. And forms a glory round the reverend place. You too, undaunted by the peril known. You, O Galicians, hard and selfish race. In arms advance to try one struggle more With foes encountered to your cost before. " And Biscay's sons, of polish'd arts incurious, Churlish of speech, and sudden to requite A stranger's evil turn or taunt injurious. Are beckon'd by the furies to the fight. The men of Guipuscoa and Asturias Obey the summons with a fierce dehght. Proud of their iron mines that give them swords Wherewith in warfare to assist their lords. THE LUSIAD. 127 XII. " But John, whose vigour from his spirit grew. As Hebrew Samson's from his unshorn hair, Though all the realm's defenders seem'd but few, Resolved the many with the few to dare : In council round him the chief lords he drew. Not that he needed guidance, but aware How judgments swerve as interests divide. Him it imports to know^ what they decide. " There lack not those who fain would disconcert And turn opinion from the patriot cause ; The native spirit is in them inert. With frost impervious to the zeal that thaws : Their fears to base disloyalty pervert The genuine sense of ancient honour's laws. False to their country they betray the throne. And would, to serve their ends, their God disown. " But never could such fatal errors blind Dom Nuno Alvarez, the brave and true : Against those people of unstable mind — Upbraiding all the miserable crew In words more rouglily honest than refined. Although his brothers on the list he knew — His hand upon his sword, his wrath he hurl'd. Defying earth and ocean and the world. 128 THE LUSIAD. XV. ^' ' What ! on the glorious soil that gave us birtli Breathes there a man who shuns the patriot war ? Hath Portugal, the warrior-queen of earth, A son who would desert her ? What ! so far Lost to all faith, love, courage, inbred worth. And skill to do as well as strength to dare. That he, for any vile respect of gain Or ease, would yield his country to the chain. XVI. " ' How ! are ye not descendants then of those Who under great Henriquez' standard knew So well by valour and the force of blows This same belligerent people to subdue. Scattered in hopeless rout, unnumberM foes And flaunting banners to their boast untrue ? Seven captive earls were trophies of the day. And spoils uncounted round the victors lay. xvn. " ' What kept these men who have you at their feet Prostrate so long at those of great Diniz And his brave son ? What but the noble heart Of your bold fathers ? Though the careless ease. Or worse example, of Fernando beat Your courage down so low, your curved knees Now straighten ; let a new prince give them spring, If people alter as they change their king. THE LUSIAD. 129 XVIII. " ' And such a king in him we now proclaim Ye have, that if his valour were your own At universal conquest ye might aim_, How much more cope with these so oft overthrown ? But if with this in fine ye cannot shame Out of your souls the fear that holds them prone. Let fear tie up your hands : tempt not a stroke ; I will, alone, resist a foreign yoke. " ^ I, with my vassals and with this good blade ' — And here he half unsheathM his sword — ' will guard The realm, yet never by the stranger swa/d. From all intrusion insolent and hard. In virtue of the king, and realm betrayed, Firm to the loyalty which you discard. Conquer these stiff antagonists will I, And all that dare my monarch to defy.^ " As when the Romans in Canusium pent, Sole remnant from that memorable field At Cannae, quailing under the portent Of Afric fortune, were about to yield. Young Scipio forced them to a noble bent. And made them vow upon his sword to wield Their arms for Rome, nor in the struggle pause While life was left them to defend her cause. — 130 THE LUSIAT). XXI. '' Thus with the threats that goad, the hopes that cheer. Fierce Nuno urged his listeners, till at last His voice dissolved the cold untimely fear That held their spirit in its clutch so fast. To horse they vault, and brandishing the spear In airy circles as they clatter past. Hither and thither speed ; their rallying cry, * Long live the king that gives us liberty ! ' " The shouting populace approve the war That saves their threatened country from disgrace ; The sturdier hands refurbish and repair Their arms, corroded by the rust of peace, Eeline their morions, test their mail with care ; And, each equippM as suits his own caprice. They muster ; — vestures of a thousand hues Are gay with symbols such as lovers use. " With all this gay militia John the Brave Forth from Abrantes sallied to the plain, — Abrantes, freshened by the copious wave Of Tagus, widening from its fount in Spain. The conduct of his central force he gave To one who might have led, and not in vain. The powerful eastern armies, without count. With which king Xerxes passM the Hellespont. THE LUSIAD. 131 XXIV. " ^Twas Nuno Alvarez, the peerless Don Whom men the scourge of proud Castile may call As truly as of old the fatal Hun Was styled the scourge of Italy and Gaul. The Lusian dexter wing was led by one Fit for the trust, a soldier all in all, A cavalier to fight and rule a fight, Mem Rodrigues de Vasconcellos hight. '' By Anton Vasques of Almada led. Advanced the left and corresponding wing, (Count of Abranches, when the cause had sped, This chief became ; of virtue honour's spring :) A stout reserve supports the whole ; overhead The tower and quinas, banner of the king, Tell where he moves, prepared on every part To rival Mars himself in martial art. " Above the ramparts thrilFd with hopeful fear. Stood gazing trembling as their warriors past. Brides, sisters, mothers, maidens fond and dear. Preferring vows of pilgrimage, and fast : Already draw the hostile armies near One to another — fortune's die is cast ; The Spaniard greets us with a stunning shout : But either side attends the event in doubt. 132 THE LUSIAD. XXVII. " The blattering trumpets, challengers of war, The shrilling fifes and rattling drums, reply ; The standard-bearers proudly wave in air Their storied ensigns wrought in many a dye. 'Twas in the season when the solar star Salutes Astrsea in an ardent sky, When Ceres' gifts are stored by swains robust. And Bacchus presses out the luscious must. " Castile the signal gave : a blast she blew Which smote on rough Artabor's mountain chain. That trumpet-blast the Guadiana knew, And back recoiFd, so horrent was the strain : The Doui'o heard and Alemtejo too ; And startled Tagus hurried to the main : Pale mothers listenM in dismay, and prest Their little children closer to the breast. " And many a manly cheek turnM pale too then. But 'twas no dastard blood that sought the heart. For oft when mighty danger comes on men. The danger puts all sense of it apart ; Or, if not so, yet thus it seems ; and when To battle roused the fiery passions start. The soldier feels not, though his fate be near. That limbs are fragile, and that life is dear. THE LUSIAD. 133 XXX. " A wing of either host the fight began : Both to the doubtful struggle bravely gOx These to assoil their country from the ban Of aliens, those to crush it at a blow. The great Pereira, summing in one man An army's valour, first amazed the foe, Struck down the foremost that his anger braved. And with their corses strew' d the land they craved. " Now whizzing arrows through the darken^ air, And shafts of every length, are on the wing ; Beneath the iron tramp of steeds of war The plain is trembling and the valleys ring ; Now lances shock and splinter, armours jar And fall with crashlike thunder. Eoemen spring Past as their ranks are thinn'd by Nuno's band. And strength of numbers wearies strength of hand. *' And lo, against him come his brothers twain : Thing dark and monstrous ; but his mind is known- That even a brother may be justly slain. When traitor to his nation and the throne. Among the leading combatants for Spain Is many a renegade against his own Brothers and father fighting — strange to thought ! As when the Caesar and great Pompey fought. 134 THE LUSIAD. XXXIII. " O thou, Sertorius ! Coriolanus, thou High-hearted traitor ! Catiline, and all Ye who could once your country disavow With impious heart, or meditate her faU ; If for your crime ye suffer, e'en till now. The rigorous sentence of the Prince of Hell, Tell your stern judge that Lusitania too Has fostered sons unnatural as you. " By multitudes beset our vanguard reels. But Nuno stands between them and their fears. As the majestic lion of the hills Of Ceuta when the Tetuan cavaliers Around him close, with wrath indignant thrills. And, compassM by a glittering ring of spears. Askance regards them, as he stands at bay. In perturbation that is not dismay : " His eyes terrific glare with troubled light. But his wild nature and his wrath disdain Retreat ; where lances bristle thickest, right Among them suddenly he springs amain : So paused, so raged the formidable knight. And stain' d with hostile blood the grassy plain. Avenging well his dead and dying brave. Whom, prest by numbers, valour could not save. THE LUSIAD. 135 XXXVI. " Not unperceived was Nuno's perilous strait By John, the vigilant chief, a king indeed — His eye was everywhere, his voice elate To rouse the heart, his presence sure at need. As when a lioness that prowFd to sate Her hungry whelps, back to their lair at speed E-eturn'd, discovers that her young were then Lurched by some swain Massylian from the den. " She runs, she bounds, she raves, and with her cries The seven brother mountains echoing shake. So to the rescue of his vanguard flies The King, his chosen escort at his back. And shouts, ' O comrades, forward to the prize Of honour ! rally for your country's sake ; Her hope of liberty is in your .lance ; Strike for your own dear land's deliverance. " ^ Behold me here, your king, companion, friend. Among the spears, and shafts, and mail, of these Your foe-men ; with and for you I contend The first ; come on, true-hearted Portuguese.' New force the words and his example lend : Four times he poised his lance, and then with ease Impetuous hurFd : and when that lance was cast Full many a bold Castilian breathed his last. 136 THE LUSIAD. XXXIX. " Por lo, his hearers touchM with noble fire. And glowing with an honourable shame. Vied who shonld most effect the fierce desire To conquer dangers in the martial game. Home through the breast-plate, on the sheet of wire Pierced the bright steel and out empurpled came ; Wounds they received and took with equal will, As if 'twere pastime to be killM or kill. XL. "At every lance's thrust one spectre more Eejoiced the insatiate ferryman of hell : Down sending crowds of angry ghosts before. The master fierce of Calatrava fell ; And St. lago's, stricken to the core, Died for the cause that he had served too well : Blaspheming Heaven and fate, the renegades, Pereira's kinsmen, flitted to the shades. XLI. " The nameless brave whom Pame forgets to note Pell-mell with nobles to that gulf are hurFd, Where howls the monster of the triple throat Por spirits passing from this pregnant world. And lo, the banner that so proudly smote The air, the insulting flag, so late imfurFd To menace Lusitania, at her feet Lies prostrate, Spain's discomfiture complete. THE LUSIAD. 137 XLTI. " Here the hot battle maddened to a hell Of death, and clamour, gashes, groans, and blood. So vast a concourse round that banner fell That not a flower its native colour showM, Till rage exhausted, saw no foe to quell. Nor need of spear the panic flight to goad : Castilia's king the hopeless rout beheld, And left with altered mind the fatal field. " He left it to the conqueror, content That death had miss''d the mover of the strife ; His broken squadrons vanished, terror lent Wings to their feet, so dear is worthless life. Though thought of honour lost, of treasure spent. Was anguish keener than the mortal knife ; And, worse than all, the stinging thought of those Who revellM in the spoil and mock'd their woes. " Some go invoking curses on the soul Of him who first made war upon his kind. And others imprecate as bitter dole On selfish leaders of obdurate mind. Who, to allay ambition's thirst, cajole Their wretched people to perdition bhnd ; Nor heed how many wives are widowM left. How many mothers of their sons bereft. 138 THE LUSIAD. XLV. " Upon the battle-field the accustomed days Remained in glory great the victor John ; And then with offerings, pilgrimage, and praise. Gave thanks to God through whom the day was won, But Nuno, who demands no other ways Whereby his name to aftertimes may run But those by sovereign valour opened out, Across the Tagus folio wM up the rout. " True was the star that cheered his spirit on ; His hope and fortune march' d with equal speed ; He reached the Yandal frontier, and anon Both spoil and triumph were the hero's meed. Sevilla's banner droop'd ; nor that alone But many a Bsetic flag that took the lead. Prone in the dust confessed its champion lord No match for Portugal's avenging sword. " His rash defiance the GastiUan rued. By these and other victories opprest ; At length, for both were weary of the feud. The victor gladly gave the vanquished rest. After the Sire Omnipotent bestowed Two royal sisters, — fairest, noblest, best. Of all that England held by joint accord, — On our brave king and the Castihan lord. THE LUSIAD. I39 XLVIII. '' But valour, long inured to martial toil. Soon tires of ease, impatient for a foe ; And, finding none on his paternal soil. Across the sea resolved the king to go ; Pirst of our kings that sought, by prize and spoil, Of Mauritanian towns and fields to show To Afric's sons how little virtue hath Their Koran tested by the spear of faith. "Behold, across the Strait where Tethys raves, A navy, for Alcides' Pillars bound ! A thousand birds that skim the silver waves ! And soon the heights of Abyla are crown' d With. Christian banners ; and the Prophet's slaves Expell'd from noble Ceuta's walls, that frown' d So long on Spain, which now shall fear no more A recreant Julian on that evil shore. " Death claim'd at last, yet all too soon, a king. So long the hero of his people's love. And freed the spirit that it could not sting. To join in choral harmonies above. Yet that his people 'neath the sheltering wing Of Heaven remain' d, his sons were left to prove ; A race of princes worthy of command. And doom'd to widen and exalt the land. 140 THE LUSIAD. LI, " Though not exempt from sorrow were the days When royal Edward held the power supreme ; Eor peevish Time at good and evil plays, And woe and joy are as the cloud and gleam : Who knows the charm of happiness that stays ? And when was Fortune firmer than a dream ? Change is her law, and, though this realm and king Were spared the worst her changes often bring, — " An anguish deep was his. Fernando^s fate ; That saintly brother, so subUmely brave ! Who bound himself to Saracenic hate. His lost and hopeless countrymen to save ; And held no sacrifice for them too great. But born a prince, resolved to die a slave, Eather than Ceuta should his ransom be. And public weal be taxM to set him free ! " That Sparta might not conquer Codrus died ; So Athens triumphM, by her monarch slain ; Lest Eome should lose in honour or in pride. Old Regulus resumed the Punic chain : This royal youth a lingering suicide By Moorish tliraldom chose for ease of Spain ; Codrus did less than that ; the Decii less ; And Curtius, wondrous for devotedness. THE LUSTAB. 141 LIV. " The realm's sole heir Affonso (happy name In arms in our Hesperia) trampled down And turned to abject misery and shame The Moslem's pride barbaric. This renown Were that which an unconquer'd knight might claim. But for his swoop to clutch Castilia's crown. Afric will say, — ' 'twas false, no living tiling Could ever vanquish the terrific king.' " He pluck' d the golden apples from the bough. By none but the Tyrinthian reach' d before : He laid a yoke, unbroken e'en till now. Upon the shoulders of the sturdy Moor : He wreathed with palm and bay his kingly brow- By victories that crush'd the barbarous power In strong Alca9er, populous Tangier, And tough Arzilla, fenced by many a spear. ^' Those stubborn holds of strength by storm were taken; Their adamantine battlements down fell. When by the strenuous rage of heroes shaken, Accustom'd all impediments to quell. Marvels were wrought that might to song awaken The master-spirits of the lyric shell In praise of cavaliers whose deeds of glory Enrich the lustre e'en of Lusian story. 142 THE LUSIAD. LVU. '' But, later, — by ambition goaded on, The sweet and bitter pain that conquerors feel,- He challenged Ferdinand of Aragon Touching the potent kingdom of Castile ; Whose haughty various races thereupon, A wrathful multitude to arms appeal ; Por all obeyed King Ferdinand's decrees From Cadiz to the cloud-capt Pyrenees. '^ Within the realm an idler to remain BrookM not the Infante John, and forth at speed He march' d, his sire ambitious to sustain; Nor little was the help, for great the need. From out the bloody coil on Toro's plain Alfonso came, with shattered ranks indeed. Yet with a front not troubled but serene. For victory paused the rival hosts between ; " And he, his gentle, gallant, high-soul'd son. The very model of a perfect knight. After his work upon the foe was done A full day rested on the field of fight. So, by Octavius lost, the day was won By Anthony his comrade, in the right Of sacred vengeance, on Philippics plain. To soothe the ghost of Csesar foully slain. THE LUSIAD. 143 LX. " Through night, blind medium of all mortal things. When passM Alfonso to eternal day. On this brave prince, thirteenth of Lusian kings. Our second John, devolved the regal sway. He for immortal glory, to the springs Of purple morning first devised the way. Conceived the task, too bold for man terrene, Which now is mine, and mine so long has been. " He sent explorers forth, who past athwart Spain, France, and ever famous Italy. There they embarFd at the renowned port Where buried lay the false Parthenope ; Eair Naples, which so long was [Fortune's sport. So oft some new assailant's slippery fee. Until the lordly Spaniard fix'd her fate And made her glorious in her last estate. '' Along the sea Sicilian to the isle Of sandy-margin'd sunny Rhodes they go ; Then o'er the banks of Alexandria toil, Famed for the death of Magnus, Caesar's foe ; To Memphis next, and lands that by the Nile Nourish' d, rejoicing in his overflow ; Thence, beyond Egypt, to those Ethiop heights Where Christian faith preserves its sacred rites. 144 THE LUSIAD. LXIII. " They sailM across the waters Erythrsean Where shipless Israel walked with sandals dry ; They left behind the mountains Nabathsean That owe their name to IshmaeFs progeny ; They past the odoriferous coast Sabsean Where Myrrha^s tears perennial balm supply ; By aU the shores of Araby the blest They wound, the Stony leaving and the Waste. " The Persian Strait they enterM from the shore Where Babel noise yet rings in fancy's ear. There Tigris and Euphrates mingling pour Their waters, proud of Eden fountains clear : Thence, by the sea that Trajan past not o'er. The strenuous men in quest of Indus steer Translucent river, destined to supply Eventful themes for ample history. LXV. '^They sojourned among nations strange that dwell In Kerman and the palmy Earsistan, Peculiar arts and customs noting weU Devized in various climes by various men. But to retrace such ways by flood and feU Is more than Eortune wills or Nature can : Their own loved country never saw them more. Prisoners of Death upon a distant shore. THE LUSIAD. 145 LXVI. " Perhaps for great Emanuel alone Has Heaven the full accomplishment designed Of this high effort, as a gracious boon And meed of virtues in his heart enshrined : Emanuel, John's successor on the throne. And heir of all the grandeur of his mind. Not by the sceptre only would he reign. But grasp the trident too and rule the main : — " Eor he was haunted by the lofty sense Of kingly obligation, the bequest Of predecessors who with love intense Lived for their country. That high thought possest His soul, nor ever for a moment thence Was banished ; not when day behind the west Eetired and planets brightenM as they rose. Nor when they set, persuading to repose. " Reclined upon his golden couch, the nest Where anxious thoughts are certain most to brood. He lay revolving the sublime behest Of his great office and illustrious blood ; Until at length, by lassitude opprest. He slept, — but in that visionary mood When Morpheus keeps the conscious heart awake. And all his changing shapes the senses take. 146 THE LUSIAD. LXIX. " Wrapt into upper air the monarch soar'd Until he toucVd upon the primal sphere. And thence new worlds and marvellous explored Alive with men to wonder at and fear ; And far away as sight could travel toward The birth-place of the star that lights the year, Two vast and hoary mountains he beheld, From which two clear and lofty fountains welled. LXX. "Fierce birds and beasts, and herds of brutes uncouth. Were dwellers in the lofty wilderness : To breathing things less rough than they, forsooth, The churlish mountains suffered not access, For thousand trees opposed their serried growth With brambles shagg'd and creepers numberless. 'Twas plain no human foot had trod, therein Since Paradise was lost by Adam's sin. " From out those fountains seem'd to issue then. Advancing to him with gigantic stride. Two very ancient venerable men Of noble aspect, dash'd with rustic pride. DrippM from their drenched locks the water sheen Adown their vasty limbs on every side Thick matted beards, but long and silver-white, FlowM o'er their tawny breasts like streams of light. THE LUSIAD. 147 LXXII. " Their temples with wild coronals were bound. Mysterious wreaths of boughs and herbs unknown. One weary seem'd, as if from other ground He came and thence had travellM far alone. His flood too rollM with other force and sound. As though from some remoter fount come down. So stole from Arcady to Syracuse Alpheus to rejoin his Arethuse. " And he, the graver elder of the twain. The King thus greeted, shouting from afar : ' O thou, the Monarch for whose crown and reign Regions immense reserved and destined are. We, whose renown is known to land and main. We, yet untaught a stranger's yoke to bear. Unwilling come to tell thee 'tis thy time To claim vast tribute of our gorgeous clime. LXXIV. " ' I am illustrious Ganges ; my true fount Is in the hidden groves of Paradise : And this, King ! is Indus ; from the mount He springs which yonder stands before thine eyes On many a deadly struggle must thou count Ere we are thine ; persist and win the prize. By matchless victories thy constant arm Shall tame the nations that beneath thee swarm.' 148 THE LUSIAD. " No more the sacred Sire of Rivers spoke : And both were in an instant lost to sight. Thrill' d with strange wonder king Emanuel woke, And mind exalted to sublimer height ; Just as the day array' d in glory broke Startling the drowsed hemisphere with light While morning o'er the horizon scattered flowers. All rosy-red and fresh from Eden's bowers. " To council then the monarch call'd his peers, And told his wondrous vision ; every word Reciting of the solemn man of years. With grave delight the admiring magnates heard ; And all alike interpreting the Seer's Oracular voice, advised with one accord. To send a navy mann'd with spirits true To tempt new seas in quest of regions new. (( I — whose foreboding heart would still project Great things like this, as if for me design'd. But who had scarcely hoped to give effect To such ambitious longings of my mind, — I know not for what reason, what respect. Or what good omen in my star divined. The king entrusted to my hands the key Of this reluctant stubborn mystery. THE LUSIAD. 149 LXXVIII. " With bland caressing urgency of speech, The most potential argument of kings, He thus addressM me : ' Glory, hard to reach. Is only gainM by toil and sufferings. Life nobly lost is honour won ; and each New peril bravely met a guerdon brings. He whom no sordid fears of death dismay Has life within him charmM against decay. " ' Thou art my chief elect for this emprize, A noble task, and therefore thine by right. A trust of ponderous burthen on thee lies. But thou, I know, for me will deem it light/— I could endure no more : my heart replies, ' Sovereign Liege, ^twere gratitude so slight To dare all climes, all perils, for my king ; I grieve that life is but so mean a thing. LXXX. " ' Bid me confront adventures, for thy sake, Hard as Eurystheus on Alcides laid : The lion of Nemsea, Lerna's snake, The boar of Erymanth, the Harpies dread; Where Dis sits awful by the Stygian Lake Bid me explore the vague and spectral shade : Erom greater peril nor from greater toil, Eor thee, O King ! my heart and soul recoil.' 160 THE LUSIAD. LXXXI. " Eight royally he thank'd me ; gifts of price And words more precious far, reward my zeal Virtue is quickened by the cheering voice ; Praise is the spur that noble spirits feel. Eraternal love and gallant avarice Of honours and enduring fame compel My brother, Paul da Gama, at my side To share the hazards of a chartless tide. " And Nicholas Coelho shares them too, A man of toils, and patient to endure. Both are of spirit resolute and true. In arms experienced, and in council sure. Then youths of promise I around me drew. Whose growing courage challenged Fortune's lure ; Heroic natures all, as plainly told Their free adventure on a coui'se so bold. " Favours to these with liberal hand disbursed The King to stimulate their loyalty. And cheerM with lofty praises to the worst That might betide their arduous errantry. Thus in that bark prophetical, the first That ever tempted the Thalassian sea. The Mynian youth to win the Golden Fleece "Wide sent the glorious Argonauts of Greece. THE LUSIAD. 151 LXXXIV. " Impatient of its moorings, in the port Of famous Ulyssea, where the tides Of the salt sea with Tagus blend, and sport O'er his bright sands, our little navy rides, Afret upon the cable. Not a heart Of all my young adventurers but chides Delay ; soldier and seaman, one and all. Prompt through the world to follow at my call. LXXXV. " The troops, apparelFd in their bravery gay And showy pomp of arms, adornM the shore ; Nor less equipt with inward strength were they Tor search of distant worlds. Our brave ships wore Their banners flying, with the breeze at play ; And looFd as if, their ocean labours o'er. Like Argo they might shine among the stars. And be the lights of future mariners. " All preparations made that might suffice So long a voyage, we prepared our souls Eor death, still present to the seaman's eyes. On every billow that before him rolls. To that High Power whose glance alone supplies Life to the angelic myriads he controls. We knelt and pray'd ; imploring Him to guide And bless us launching on a gulf so wide. 152 THE LUSIAD. LXXXVII. " Thus we departed from the sacred fane That sits upon the margin of the sea. Named for example to the proud and vain. Prom Bethlehem, where God, our souls to free, Assumed the bonds of flesh. I scarce restrain My tears, O King ! I do aver to thee, When I remember how I left that shore. In doubt, in trouble, for the charge I bore. Lxxxvni. " The people of the city on that day. Some for their kindred, others for their friends. The mass in idle wonder, throng'd the way, With gloomy looks rebuking hopeless ends ; While we, escorted by a long array, A thousand holy friars, o'er the sands In solemn slow procession seaward trod. And hymn'd our fervent orisons to God. " The multitude already deem'd us lost In the long mazes of a barren chase : The wails of women sadden'd all the coast, MixM with the groans of men, a dismal base. Brides, mothers, sisters, as they loved the most, With deepest anguish sought a last embrace : And hopeless while in presence of their own, Mourn'd the departing as for ever gone. THE LUSIAD. 153 xc, " One following cried : ' O son, on whom my hope Reposed complacent for its comfort, sole And dear support adown the painful slope Of weary days that now must end in dole, — Why dost thou leave me all alone to cope With age and wretchedness, so near my goal ? Why wilt thou go to find a stormy grave. And feed the latent reptiles of the wave ? ' " Another, with hair loose : ' O heart-loved spouse ! Porlorn of whom love wills not I should live, What frenzy to the rage of ocean vows A life which is my own, not thine to give ? Our home delights — canst thou abandon those. To roam the wilds, a homeless fugitive ? Dost thou forget our love, our peace ? Are they Sport for the winds that waft the sails away ? * " Old men that creep as if they read the ground. And little children, tottering as they go. In imitation of the mourners round Lament, for sorrows deeper than they know : The neighbouring mountains murmurMback the sound. As if to pity moved for human woe. Uncounted as the grains of golden sand The tears of thousands fell on Belem's strand. 154 THE LUSIAD. xcin. " We not so much as dared to lift our eyes To wife or mother in their sad estate, Lest at the threshold of our enterprise The heart should waver from its purpose great. So to embark my strength I ruled it wise. Evading thus a tender custom^s weight. The last farewell, the pang that courts delay, A sting to those that go, and those that stay. '^ But an old man of venerable look. Who stood among the people on the shore, Fastened his gaze upon us, and thrice shook His brow, in token of displeasure sore ; And, clearly heard by us afloat, he spoke, Prom a full heart and skilled in worldly lore. In deep slow tones this solemn warning fraught With wisdom by long-suffering only taught : xcv. " * O passion of dominion ! O fond lust Of that poor vanity which men call Tame ! O treacherous appetite, whose highest gust Is vulgar breath that taketh honour's name ! O fell ambition, terrible but just Art thou to breasts that cherish most thy flame ! Brief life for them is peril, storm, and rage. This world a hell and death their heritage. THE LUSIAD. 155 xcvi. " ' Slirewd prodigal ! whose riot is the dearth Of states and principalities opprest ; Plunder and rape are of thy loatlily birth ; Thou art ahke of life and soul the pest. High titles greet thee on this slavish earth ; Yet none so vile but they would fit thee best : But Tame forsooth and Glory thou art styled, And the blind herd is by a sound beguiled. " ' Ah, whither wilt thou lead us now astray, Bent as thou art the fated land to wrong ? To what new forms of pain and death betray With sounding names enticing us along ? What golden mines, what gorgeous realms of day. Are now the promise of thy facile tongue ? What wondrous victories, what pomps of glory. Ovations, triumphs, palms, immortal story ? xcvni. '' ' But ye ! sprung of that insensate man. Whose sin of disobedience on his race A double curse entaird ; the bitter ban Of exile from his primal home — (the place Where earth was racy of its Maker's plan) — With loss of innocence and heavenly grace ; Tor smless calm, bequeathed you guilt and rage, An age of iron for a golden age ! 156 THE LUSIAD. XCIX. " ' Since in this rampant vanity je find A charm that ravishes your fancy light ; Since brutal rage and fierceness to your mind Are noble energy and valour bright ; And since the loftiest virtue of mankind Ye deem contempt of life, in nature's spite ; Of life, that should be held a trust divine, Por He who gave it shuddered to resign : " ' Is not the Son of Ishmael close at hand, With whom ye may play out your bloody game ? Follows he not the Arabian's doctrine banned. If infidels to Christ ye would reclaim ? Holds he not thousand cities, endless land, If wealth and lordly fiefdoms be your aim ? Is he not stout of heart and strong of arm, If honour, and not plunder, be the charm ? " ' Leave you a foe increasing at your gate, To seek another over seas so wide, Tor whom this ancient realm made desolate, Drained of its strength, in ruin shall subside ? Court you a peril dark, an unknown fate. That fame may flatter and exalt your pride. Proclaiming you, with liberal pomp of words. Of Ethiop, Ind, Arabia, Persia, lords ? THE LUSIAD. 167 CII. " ' Curst be the man who first forsook the ground. And fastenM canvas to a sapless tree ! Worthy of anguish in the pit profound. If that true faith I hold religion be. May never judgment lofty and fecund Nor vivid genius grace his memory, Nor sonorous harp his bad exploit proclaim But black oblivion shroud himself and name ! " 'Prometheus stole from Day's crystalline car Heaven's fire, his bust of clay to animate ; Sad error ! for the fire enkindled war And the worst passions that disgrace our state. Son of lapetus, how better far For us, and for the world more fortunate. Had thy famed statue never known a flame. Which, got by sacrilege, a curse became ! oiv. " ' Then had not wretched Phaeton desired The blazing chariot of the sun to guide. Nor Icarus in impious flight aspired. And left their stories to the stream and tide. By steel untamed, by heat and cold untired. Through fire and water, man's audacious pride Will shrink from nothing that is badly great : Mysterious frenzy ! miserable fate !' CANTO THE FIFTH. " The man of honourM years in words like these Yet stood declaiming, when we opened out Our wings to the bland wafture of the breeze, And left the much-loved harbour. With devout Observance of a custom of the seas, At setting sail, to heaven we raised the shout ' God speed our voyage ! ' — Soon the masts confess With creaking sway the wind's accustom^ stress. " The Kght of inextinguishable ray The fierce Nemaean beast was entering now ; Our timeworn planet, verging on decay, Eevolved in its sixth age, infirm and slow. And fifteen hundred years, less three, the day (Since Christ assumed the bonds of human woe) Had duly travelled his ecliptic round When sailed the fleet on this adventure bound. THE LUSIAD. 159 III. " By little and by little, lost we sight Of those loved hills that guard the parent strand, And cherishM Tagns, and the breezy height Of Cintra, last dim presence fondly scannM. We left behind, too, in that painful flight. Our hearts, tenacious of their native land : All dear familiar objects vanishM fast, Till nought we saw but sea and sky at last. " Thus went we forth, developing a waste Of seas to human enterprise unknown ; Breathing new airs from isles that idly graced Blind ocean till by princely Henry shown. The Maui'itanian regions, where the vast Antaeus held in days of old his throne. Rose on our left ; far on the dexter hand Surmise conceives a continent of land. (( ^e glided by Madeira^ s stately shore Which from its wealth of woods derived the name Famed isle ! the first we colonised, and more Surpassing in its beauty than its fame. Nor let those Islands Yenns loved of yore, Cythera, Cyprus, vaunt their elder claim : The Paphian Queen would have forgotten them Had this been hers, the Atlantic's latent gem. 160 THR LUSIAD. VI. '' Massyla^s coast, the dreary breadth between The Berber land and Ethiop, then we past ; There on a churlish soil, of pasture lean. The lot of the lorn Azeneque is cast : His herds a niggard thirsty nurture glean ; The desert pulse scarce yields him a repast ; The bird that swallows iron wanders there ; And there reigns Want, the brother of Despair. " We crossM the northern limit whence the sun Back to the central girdle slopes his way. Here man for Phoebus' promise rashly won. Lost the serene complexion of the day. Here where the Senegal's dark waters run Are tribes ferocious as the beasts of prey. Before us loom'd the Cape we call de Yerde, Once Arsinarium, now a name unheard. " The fair Canarian cluster, named of yore The Happy Islands, left so far behind — Among the daughters now of Hesper hoar. The bright Hesperides, a prosperous wind Our navy wafted. On this pleasant shore. Which our first cruisers in their joy to find Had hail'd as new-sprung wonders of the Waste, We too were fain the sweets of land to taste. THE LUSIAB. 161 IX. " Under the shelter of that Isle we moorM, Named from lago, champion Saint of Spain, The Warrior Saint whose visionary sword So often made the Crescent^s pride to wane ; But when consenting Boreas gave the word. Thence to the illimitable Lake again We turned, resigning for the desert sea A land of plenty and its sheltering lee. " By sinuous course and long, we coasted then Those shores of Africa that eastward swerve. The Jaloff province, whence the sable men. To bondage scattered, divers nations serve ; And wide Mandinga, from whose marts we gain The precious metal. Here, with many a curve Abrupt, and many a broad majestic sweep. Flows wizard Gambia to the Western deep. " We passed those islands whither, forced to flee. The Gorgons, odious to the light, retired. One eye among them served the mystic Three ; One mind their evil sorceries inspired. But thou, the fatal charmer of the sea, For Neptune by thy golden ringlets fired, Wert cursed the most with hideous change of form. And hence the Lybian sands with vipers swarm. 162 THE LUSIAD. xn. " Due south we now the beaked prows incline, And many a winding league of shore escape, Leaving the rugged mountain Leonine, And headland named by us the Palmy Cape. Wide of Saint Thomas' Isle we cross the Line, And, still athwart the mighty gulf to shape Our course, far westward of that mouth we glide Where the great river meets the sounding tide. " That lucid river, the long winding Zaire, Mood which the roving ancients never saw. Through Congo runs, a realm extending far. Where erst our nation sowM the Christian law. Thus from the seaman's friend, Calisto's star. Our northern guide, did I at last withdraw Beyond the limit of the Western main And burning line that parts the world in twain. " And right before us gladly we descried Li a new hemisphere a pole-star new. Unseen by our forefathers, and denied. Or thought a dream that might be false or true; We saw the firmament's antarctic side Less bright than ours, for here the stars are few : And none can tell if underneath its pole More land exists, or shoreless waters roll. THE LUSIAD. 163 XV. " Tliro' storms, thro' calms, thro' many a brunt severe Of that rough trident which the sea-god wields, Thus traversing the regions where the year Twice welcomes Summer, twice to Winter yields (As rules the sun upon his swift career 'Twixt either zone along his argent fields) We saw Calisto Juno's anger brave And dive in the forbidden ocean-wave. " To tell thee all the perils of the main. Known but to them that o'er its waters strive ; The sudden onset of the hurricane. The meteors that make heaven with fire alive. The nights pitch-dark, the spouting floods of rain. The thunder-blasts that threat the world to rive, — Were labour lost, nor would be mine by choice Even were I gifted with an iron voice. " Sights have I witness'd that the seaman rude. Whose only teacher is experience, deems Pacts he can vouch ; and tells them as he view'd, Taking the thing he sees for what it seems. But keener intellects, in judgment shrewd. And strong in science to detect the schemes Of nature, hidden from the vulgar eye. Such tales as wild or fabulous decry. 164 THE LUSIAD. XVIII. " Yet have I seen distinctly the live light By sailors halloVd as an omen sent Erom heaven to cheer them in the stormy night Of threatened wreck, when courage is overspent. As much we wonder' d too — and well we might, !Por surely 'twas a tiling of some portent^ To see a column from the wave emerge. And rise and grow by suction of the surge. " Assuredly I saw — for I presume My sight deceived me not — from ocean rise An .exhalation thin, a subtle fume. Which by the wind was twisted spiral- wise. But when began the aspiring shaft to loom 'Twas scarce discernible by keenest eyes ; So fine it rose, so delicately gleam'd : Of the same essence as the clouds it seem'd. '^ Gradual it rose ; till, by the store it drew Of billowy nurture it imbibed so fast, 'Twas magnified in girth, and stature too, Beyond the measure of the hugest mast. Thus, wavering on the wave, the column grew. Till the top thicken'd to a cloud at last. Which spread itself abroad, and still enlarged As more and more with freight of water charged. THE LUSIAD. 165 XXI. " As the swart leech that having fastened on A heifer's lips, while it incautious stood To drink at the cool well, is seen anon To gratify its eager thirst for blood, Swelhng and thickening, until, gorged thereon, The bloated creature drops from plenitude. So the tall column filHng swellM, and spread Itself and the incumbent cloud it fed. " When both were full and could no more retain. Up quickly from the sea its foot it drew. And all the fabric melted into rain That o'er the surge a soothing influence threw ; And so the flood received its own again. Yet not unchanged, but saltless as the dew : Let scholars show us by their books what skill Dame Nature used these waters to distil. " If those antique philosophers who paced So many lands their secrets to espy. The sailyards to as many winds had braced. And seen as much to wonder at as I, — What lore had they for after ages traced. What stars reveal' d, what signs on sea and sky ? Eare things and great, unthought of by the wise. All true, though strange as fiction could devise. 166 THE LUSIAD. XXIV. " The orb that lives in the first heaven, her race Five times, through every change, had run complete, Now showing all, and now but half her face, "While o'er her tides prevailed the constant fleet ; When, hark, from the main top's aerial height, 'Land! land!' a watchman shouts: announcement sweet That crowds the decks with men : all eyes intent, Eegard the horizon of the Orient. XXV. " Like clouds the mountains in the distance loom, But soon with honest front our vision greet ; All hands make ready for its oozy tomb The ponderous flook, then haul away the sheet : Here, that we might to surer knowledge come Of our position in this far retreat, — By aid of the astrolabe, invention new Of some keen mind to stellar science true, — " Ere long we landed at an open space : And wliile my crews the neighbouring hills explore, Eond to discover novelties, and trace Their way where stranger never trod before, — I, with the pilots, in a chosen place, Eemain'd to take our bearings on the shore, Fix the sun's altitude with careful art And prick the painted geographic chart. THE LUSIAD. 167 XXVII. " We found that we had plied the canvas wing Far southward of the goal of Capricorn ; Being now, between it and the frozen ring Of Auster^s uninvestigable bourne. But lo ! our rovers, now returning, bring By law of force a naked wretch forlorn, A negro, captured as he roamed to seize Among the hills, the treasure of the bees. " Troubled he comes, quaking in every limb. As one in trouble never so extreme. His speech is dark to us, as ours to him, A savage wilder than brute Polypheme. To feel our way into a sense so dim, We show him, first, of metals the supreme. Then, silver pure ; then, aromatic spice ; But none of these he turns to look on twice. " The charm of meaner objects then we try. Such trivial gauds as lucid beads of glass, A vermil cap, whose colour takes the eye. And little tinkling playthings, bells of brass ; At once his nods and gestures testify That these with liim for more than baubles pass : I bid him take them all, and set him free ; Off to his kraal he speeds exultingly. 168 THE LUSIAD. XXX. " Next day, at dawn, his comrades came ; a band All nude and of the colour of the night ; Their rugged hiUs descending, in demand Of fortune such as his, an envied sight. Won by their looks companionably bland, Fernan Yelasco, like an errant knight. Must needs to closer test the adventure push. And see the life of dwellers in the bush. " So forth he fared, with courage for his shield And arrogance to friend. When hours had past. And not a sign of Pernan from the field. An anxious look towards the hills I cast. And longed for his return, or sign reveaFd That he was safe : our hero came at last ; Adown a rocky slope his course he bent. Sea-ward, returning faster than he went. '^ Coelho's boat was in an instant mannM, And hurried to receive him : ere it made The nearest beach, an Ethiop's daring hand Had all but seized the fugitive ; no aid Has he but in his speed of foot ; to stand Were death ; pursuers on his shadow tread. While I approached, swift as my rowers the stroke Could ply, a swarm of blacks from covert broke. THE LUSIAD. 169 XXXIII. " On our devoted crews there pourM a rain Of stones and arrows from that sable cloud ; Nor were they hurtled through the air in vain_, As this limb witnessM, by an arrow plougVd. But we, thus outraged, leaping to the plain. So sharp a volley sent among the crowd, That they decamping bore away, perhaps. Some blushing honours redder than their caps. XXXIV. " VeUoso rescued, to our ships we turn. Nor waste more anger in an idle fray With men in whose wild nature we discern The stealthy fierceness of the brutes of prey ; Prom whom, too, nought of India we could learn Save that the land desired was far away : So making sail before a gallant breeze, Again we tried the fortune of the seas. ^' To Fernan then a boon companion cried. While rang the decks with laughter's merry chime, ' Ho, friend Yelloso, yonder mountain side Seems less laborious to descend than climb/ ' True,' unabashed the adventurer replied, ' But, when yon black pack hither troop'd, 'twas time, Tor your sake, as I thought, my pace to mend. Remembering you were here without your friend/ 170 THE LUSIAD. XXXVI. " When they had crost the ridge that fronts the bay. His negro convoy, as he now averred, Made halt, and bade him back retrace his way, Threatening to slay him there, if he demurred ; And when perforce he turnM, they cowering lay On watch till we should seek him, and prepared By sudden massacre of all to seize A fearful hour to plunder at their ease. " Pive suns since we departed thence had set. And smoothly wafted by a prosperous gale We cleaved the seas where never nation yet But ours had urged the exploratory sail. When, as we watch' d, one night, and not a threat Of change disturbed us, sure that all was well, A cloud from overhead its shadow cast And densely lowering brooded o'er the mast. " So heavily it gloom'd athwart our board, A solemn fear to every heart it struck. While from afar the blackened ocean roar'd As if in thunder bursting on a rock. ' Oh what is this,' I cried, ' Almighty Lord ! What threat divine ? What new mysterious shock Portend those howling waves, tliis sea dilform ? For this is something greater than a storm ! ' THE LUSIAD. 171 XXXIX. '' While yet I spoke, what shape before us grew ? A mighty phantom in the air appearM, Uncouth, enormous, horrible to view. With savage front and squalid length of beard. And cavern'd eyes, and haggard earthly hue. And evil scowl of Thing that would be fear'd : His tangled locks were thick with sand and slime, And clots of ooze his hideous mouth begrime. " So huge was he of limb, that I may swear His bulk by that Colossus unsurpast Which brought to Ehodes the Wise of Greece to stare At one of earth's seven wonders. All aghast We heard his voice that rent the trembhng air, A voice which seemM from the abyss upcast : To see, to hear, this monster on the deep Made the hair bristle and the flesh to creep. ' race the most audacious ^ — thus he spake — ^The world for measureless ambition knows. You that for cruel warfare, and the sake Of vain adventures ever shun repose. Since those forbidden boundaries ye break. And press along my seas your daring prows, Seas by no keel for many a cycle ploughed. So long 'twas mine to guard them and to shroud ; 172 THE LUSIAD. XLII. '' ' Since ye are come to pierce the depths conceard Of nature, and the secrets of a tide To mortal heroes never yet reveaFd, Not even to those for prowess deified. Hear then from me the woes on flood and field Prepared to scourge your rashness and the pride Of triumphs ye must reach with desperate hand, Por horror waits you both on sea and land. " ' Know that whatever ships hereafter brave. Like yours, these fatal latitudes, shall find A fierce antagonist in every wave, A raging enemy in every wind. And the first warlike force these waters lave To it, on rough and boisterous route inclined- By me shall sudden punishment be dealt — More than the danger shall the loss be felt. " ' On him who first discovered me, if true My hope, consummate vengeance shall be mine, Nor there will end the retribution due To stubborn arrogance : if I divine Aright, your navies, year by year, shall strew My coasts with wreck : woe in aU forms mahgn Shall haunt them ; evils countless shall befaU Your people, — death the mildest of them all. THE LUSIAD. 17: XLV. " ' Lo, homeward comes, secure in Fortune's smiles, A man whose Orient fame has reached the skies, Here to resign his trophies, here his spoils Won from the Turk, and he himself my prize : Here yawns his grave, the end of all his toils ; Such the dark judgment of the Power All- Wise; On me Quiloa and Mombassa call Their wrongs to avenge by their destroyer's fall. " ' Another comes, a man of honoured fame, A lover, and true knight in heart and deed ; And with him brings the young and beauteous dame Whom Love has given him as a precious meed. Sad is their chance, and black the fate for them When from dire wreck and coil of breakers freed. On these more dreadful shores they fall alive. With tenfold anguish in my grasp to strive. " ' Their children, fostered with such tender care. Shall die of hunger in the parents' sight. Through burning sands shall trail that mother fair Her delicate feet for many a day and night : Stript, by the hands of ruthless Caffres, bare, And wandering naked, goaded by the light, . O'er trackless wilds, beneath the torrid sky, The miserable Dame shall long to die. 174 THE LUSIAD. xLvni. " 'And some — who thence surviving, home shall reach, As witness of the horrors which were borne By these two lovers — woes enough to teach The rocks and stones to weep such fate forlorn — Shall tell how sad they trod the stony beach. Or by the thickets' tangling brakes were torn ; Embracing still, they found a wretched tomb. Their souls exhaling to a brighter doom/ " More yet the appalling Monster would have told Prophetic of our fates, when, ' Who art thou ? ' I calPd aloud, ' whose vastness to behold Perplexes human wonder, I avow ! ' — His wan lips quivered, his fierce eye-balls rolFd, And, uttering a fearful cry of woe. In harsh and painful accent he replied. As if the question weighed upon his pride : " ' The Spirit of yon haughty cliff am I, Caird Cape of Storm by your precursor bold, A headland in impassive mystery, Enslirouded from geographers of old. Here end the Afric shores that nearest lie Unto the pole antarctic — shores controlled By that, my mountain throne so long occult. Which you in your audacity insult. THE LUSIAD. 175 LI. '' ' My name was Adamastor, I was one Of those gigantic brothers, born of earth, As vast JEgeon and Enceladon, Who against the Lord of Thunder tried their worth In battle : they Heaven's fortress would have won By piling hill on hill : but I went forth To be their champion on the Ocean-plain And challenge Neptune on his own domain. " ' By love for Peleus' spouse, my fated scourge. Was I to this wild enterprise subornM ; Tor her, the radiant Princess of the surge. The goddesses of all the heaven I scornM. One day I saw her from the wave emerge. In nought but her own loveliness adornM, Attended by the Nereids : from that hour I felt, and yet I feel — her fatal power. " ' Knowing persuasion hopeless, for I knew That nymphs affect not such a form as mine. By force I thought her coyness to subdue. Nor veiled from azure Doris my design : The startled mother, feigning then to sue On my behalf, address^ her. The divine Enchantress said, as half compliant, ''How shall a Nereid learn to love a giant? ]76 THE LUSIAD. " ' Yet tell him, Ocean's reign to disembroil From menaced warfare, some way I may find My honour with his suit to reconcile/' Such was her message ; Love is ever blind ; I saw no snare besetting me the while. Thus unsuspectingly to yield incHned They heap'd around my heart a quickening pyre Of hopes that searched it through and through with fire. " ^ Tool that I was ! Desisting from the war, I waited my reward ; and, on a night By Doris promised, lonely from afar The form of Thetis gleam'd upon my sight ; Then, like a maniac hunting for a star, I ran towards the vision of delight With arms extended to secure the prize And find my life in her enchanting eyes. " ' Oh how can I record my vile disgrace ! I found, instead of her whom I adore, A crag encircled in my wild embrace, A thorny cliff outstanding on the shore : This was my prize angelic, face to face I grappled with a mountain ! Man no more. But mute and passive, senseless with the shock, I stood, another rock against a rock. THE LUSIAD. 177 LVII. '' ' fairest of the Ocean's daughters fair ! Why, though my feature pleased not, show thy mind ? Rock, cloud, or dream, had been a harmless snare, Hadst thou prolonged the fraud, and kept me blind. Stung with dishonor, frantic with despair, I turnM away, some other world to find. Where I might hide my sorrows and my wrath. Nor see the laughing scoffer cross my path. " ' But now my conquer'd brothers, in the chain. Extremity of wretchedness endured, And some the Olympic Gods, of triumph vain. Beneath the weight of mountains had secured. And I, for my rebellion on the main, (For what avails to cope with power assured ?) Lamenting here a Nereid's scornful hate. Soon felt a sterner enemy in Fate. " ' My living flesh obdurate earth became. My bones a hard inexorable heap ; Head, trunk and limbs, yet conscious to the shame, A wall of rock, a wide and towering steep ; What once was Adamastor's giant frame Is now- the Storm-Cape, glooming o'er the deep ; So will'd the gods ; and to torment me more The waves of Thetir dance about my shore.' 178 THE LUSIAD. LX. " He said, and vanished with a dismal moan. And with him disappeared the sable cloud : The ocean answered his departing groan In plaint prolongM, resounding far and loud. I to the choir of angels, who had shown Their light to guide us o^er the wilds we ploughed, With lifted hands implored that guidance still And pray'd the Lord to avert the menaced ill. " A¥hen Pyrois and Phlegon, and the twain Their yoke-mates, upward drew the radiant car. The Giant's Cape, majestic o'er the Main, Crown'd with the glory of the Morning Star We saw : and now our eastward course began. The frowning cape we doubled from afar. Then near'd the coast, and running down the Jand, Ere long cast anchor by a sheltered strand. " A kindlier people than those Ethiops were Who last received us with such evil grace. The men that dwell upon this coast appear. Unlike in nature though alike in race. With dance they welcomed us, and festal cheer. In crowds assembling on the sandy space. Their women with them, and the gentle droves They pasture in the grassy mountain coves. THE LUSIAD. I79 LXIII. " Strange ditties singing in a language strange. The sable women on their oxen rode ; (They prize, beyond all beasts that herded range, These beeves, slow-paced and patient of their load) They sang in concert, true to every change. And tuned to pastoral reeds their voices flowed : I thought, while Kstening to the rural strain. The age of Tityrus was come again. " A temper true to their ingenuous air. By gentle deeds the harmless natives show. Bringing us fowls and sheep, for which they share Content the showy trifles we bestow. But since to our interpreters they bear No word of what 'tis my concern to know. Nor yield a sign that might our quest avail. We lift the anchor and unreef the sail. " The mighty sweep of Afric's austral bound Achieved, we push'd our way, thence forward dark. Beyond the Isle where he who sought and found The Stormy Cape had left a cross to mark The term and Kmit of his course renownM, Erst unattain'd by European bark. So northward now our bowsprit lookM at last. And sought the Line, that must again be past. 180 THE LUSIAD. LXVI. " O'er desert waters, working out new way s, And solely piloted by Hope, we went ; Small reckoning made for many weary days 'Twixt storm and calm unprofitably spent. And once the sea, in this perplexing maze. The faithless sea on every humour bent. Opposed our progress with a current-tide That all our strain for mastery defied. LXVII. '' The wind was with us, filling every sail, And yet astern we drifted far and fast. So much the vigour of the southern gale Was by the waves' repellent force surpast ; Till angry ISTotus stubborn to prevail, Put forth his strength in a tremendous blast. Whereby, against the rushing waters urged, Victors at last our staggering hulls emerged. LXVIII. " The sun brought round the consecrated morn Whereon Three Kings, whose path a star foreran. Adored an infant King, the lowly-born. The God in God — Triune, the Christ in Man. That day auspicious to our plight forlorn. We reached a harbour of the friendly clan. Where the large river, fed from inland springs. We named in honour of The Feast of Kings. THE LUSIAD. 181 LXIX. " Fresh water from the river we took iii^ Fresh food the natives brought us ; but withal No token here of India might we win From men, to us, as though they dumb were all. Mark how we roam, O King, yet still within The range of this untutor'd people fall. Our fond desire defeated evermore Of trace or notice of the orient shore. " Conceive the wretchedness of wanderers lost On seas unknown, in climes of name unheard. By famine pined, by shattering tempests tost, And worn and wearied out with hope deferred Of that long-sought and still receding coast, TiU aU grew desperate ; as we blindly err'd Beneath a sky unnatural, and rife With qualities malignant unto life. '^ Our food became corrupted, noxious more Than helpful to the fragile human frame. And, when our fate its direst aspect wore. Not even a lying hope to cheer us came. Think' st thou an armament from any shore But Lusitania's would have held the same Terrific course of duty, and not swerved. True to their Cliief and to the King they served ? 182 THE LUSIAD. LXXII. '' Canst thou believe they would not have rebelFd Against a chief persisting on his path, And turn'd the helm to piracy, compelled By strong despair, by hunger, and by wrath ? Ay, much have they been tried, and much excelFd In Lusitanian virtues, loyal faith. And brave obedience ; and, unchanged of soul. They yet will struggle till we reach the goal. " But, having left the port of the fresh flood And turn'd to cleave again the salt sea-spray. We made a tack and out to sea we stood. And held our distance from the coast away. Lest Notus blowing faint in listless mood The fleet might be impounded in the bay Torm^d in this perilous quarter by the shore That sends to Sofala its golden ore. LXXIV. '' The bay securely past, the rudder light (To good Saint Nicholas commended) brought Each prow to bear upon a shore in sight Wherewith the roaring billows idly fought. Then we, whose hearts, now darkened, and now bright. With their sole trust a feeble plank had fraught. We who had hoped till hope became despair In new and sudden joy forgot our care. THE LUSIAD. 183 LXXV. " Eor lo, as we approach the coast, where plain The strand and vales behind it we descry,, Upon a river running to the main Are barks that stem the stream or outward hie. Great is in sooth our happiness to gain The haunts of men who know the sail to ply. ' Now shall we surely find some guiding clue ! * Whispered reviving Hope, and whisperM true. LXXVI. " All Ethiopians are they, but it seems That they commune with some superior race ; Por in their speech intelligible gleams Of meaning, phrases Arabic, we trace ; The snow-white turban on the brow redeems The wild expression of the Caffre face ; A light blue kilt that half invests the frame Bespeaks them civilised to sense of shame. " In tongue Arabian, which though ill they speak. Yet well interprets Pernan Martinez, They say that ships as long from stern to beak As ours, are wont to navigate their seas ; That they go forth from eastern shores to seek The coasts that southward broaden, and from these Back towards the birth-place of the sun they sail Unto a land of men, like us, of feature pale. 184 THE LUSTAD. LXXVIII. " Our new-found friends rejoiced us much ; yet more Their news : the stream, of augury so fair, We named the River of Good Signs ; the shore Demanded our commemorative care. And of memorials that from home we bore For special landmarks, one we planted there. Calling it after that Angelic Guide Who led Tobias to his unknown bride. " Here we careened our ships, and much the need That hulls so long afloat, defiled and rough With sordid slime and barnacles and weed, Should cast their cumbrous sea-engender'd slough. And here the blameless Ethiops — hosts indeed. Who thought no kindness short of all enough — Supplied our every want with ready smile ; . And men they were in whom we found no guile. " But neither pure nor lasting was the bliss That on this hospitable land we drew From mighty hopes revived. Wing'd Nemesis Soon counterpoised with a disaster new The rare delight : so Heaven decrees, and this The hard condition of our birth ; we rue The fickle temper of content, but find That sorrow is a power of constant mind. THE LUSIAD. 186 LXXXI. "Disease assaiTd my crews, — such fell disease. And loathsome, as till then I ne'er beheld — Who would believe, that saw not, how in these The livid gums with growth prodigious swellM, Breathing infection that depraved the breeze ? Alas, how many a gallant life was quell' d. How many a proud and noble form laid low On yonder shore, and by so vile a foe ! " The air was sickened by the noisomeness That reek'd from this malignity obscure. Astute physician had we none, still less Chiriirgeon subtle to resolve the cure ; Whoso applied him to the task, by guess. Cut out, as if 'twere dead, the flesh impure : Not without reason, whatsoe'er the skill, Tor unextirpated, 'twas sure to kill. LXXXIII. " There, to the sea-beat wilderness consign'd They sleep, and never more will wake to sigh, The dear companions of adventurous mind. Who shared so long our wayward destiny. How easy for the dead a home to find ; And, as for ours, for all that wandering die, A nameless sand-hill, any bubbling wave. Will serve the low or lofty for a grave. 186 THE LUSIAD. LXXXIV. " With brighter hopes but sadder hearts we leave The mournful solace of this friendly creek ; And coasting onward^ eager to perceive Some sign yet clearer of the goal we seek ; Ere long we plunge our anchors in the wave That frets the sullen marge of Mozambique, Whose fraud thou know est, and the cheat as vile Of those barbarians of Mombassa's isle. " At last to this thy port — where every kind And gentle usage that may soothe our woes And win the dying back to life, we find Relenting Heaven has led us : here repose. And consolation sweet, and peace of mind. Rare boon ! thy magnanimity bestows. If thou hast deign'd so long a patient ear. Now all is told that thou hast askM to hear. LXXXVI. '^ Judge now, O King, if ever course was run Like this of ours by men of other race : Think'st thou Eneas, or Laertes' son Persuasive, o'er an unimagined space Of waters stretch'd their flight as we have done ? Who howsoe'er the Muse his name may grace Has dared to do the deeds with which our name Descending, leaves but as one eighth his fame. THE LUSIAD. 18; LXXXVII. " Let him who drank so deep of Helicon, — For whom in rare and glorious strife un ended, Ehodes, los, Argos, Smyrna, Colophon, And Salamis, and Athens, all contended — And him the light that o^er Ausonia shone. Whose voice to pastoral sweetness now descended. Entrancing his own Mincius with the strain. Then rose, till Tiber with the sound grew vain, — " Let these the Wizards that give life to dreams, Eaise phantoms for their demi-gods to quell. Magician Circes, giant Polyphemes, And Sirens, chanting sweet their dreamy spell : And let their heroes, ever in extremes Of hazard, steer to shores where Cicons dwell ; Or land where, lotos-eaten, sense is lost ; Or lose the pilot when they need him most. — " Or battle with the bursed winds let loose ; Or pine in amorous Calypso's bowers ; Contend with Harpies ; or with Hell make truce And commune there with ghosts of earthly powers : Let every charm that fancy can produce Adorn imagined labours j true are ours : A plain unvarnisliM story I rehearse. And truth is stronger than beguiling verse/' — , 188 THE LUSIAD. xc. The Chiefs recital of that long career Of honour, charmM the listeners : when 'twas o'er. They listened still his fluent voice to hear, As men from deep carousal thirst the more. The King applauds the constancy severe Of Lusia's monarchs, heirs of patriot war ; Applauds their people's virtue unsubdued, Their loyal faith and veteran fortitude. His followers, one to other, o'er again Relating each the chance he noted most, Por wonder cannot choose but gaze on men That seas so vast with will so firm have crost. But now the bright-hair'd Delian veer'd the rein (Tried by Lampecia's brother to his cost) Toward Thetis' bower : warn'd by departing day. The Moslem king retraced his watery way. How sweet are praise and honour, when they crown The brow that feels them to be well-earn'd meeds ! Each noble mind would float as brightly down Time's river as the noblest, that precedes ; Pond jealousy of chronicled renown Is the brave mother of a thousand deeds ; " Fame is the spur that doth the spirit raise To scorn delights and live laborious days." THE LUSIAD. 189 XCIII. Not for his prowess but its recompense. The Macedonian envied him who broke The strength of Ilion in her best defence ; 'Twas not that Hector fell, but Homer spoke; Not Marathon achieved, but trophies thence Redounding to Miltiades, awoke The envy of Themistocles : no voice Like praise heroic could his soul rejoice. Vasco da Gama to the world would show That all those voyages the poet boasts Match not Eneas with himself, whose prow New skies have wonderM at and chartless coasts : Yes ; but the Latian song to him we owe Whom Empire haiFd from Actium's routed hosts : 'Twas he whose praise sublimed the Mantuan string, And gave the Roman glory boundless wing. The soil of Portugal its Scipios bears. Its Caesars and its Alexanders too : But youth untrainM to noblest lore was theirs. And wanting this the fruit obdurate grew. Octavius, laden with an empire's cares. Essayed his cheerful wit in numbers true : Antonius loved the Muse ; how much too well Eulvia, left lone for Glaphyra, could tell : 190 THE LUSIAD. xcvr. The first of Caesars toiled to conquer Trance, Yet arms impeded not his lettered sense ; The pen in one hand and in one the lance. He rivalFd Cicero in eloquence : Of Scipio's skill exerted to advance Eome's scenic art, there lacks not evidence : Troy's tale divine pillowed the Emathian's head, And even in dreams Pelides' bard he read. In short, the bravest on the rolls of time Have been for learning too and wisdom known ; Greek, Latian, or Barbaric, every cliaie Can boast accomplished chiefs except our own. Not without shame I speak it ; lofty rhyme Wants utterance in the land, because the tone Is all unalien to the nation's heart ; Proud ignorance disdains poetic art. Eor this, and not that native wit is poor. No Lusian harp thrills to a master-hand ; And if this custom of dull scorn endure Heroic soul will perish from the land. But, worst of all, our magnates, past a cure. Are spoird by fortune ; slow to understand. Careless of knowledge, sensual, harsh and hard. They neither covet nor deserve a bard. THE LUSIAD. 191 XCIX. Let Gama thank the Muses that their zeal For Lusitania's honour bids them sound His name, accordant to the just appeal Of strenuous deeds that claim to be renownM. Tor neither they of Pindus^ echoing hill Nor Tejo's nymphs in Yasco's race have found Such friends, that these should leave their grottos dim And woofs of golden twine, to sing of him. Love patriotic and the pure desire That every Lusian feat should have its praise Impel the Tagan sisters of the Lyre, Eor that alone the plausive voice they raise : And yet, if in one breast survive the fire That prompts to undegenerate scorn of ease. Let deeds attest it ! valour shall not lose Its price, though slighted be the generous Muse. NOTES. CANTO THE FIEST. Stanza i., page l.—Taprobane. The island of Ceylon. Stanza iv., page 2. — Hippocrene. A fountain in Boeotia, near Mount Helicon, and sacred to the Muses. Stanza vi., page 3. — And thou. Sebastian, King of Portugal. Stanza xii., page 5. — Mceonides. A name of Homer. Stanza xvi., page 6. — Tethys. The goddess of the sea. Stanza xix., page 7.— Proteus. A marine monster : the flock are the fish. • Stanza xx., page 7. — Maia. One of the Pleiades, and the mother of Mercury by Jupiter. c C 194 NOTES TO CANTO THE FIRST. Stanza xxvi., page 9. — Viriatus. A celebrated Portuguese, first a shepherd and afterwards a warrior, who baffled for long the designs of the Romans against his country. Stanza xxvi., page 9. — Feign'd in the Doe. This alludes to Quintus Sertorius, a native of Nursia, now Nozza, in Italy, Having been proscribed by Sylla, he came into Spain, where he received great honours, fighting against the Romans. In his expeditions he is said to have been accompanied by a white Doe, by which it was given out he was admonished in his acts, and par- ticularly either to proceed against or avoid the enemy. He resided at Evora, and built the celebrated aqueduct there. Stanza xxxi., page 11. — Boris. A sea nymph, daughter of the Ocean and of Tethys, and mother of the sea nymphs. Stanza xxxi., page 11. — N7/sa. An ancient city in India, in Afghanistan, the reported birthplace of Bacchus, Stanza xxxiv., page 12. — Cytlierea. One of the names of Venus. Stanza xli., page \5.—Typhceu9. Son of Tartarus and the Earth, the enemy of the heathen gods. Allusion is thus made to the time, which would be towards the end of February. Stanza xliii., jiage 15. — Profsnis. A promontory on the coast of Africa, near Mozambique, and opposite to Madagascar. Stanza xlvi., page 16. — Padus. The river Po, famous for the death of Phaeton, who was thrown therein by the thunderbolt of Jupiter. Stanza xlvi., page 16. — Lampethusa. One of the sisters of Phaeton, transformed, with her sister, into poplars by the gods, in consequence of their grief at their brother s fall. NOTES TO CANTO THE SECOND. 195 Stanza xlix., page 17. — LySan. Wine. Bacchus was called Lyseus. Stanza Ixxv., page 26. — Eniathian. Emathia; a name given to the countries which formed the empires of Macedonia and Thessaly, and where Pompey was defeated by Stanza Ixxxiv., page 29. — Nahathean. From Nabathsea, a country of Arabia, named from Nabath, the eldest son of Ismael, who reigned there ; the capital of which was Petra. Stanza xcii., page 31. — Pangayos. Small Indian vessels or ships. Stanza xcvi., page 33. — Nereus. A sea god, son of the Ocean and of Tethys, the husband of Doris, and parent of a numerous offspring called the Nereids, Stanza xcviii., page 33. — Sinon. A celebrated traitor at the destruction of Troy. CANTO THE SECOND. Stanza x., page 40. — Bimater. Bacchus ; who, on the death of his mother Semele, was placed in the thigh of Jupiter. Stanza xii., i)age 41. — Thyoneus. One of the names of Bacchus. Stanza xviii., page 43. — Erycina. One of the names of Venus. 196 NOTES TO CANTO THE SECOND. Stanza xix., page 43. — Aphrodite. A Grecian name of Venus. Stanza xx., page 43. — Nerine, Nisa, and Boto. Nereids. r Stanza xxi., page 44. — Dioncea. One of the names of Venus. Stanza xxxv., page 48. — Arbiter. Paris. Stanza xxxv., page 48. — He of yore. Actseon ; transformed into a stag on seeing Diana and her nymp^is bathing, and devoured by his own dogs. Stanza xlv., page 51. — Ogygia, The island of Calypso, Stanza xlv., page 51. — Tiniavus. A river which passes not far from Aquileia, and enters the Adriatic. Stanza xlix., page 53. — Erythra. The Red Sea. Stanza liii., page 54. — Bactra. Now Balck, the capital of Bactriana, on the river Bactros, in Asia, Stanza liii., page 54. — Leucate. A promontory in the island of St, Maura, near the coast of Epiru.s — near which were fought the actions between Octavius and Marc Antony. Stanza Iv., page 55. — Gadite. Spanish. Stanza Ivi., page 55, — May. Mercury. Stanza lyii., page 55. — Cylknian. Mercury, ^ NOTES TO CANTO THE SECOND. 197 Stanza Ixii., page bl.—Busiris. A great tyrant of Egypt. Stanza Ixiv., page 58. — Hennes. Mercury. Stanza Ixxii., page 60. — AmaUliea. There are various traditions concerning tMs person, but she is generally allowed to have been in possession of, or endowed with, a horn, which had the power, when the possessor wished it, of becom- ing instantaneously filled with what was desired. This is the story of the celebrated horn of Amalthea, commonly called the cornucopia. Stanza xcix., page 69. — Thaumantis. Iris, the messenger of the goddesses, more particularly of Juno. Stanza cvi., page 72. — Atiafils. Moorish trumpets. Stanza cxii., page 74. — Pirithaus. Son of Ixion, king of the Lapithse, who undertook, with Theseus, to carry off Proserpine. They descended into the infernal regions, where Pluto, discovering their intention, kept them in confinement. Stanza cxiii., page 74. — Erostratus. An Ephesian, who burnt the Temple of Diana. Stanza cxiii., page 74. — Ctesiphon. The Greek architect who planned the Temple of Diana at Ephesus. 198 NOTES TO CANTO THE THlllD. CANTO THE THIRD. stanza i., page 75. — Calliope. The principal of tlie Nine Muses. Stanza i., page 75. — Sire of thine Orpheus. Orpheus was the son of Apollo and Calliope. Stanza i., page 75. — Daphrie. Daughter of the river Peneus, converted into a laurel to avoid the solicitations of Apollo. Stanza i., page 75. — Clytia. The daughter of the Ocean converted into the flower callm Heliotrope, also admired by Apollo. Stanza i., page 75. — Leucothea. Daughter of Orchamus, king of Babylonia ; being accused by Clytia of her connexion with Apollo, she was buried alive by her father — Apollo transformed her into a tree, dispensing frankincense. Stanza vii., page ll.—Tanais. The river, now the Don, which divides Asia fi*om Europe. Stanza vii., page 77. — Riphean. Mountains, where is the source of the Don. Stanza vii., page 77.—Meolis. The sea of Azof. Stanaa xi., page 78. — Albis. The river Elbe. NOTRS TO CANTO THE THIRD. 199 Stanza xi., page 78—Amasis. A river in Gfermany. Stanza xii., page 79. — HelJe. Daughter of Athamus, king of Thebes, and of Nephele, who fled from her home to avoid the cruelty of her mother, and being carried through the air on a golden ram, fell into the sea, hence called the Hellespont. Stanza xii., page 79. — Rhodo2ye. A high mountain in Thrace. Stanza xiii. page 79. — Navpacfvm . Now Lepanto. Stanza xvi., page 80. — Pyrene. Daughter of Bebrycius, sovereign of the southern portions of Spain. Being abused by Hercules, she brought forth a serpent, which so terrified h«j- that she fled to the woods and was devoured by wild Iftasts. She gave the name to the mountains called the Pyrenees. Hercules. Tangier. Stanza xviii., page 81. — Theban. Stanza xviii., page 81. — Tingis. Stanza xxii., page 82. — TIip fthfipJifinl. Viriatus — see before. Stanza xxii., page 82. — The stealthy Sire. Means Saturn, who represents Time, the destroyer of all things. Stanza xxxii., page 85. — Progne. Daughter of Pandion, king of Athens, and sister of Philomela. Her husband having violated her sister, she killed her son Itylus, and had him served up disguised to be eaten by Tereus. She was converted into a swallow, and her sister into a nightingale. 200 NOTES TO CANTO THE THIRD. Stanza xxxii., page 85. — Medea. Daughter of ^etes, king of Colchis. She became the wife of Jason, and, being skilled, assisted him in charming the dragon which guarded the Grolden Fleece. She accompanied Jason to Corinth, where he, becoming enamoured of Grlauce, the daughter of king Creon, put Medea away and married Grlauce. Medea, in revenge, killed the children she had borne to Jason. Stanza xli., page 88. — Zopyrus. A subject of Darius, king of the Persians. Stanza xliv., page 89. — Thermodon. A famous river near to Cappadocia, and near to where the Amazons dwelt. Stanza Ivii., page 94. — Dardan. Ulysses. Stanza xii., page 95. — Transtagan. The country beyond the Tagus. Stanza Ixxi., page 98. — Nemesis. The daughter of the Ocean and of Night, and considered by the ancients as the Groddess of Vengeance, punishing impiety, and liberally rewarding good actions. Stanza Ixxii., page 99. — Hcniochi. A people of Asiatic Sarmatia near Colchis. Stanza Ixxii., page 99. — Sophenian. Inhabitants of the country of Armenia on the borders of Mesopotamia. Stanza Ixxii., page 99. — Cilician. Inhabitants of part of Asia Minor on the sea coast, north of Cyprus. Stanza Ixxii., page 99. — Aram. Armenia, the rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates. NOTES TO CANTO THE THIRD. 201 Stanza Ixxvii., page 100. — Ant((vs. A giant of Lybia, son of Neptvme and the Earth, and the founder of Tangier. Stanza Ixxxiii., page 102. — Libitina. Q-oddess presiding over funerals and sepiilchres. Stanza xcii., page 105. — Ibarite. Sardanapalus. Stanza xcii., page 10.5. — The type. Heliogabalus. Stanza xciii., page 106. — Phalaris. A tyrant of Agrigentum, who occupied his time in inventing new species of torments, whereby to destroy his subjects after despoiling them of their effects. Stanza c, page 108. — Tartessian. Andalusia. Stanza cv., page 110. — Mnlnca. A river in the kingdom of Fez, in Africa. Stanza oxi., page 112. — Gathife. Goliath. Stanza cxiv., page 113. — Mavrusian. Moorish. Stanza cxvii., page 114. — Titus. The emperor Titus Vespasian, who destroyed Jerusalem. Stanza cxxxi., page 118. — Polyxena. Daughter of Priam, King of Troy, and of Hecuba. Pyrrhus, the son of Achilles, to appease the manes of his father, sacrificed her on his tomb. Stanza cxxxiii., page 119. — Atreus. Son of Pelops. He had served up to his brother, at a feast, the children borne to him by his wife, who had been seduced by the brother. D D 202 NOTES TO CANTO THE FOURTH. Stanza cxli., page 122. — Apvlian. A country in Italy, near Calabria. Stanza cxlii., page 122. — Medusa. One of the Gorgons, daughter of Phorcys and Ceto, celebrated for her beautiful locks. Neptune having with her desecrated the Temple of Minerva, her hair was changed into serpents, and she had the power of turning into stone those she looked upon. CANTO THE FOUKTH. stanza v., page 124. — Astyaiiax. The only son of Hector and Andromache, whom Ulysses threw from the walls of Troy, under the impression that he would some day avenge the death of his father. Stanza vi., page 125. — Marius. Caius Marius, originally a peasant, but became a valorous chief amongst the Romans, cruel and inhuman, and is charged with the crime of djring by his own hand. Stanza ix., page 126. — Alcides. Hercules. Stanza xx., page 129. — Canusium. Now Canosa, a town in Apulia, whither the Romans fled after the battle of Cannae. Stanza xxvii., page 132. — Astrcea. Daughter of the giant Astrseus and of Aurora, or according to other authorities, of Jupiter and Themis. Stanza xxviii., page 132. — Artabor. Cape Finisterre. NOTES TO CANTO THE FOUETH. 203 Stanza xxxvi,, page 135. — Massylian. Moorish. Stanza xlvii., page 138. — Two royal sisters. Daughters of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Stanza xlix., page 139. — Abyla. One of the Pillars of Hercules — a mountain in Africa in the vicinity of which is Ceuta, and opposite Gibraltar. Naples. Caramania. Pei'sia, Stanza Ixi., page 143. — Parthetiope, Stanza Ixv., page 144. — Kerman. Stanza Ixv., pa^re 144. — Farsistaii. Stanza Ixviii., page 145. — Morpheus. The God of Sleep. Stanza iJcxii., page 147. — Alpheus and Arethuse. Arethusa, having accompanied Diana to the chace in the moun- tains of Arcadia, became weary, and being oppressed with the heat entered the river Alpheus. The river became too affectionate, and to avoid importunities she fled into Sicily, where she was changed into a fountain. This, however, did not avail, for Alpheus, burying himself underground, reappeared in the city of Syracuse, where the fountain was. The river is now named Alpheo, having its source near Elis. Stanza Ixxx., page 149. — Eurystheus. He and Hercules were about to be bom at the same time, and the senior was to have the control over the other. Juno, jealous of the mother of Hercules, hastened the birth of Eurystheus, who sent Hercules on many dangerous enterprises, in the expectation he would lose his life in some of them. 204 NOTES TO CANTO THE FOURTH. Stanza Ixxx., page 149. — Le')%a. A City of Argolis celebrated for its grove and lake, and where Hercules is said to have killed the famous hydra. Stanza Ixxx., page 149. — Erymanth. A river in Arcadia, having its source in a mountain of the same name, where Hercules slew the prodigious boar, which had devastated the country. This animal he brought on his shoulders to Eurystheus, who had sent him on the expedition, believing he would die in it. This was one of the twelve labours of Hercules. Stanza Ixxxiii., page 150. — Mynian. From Minyas, King of Orchomanos in Boeotia, from whence a colony went to Colchis : the Argonauts were in consequence called Minyse. Stanza Ixxxiv., page lol. — Uiyssea. Lisbon. Stanza Ixxxvii., page 1.52. — Bethlehem. Belem, near Lisbon. Stanza ciii., page 157. — Idpetus. A giant, the son of Titan and of the Earth, and the father of Prometheus, whom the poets say made men of clay with such ingenuity that they appeared alive. Minerva, seeing by chance this work of Prometheus, assisted him to enter the celestial regions, where he stole the fire from the Chariot of the Sun, with which he gave life to his manufactured people, who were presumed to be sons of the Sun ; Jupiter, however, desiring to chastise this attempt, had him tied to a rock, where a vulture was to feed on his liver, which grew again as fast as devoured. Stanza civ., page 157. — Icarug. A son of Dijedalus, who with his father fled with wings from Crete, and having soared too high, the sun melted the wax by which the wings were cemented, when he fell into the Mgsdfin Sea. NOTI'JS TO CANTO THE FIFTH. 205 Barbary. The Ostrich. CANTO THE FIFTH. stanza vi., page 160. — Berber. Stanza vi., page 1(50. — The Bird. Stanza viii., page 100. — Hesperides. The three daughters of Hesperus, king of Africa, who owned the garden where grew the golden apples said to have been guarded by a dragon. This garden by others was supposed to be on the Tangier coast. Hercules slew the dragon. These Isles are supposed to be the Cape de Verde islands, and were also formerly called the Gorgonas, or Gorgadas, or Dorcadas. Stauza xi., page 101. — Gonjous. Daughters uf Phorcys and Ceto — they were Stheno, Euryale and Medusa, and the latter is here alluded to. Stanza xii., page 162. — Leonine. Sierra-Leone. Stanza xxviii., page 107. — Pob/pheme. A celebrated Cyclops, son of Neptune, represented as having but one eye, to have been cruel, and a consumer of human flesh. Stanza xlv., page 173. — Zo ! homcu-ard eoines. D, Francisco de Almeida first viceroy of India. Stanza xlvL, page 173. — Another comes. The shipwreck and death of Manuel de Sousa de Sepulveda and of Dona Leonor de S4, his wife, and children, arc also prophesied thus. 206, NOTES TO CANTO THE FIFTH. ' Stanza li., page 175. — Adamastor. One of the giants who waged war with Jupiter, and were con- quered and buried beneath various mountains. He was changed into the promontory of the Cape of Good Hope. Stanza li., page 175. — jEgeon. Son of the Heaven and of the Earth, represented to have had one hundred hands. Stanza li., page 175. — Enceladon. One of the giants, son of the Earth and Titan. He was the most powerful of all the giants who conspired against Jupiter, and was placed under Mount Etna. Stanza lii., page 175. — Peleus' spouse. Thetis. Stanza liii., page 175. — Doris. The mother of Thetis. Stanza Ixi., page 178. — Pi/rois and Phkgon. The names of two of the horses of the Sun. Stanza Ixiii., page 179. — Tityrus. The shepherd celebrated by Virgil. Stanza Ixv., page 179. — Tlie isle. The island of Da Cruz, discovered by the fleet commanded by Bartolomeo Diaz, in 1487. Stanza Ixxxvi., page 186. — Laertes' son. Ulysses. Stanza Ixxxviii., page 187. — Cicons. A people of Thrace, conquered by Ulysses for having assisted Priam, King of Troy, against the Greeks. NOTES TO CANTO THE FIFTH. 207 Stanza Ixxxix., page 187. — Hmyies. They were three, MWo, Ocypete, and Celseno, daughters of Neptune and of the Earth, who had the heads of women, were winged, and had the feet of birds. Stanza xci., page 188. — Delian. Delos, one of the Cyclades, islands in the -Slgaean Sea, where Latona gave birth to Apollo and Diana. It then became stationary, having previously lieen a wanderer floating on the sea. Stanza xci., page 188. — Lamx>ecia. Sister of Phaeton, and on his death changed into a poplar. Stanza xcv., page IS^.—Fulvia. Fulvia, wife of Marc Antony, deserted by him for Grlaphyra, daughter of Archelaus, a high priest of Cappadocia. She was celebrated for her beauty. THE END. LONDON : HKADBITRY AND KVASS, PKIXTKUS, WHITEFRIARS. ^^H TTTTS "ROniT TS TiTTf r\-Kr 'ntTTi t a oft t\ a m-n RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY BIdg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date DUE AS STAMPED BELOW i#M^gifeMJ995 rjUL 3 ZUUU YB b^lbb UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UBRARY "CBEBKaEniBHAlliEs I V/lMllliin