The Lusiads (tr. Burton)/Canto I
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Os Lusiadas
(The Lusiads).
CANTO I.
ARGUMENT
OF THE FIRST CANTO.
The Portugueze navigate the Eastern Seas: The Gods hold their Council: Bacchus opposeth himself to this navigation: Venus and Mars favour the navigators: They arrive at Mozambíque, the Governor whereof attempteth to destroy them: Encounter and first military Action of our People with the Gentiles: They weigh anchor; and, passing Quiloa, they ride in the roadstead of Mombasah.
ANOTHER ARGUMENT.
Fazem Concilio os deoses na alta Côrte,
Oppoem-se Baccho á Lusitana gente,
Favorece-a Venus, e Mavorte,
E em Moçambique lança o ferreo dente:
Depois de aqui mostrar ssu brço forte,
Destruindo, e matando juntamente,
Torna as partes buscar da roxa Aurora,
E chegando a Mombaça surge fora.
The Gods hold council Heaven's high court within,(20—41)
| Bacchus our Lusian braves to thwart doth seek Who meed of Mars, and grace of Venus gain, |
(73—81) |
Till cast the ferreous tooth in Mozambíque:
| Thence, when their arm of pow'r display'd had been, Death and destruction on the foe to wreak; |
(85) |
Fareth the fleet where red Aurora bideth;
And, reach'd Mombasah-town, outside it rideth.(103)
CANTO I.
The feats of Arms, and famed heroick Host,1
from occidental Lusitanian strand,
who o'er the waters ne'er by seaman crost,
farèd beyond the Taprobáne-land,[1]
forceful in perils and in battle-post,
with more than promised force of mortal hand;
and in the regions of a distant race
rear'd a new throne so haught in Pride of Place:
And, eke, the Kings of mem'ory grand and glorious,2
who hied them Holy Faith and Reign to spread,
converting, conquering, and in lands notorious,
Africk and Asia, devastation made;
nor less the Lieges who by deeds memorious
brake from the doom that binds the vulgar dead;
my song would sound o'er Earth's extremest part
were mine the genius, mine the Poet's art.
Cease the sage Grecian, and the Man of Troy3
to vaunt long Voyage made in bygone day:
Cease Alexander, Trajan cease to 'joy
the fame of vict'ories that have pass'd away:
The noble Lusian's stouter breast sing I,
whom Mars and Neptune dared not disobey:
Cease all that antique Muse hath sung, for now
a better Brav'ry rears its bolder brow.
And you, my Tagian Nymphs,[2] who have create4
in me new purpose with new genius firing;
if 't was my joy whilere to celebrate
your founts and stream my humble song inspiring;[3]
Oh! lend me here a noble strain elate,
a style grandiloquent that flows untiring;
so shall Apollo for your waves ordain ye
in name and fame ne'er envy Hippokréné.
Grant me sonorous accents, fire-abounding,5
now serves ne peasant's pipe, ne rustick reed;
but blast of trumpet, long and loud resounding,
that 'flameth heart and hue to fiery deed:
Grant me high strains to suit their Gestes astounding,
your Sons, who aided Mars in martial need;
that o'er the world be sung the glorious song,
if theme so lofty may to verse belong.
And Thou! O goodly omen'd trust, all-dear[4]6
to Lusitania's olden liberty,
whereon assurèd esperance we rear
enforced to see our frail Christianity:
Thou, O new terror to the Moorish spear,
the fated marvel of our century,
to govern worlds of men by God so given,
that the world's best be given to God and Heaven:
Thou young, thou tender, ever-flourishing bough,7
true scion of tree by Christ belovèd more,
than aught that Occident did ever know,
"Cæsarian" or "Most Christian" styled before:
Look on thy 'scutcheon, and behold it show
the present Vict'ory long past ages bore;
Arms which He gave and made thine own to be
by Him assumèd on the fatal tree:[5]
Thou, mighty Sovran! o'er whose lofty reign8
the rising Sun rains earliest smile of light;
sees it from middle firmamental plain;
and sights it sinking on the breast of Night:
Thou, whom we hope to hail the blight, the bane
of the dishonour'd Ishmaëlitish knight;
and Orient Turk, and Gentoo-misbeliever
that drinks the liquor of the Sacred River:[6]
Incline awhile, I pray, that majesty9
which in thy tender years I see thus ample,
E'en now prefiguring full maturity
that shall be shrin'd in Fame's eternal temple:
Those royal eyne that beam benignity
bend on low earth: Behold a new ensample
of hero hearts with patriot pride inflamèd,
in number'd verses manifold proclaimèd.
Thou shalt see Love of Land that ne'er shall own10
lust of vile lucre; soaring towards th' Eternal:
For 't is no light ambition to be known
th' acclaimèd herald of my nest paternal.
Hear; thou shalt see the great names greater grown
of Vavasors who hail thee Lord Supernal:
So shalt thou judge which were the higher station,
King of the world or Lord of such a nation.
Hark; for with vauntings vain thou shalt not view11
phantastical, fictitious, lying deed
of lieges lauded, as strange Muses do,
seeking their fond and foolish pride to feed:
Thine acts so forceful are, told simply true,
all fabled, dreamy feats they far exceed;
exceeding Rodomont, and Ruggiero vain,
and Roland[7] haply born of Poet's brain.
For these I give thee a Nuno, fierce in fight,12
who for his King and Country freely bled ;
an Egas and a Fuas ;[8] fain I might
for them my lay with harp Homeric wed!
For the twelve peerless Peers again I cite
the Twelve of England by Magriço led:
Nay, more, I give thee Gama's noble name,
who for himself claims all Æneas' fame.
And if in change for royal Charles of France,13
or rivalling Cæsar's mem'ories thou wouldst trow,
the first Afonso see, whose conque'ring lance
lays highest boast of stranger glories low :
See him who left his realm th' inheritance
fair Safety, born of wars that crusht the foe :
That other John, a knight no fear deter'd,
the fourth and fifth Afonso, and the third.
Nor shall they silent in my song remain,14
they who in regions there where Dawns arise,
by Acts of Arms such glories toil'd to gain,
where thine unvanquisht flag for ever flies,
Pacheco, brave of braves ; th' Almeidas twain,
whom Tagus mourns with ever-weeping eyes ;
dread Albuquerque, Castro stark and brave,
with more, the victors of the very grave.
But, singing these, of thee I may not sing,15
O King sublime ! such theme I fain must fear.
Take of thy reign the reins, so shall my King
create a poesy new to mortal ear :
E'en now the mighty burthen hear I ring
(and speed its terrors over all the sphere !)
of sing'ular prowess, War's own prodigies,
in Africk regions and on Orient seas.
Casteth on thee the Moor eyne cold with fright,16
in whom his coming doom he views designèd :
The barb'rous Gentoo, sole to see thy sight
yields to thy yoke the neck e'en now inclinèd ;
Tethys, of azure seas the sovran right,
her realm, in dowry hath to thee resignèd ;
and, by thy noble tender beauty won,
would bribe and buy thee to become her son.
In thee from high Olympick halls behold17
themselves, thy grandsires' sprites ; far-famed pair ;[9]
this clad in Peacetide's angel-robe of gold,
that crimson-hued with paint of battle-glare :
By thee they hope to see their tale twice told,
their lofty memo'ries live again ; and there,
when Time thy years shall end, for thee they 'sign
a seat where soareth Fame's eternal shrine.
But, sithence antient Time slow minutes by18
ere ruled the Peoples who desire such boon;
bend on my novel rashness favouring eye,
that these my verses may become thine own :
So shalt thou see thine Argonauts o'erfly
yon salty argent, when they see it shown
thou seest their labours on the raging sea:
Learn even now invok'd of man to be.[10]
They walked the water's vasty breadth of blue,19
parting the restless billows on their way;
fair favouring breezes breathed soft and true,
the bellying canvas bulging in their play :
The seas were sprent with foam of creamy hue,
flashing where'er the Prows wide open lay
the sacred spaces of that ocean-plain
where Proteus' cattle cleave his own domain:
When they who hold Olympick luminous height,20
the Gods and Governors of our human race,
convened in glorious conclave, all unite
the coming course of Eastern things to trace:
Treading the glassy dome of lovely light,
along the Milky Way conjoint they pace,
gather'd together at the Thunderer's hest,
and by old Atlas' gentle grandson prest.
They leave the reg'iment of the Firm'aments seven,21
to them committed by his high command,
his pow'r sublime whose thoughtful will hath given
Order to skies, and angry seas, and land:
Then instant gather in th' assize of Heaven
those who are throned on far Arcturus' strand,
and those that Auster rule, and Orient tides,
where springs Aurora and clear Phœbus hides.
Reposèd there the Sire sublime and digne,22
vibrates whose hand the fierce Vulcanian ray,
on seat of starry splendour crystalline,
grand in his lofty gest of sovran sway:
Respirèd from his brow such air divine,
that to divine could change dull human clay;
bearing the crown and sceptre rutilant,
of clearer stone than clearest diamant.
On sparkling seats, with marquetry inlaid23
of gold and pearl-work, sat in lower state
the minor Godheads, marshall'd and array'd,
e'en as demanded reason, rank, and rate:
Highest the seniors of most honour'd grade;
lower adown the lower Deities sate:
When thus high Jove the deathless throng addrest
with awful accents, dealing gravest hest:—
"Immortal Peoples of the starlit Pole,24
whose seats adorn this constellated sphere;
if the stout Race of valour-breathing soul
from Lusus springing still to thought be dear,
Your high Intelligences lief unroll
the writ of mighty Fate: her will is clear,
this Deed to cold Oblivion's shade shall doom
the fame of Persia, 'Assyria, Greece, and Rome.
"To them 't was erst, and well you wot it, given,25
albeit a Pow'r so single, simple, small,
to see the doughty Moor from 'trenchments driven
where gentle Tagus feeds and floods the vale:
Then with the dreadful Spaniard have they striven,
by boon of Heav'n serene ne'er known to fail;
and urged their fortune's ever-glorious claim
to victor-trophies hung in fane of Fame.
"Godheads! I leave that antique fame unsaid,26
reft from the race of Romulus their foes;
when, by their warrior Viriátus led,
so high in Roman wars their names arose:
Eke leave I mem'ries which to meritèd
Honour obligèd when for chief they chose
that perfect Captain, erst a peregrine foe,
who feign'd a Dæmon in his milk-white Doe.[11]
"Now well you see how steel'd their souls to steer27
a fragile barque through dubious wat'ery way,
by paths unused, and holding nought in fear
Notus and Afer's force, wax bolder they:
How whilom ev'ry region left arear,
where suns or shorten or draw long the day,
on wings of stubborn will these men be borne
to sight the cradles of the nascent Morn.
"Promised them Fate's eternal covenant,28
whose high commandments none shall dare despise,
for years full many they shall rule th' extent
of seas that see the ruddy suns arise.
On wavy wastes hard winter have they spent;
o'erworked they come by travailing emprize;
't were meet we show them, thus it seemeth me,
the fair new region which they fain would see.
"And as their valour, so you trow, defied29
on aspe'rous voyage cruel harm and sore,
so many changing skies their manhood tried,
such climes where storm-winds blow and billows roar;
my sovereign mandate 't is, be theirs to ride
in friendly haven, on the Blackmoor shore;
whence shall the weary Fleet, with ev'ery need
garnisht, once more her long-drawn voyage speed."
Thus hearing Jupiter's decree pronounced,30
each God responsive spoke, in order due,
contrasting judgment one and all announced
giving and taking various divers view.
But Father Bacchus then and there renounced,
homage to Jove's command, who right well knew
his deeds on Orient-lond would leave no trace,
were furtherance granted to the Lusian race.
The Fatal Sisters he had heard declare,31
how from Hispanian bounds a hero-band
should span the pathless deep, and nought should spare
wherever Doris batheth Indian strand:
Should with new victories eve'ry deed out-dare
done or by his or other stranger hand:
Profound he sorrows lest he lose the glory,
the name still cel'ebrate in the Nyssan story.
He sees, while Indus he of yore hath tamed,32
Fortune or favouring chance had aye denied
to hear him India's conqueror acclaimed
by bardic men who drain Parnassus' tide:
And now he dreadeth lest a name so famed
be doomed for ever in the mire to hide
of Lethe-fountain, if on Inde debark
these vagueing Portingalls so strong and stark.
But him opposed Venus, lovely fair,33
whose heart her Lusian sons had won the more,
since in them seen the qualities high and rare,
the gifts that deckt her Romans dear of yore:
The heart of valour, and the potent star,
whose splendour dazzled Tingitanan shore;
and e'en the musick of their speech appears
soft bastard Latin to her loving ears.
These causes moved Cytherea's sprite;34
and more when learnt she that the Fates intended
the Queen of Beauty should be glorious hight
where'er their warrior sway her sons extended.
Thus He, who feared future stain and blight,
and She, whose heart to honours high pretended
urge the debate in obstinate strife remaining;
with fav'ouring friends each rival right maintaining:
As the fierce South, or Boreas in the shade35
of sylvan upland where the tree-boles cluster,
the branches shattering crash through glooming glade
with horrid hurry and infuriate fluster:
Roars all the mountain, Echo moans in dread;
torn is the leaf ery, hill-heads boil and bluster:
Such gusty tumults rise amid the Gods
within Olympus' consecrate abodes.
But Mars, for ever wont t' espouse the part36
of his dear Goddess, whatsoe'er the case;
or for old love that flicker'd in his heart,
or for the merits of her fighting race;
forth from the Gods upsprang with sudden start:
Stern melancholy markt his gest and face;
the pond'erous pavoise from his gorget hung
behind his shoulders full of wrath he flung:
His beavoir'd helmet of the diamant stone37
opeing a little, of his strength right sure,
his sense to speak he strode and stood alone
Jupiter facing, armèd, dour and dure:
Then with hard pen'etrant blow he bore adown
his steely spear-heel on the pavement pure;
quaked the welkin; and Apollo's ray
waxt somewhat wan as though by cold dismay.
And thus:—"Omnipo'tent Sire ! whose awful reign38
perforce obeyeth all thy pow'er hath made;
if these, who seek a new half-world to gain,
whose deeds of brav'ery hast with love survey'd,
thou wouldst not guerdon with a shame and stain,
that erst were favoured through the years that fade
listen no longer thou, sole Judge direct,
to glozing reasons all we Gods suspect:
"For, did not Reason in this matter show39
herself the victim of unmeasure'd fear,
better beseems it Bacchus love bestow
on Lusus' children, once his comrade dear:
But, let this vain and splen'etick purpose go,
since bred of evil stomach; for 't is clear
that alien envy ne'er shall turn to woes
what weal men merit, and the Gods dispose.
"And thou, O Sire of surest constancy!40
from the determined purpose of thy mind
turn thee not backwards; weakness 't were in thee
now to desist thee from the thing design'd.
Send forth thine agile herald, Mercury,
fleeter than trimmèd shaft, or winnowing wind,
and show, some happy hythe where Rest shall joy
all weary breasts with news of India nigh."
As thus he said, the Sire of sov'ereign might41
assented, nodding grave his awful head
to Mars' opinion, ever fain of fight,
and o'er the Council show'ers of nectar shed.
The Galaxy, the pathway glowing bright,
the Deities all disparting rose to tread;
royal obeisance making, and the road
each took returning to his own abode.
While thus it happens in th' æthereal reign,—42
Omnipotent Olympick height serene,—
the warrior People cut the curved main
Austral and Oriental course between;
where fronts the face of Æthiopick plain
far-famed Saint Lawrence Isle[12]; Sol's brightest sheen
upon the water-deities rained fire,
who, changed to fishes, 'scaped Typhœus' ire.
The wafting winds so winsome urged their way,43
As though the smiling heav'ens dear friends defended;
serene the welkin, and the lucid day
dawn'ed sans a cloud nor aught of risk portended:
Astern the leek-green point of Prasum[13] lay
an olden name where Æthiop coast extended;
when Ocean op'ening broad a vista show'd
of islets fondled by the circling flood.
Vasco da Gama, valiant Capitayne,44
for derring-do the noblest volunteer,
of not'able courage and of noble strain,
whom smile of constant Fortune loved to cheer;
seeth no reason why he should remain
where shows the shore-line desert, dark and drear:
Once more determined he to tempt the sea;
but as he willed Fortune nill'ed it be.
For look! appeareth a flotilla yonder,45
mosquito-craft that cleave the rolling tide;
and with their flowing sails the surges sunder,
from the small island next the cont'inent side:
The crews rejoicing, in their hope and wonder
could gaze on naught save what their hearts had joy'd.
"Who may be these?" each ask'ed him in amaze;
"What law be theirs, what ruler, what their ways?"
The boats appearèd in a manner new46
long-built and narrow-beamed, for swiftness plan'd;
mats were the wings wherewith they lightly flew
from certain palm-fronds wove by cunning hand:
The people wore that veritable hue,
Phaeton's boon to many a burning land,
when work'ed his rashness on the world such ills:
So Padus knows and Lampethusa feels.
They come costumèd all in cotton gear,47
of hues contrasting, stripèd, chequed, and white;
one zone-girt cloth around the waist they wear,
other they throw on back in airy plight:
Above the waist-band each brown form is bare;
dag-targe and matchet[14] are their arms of fight:
Scull-cap on head; and, as they wend their way,
shriek shrilly shawms, and harsh-voiced trumpets bray.
Waving their raiment and their hands they signèd48
the Lusitanian folk to wait awhile:
but our light Prores their course had now inclinèd
to strike where shelter'd by the nearest isle:
Soldiers and sailors in one toil conjoinèd
as though were here the period of their toil:
They take in sail, and strike the lofty spar,
and Ocean, anchor-smit, froths high in air.
Nor had they anchor'd, when the stranger race49
the shrouds upswarming ready footing gainèd;
joyous they cluster glad of gest and face;
our Captain gracious greeting gives unfeignèd.
He bids incontinent the board to grace
with vinous liquor first Lyæus drainèd;
they crown the chrystal cups, the proffer'd wine
Phaëton's scorchèd folk nowise decline.
Afeasting cheery all the guests enquirèd50
in Arab language, Whence had come their hosts?
Who were they? Where their land? What they desirèd?
What seas their keels had cut and conn'd what coasts?
The valiant Lusians answered with requirèd
discretion, and eschewing foolish boasts,—
"We are the Occidental Portughuese;
And, seeking Orient lands, we sail the seas.
beneath whose surface covered venom lay;
for deadly hostile was their ev'ry thought
and soon the hidden fraud uncover'd they.
Oh dreadful dangers with destruction fraught!
Oh line of life-tide, never certain way!
where'er his dearest hope poor mortal hoardeth,
such scant security life e'er affordeth.
By sea such tempests, such sore injury,106
with Death so often showing near and sure!
By land such warfare, such foul treachery,
so much of curst necessities t' endure!
Ah! where shall weary man take sanctuary,
where live his little span of life secure?
and 'scape of Heav'n serene th' indignant storms
that launch their thunders at us earthen worms?
- ↑ Ceylon.
- ↑ The "Tagides" are the Poet's Muses.
- ↑ Alluding to Eclogues, Pastorals, etc.
- ↑ Invocation to Dom Sebastiam.
- ↑ The Arms of Portugal (Canto III. 53, 54).
- ↑ The Ganges (not the Jordan).
- ↑ Ariosto, i. 2, etc.
- ↑ For the " Great Constable," Egas and Fuas, see Cantos IV. 23, and VIII. 13, 17.
- ↑ D. Joam III. and the Emperor Charles Quint.
- ↑ End of exordium: narrative begins.
- ↑ Sertorius
- ↑ Madagascar.
- ↑ Now Cabo-das-Correntes.
- ↑ African daggers and short swords.