THE LUSIAD.

CANTO I. 1

ARMS, and the heroes of illustrious fame,
Who, from the western Lusitanian shore,
Remote, unnavigated seas explor'd,—
Far beyond Taprobana's distant isle,—2
And, 'midst the perils of advent'rous war,
With more than human constancy endur'd,
In eastern climes a mighty empire rais'd
And aggrandiz'd by great and glorious deeds:
The great achievements of their martial kings, 3

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Who spread the Christian Faith where'er their arms Prevail'd, in Asia, and in Africa,

Idolatrous and superstitious rites

Extirpating; and those, too, whose exploits
From death's oblivion their names redeem'd:
These let me sing, and wide extend their fame,
If to such themes my Muse may dare aspire.
Let the wise Greek's and Trojan's wanderings,

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By sea and land, our wonder cease to claim;-
Let Ammon's fame, and Trajan's victories,
No more in proud and lofty verse resound ;—
Let all the ancient Muse has e'er rehears'd

Yield to the greater deeds I celebrate :

I sing th' illustrious Lusitanian Chief,

Whom Neptune and avenging Mars obey'd.

And you, fair Nymphs, who haunt the Tagus' flood,

You who, with new and ardent zeal, have fir'd
Your kindred votary;—if e'er your stream

In humble verse by me was cheerful sung;
Now grant me a sublime and lofty tone,
An ardent, eloquent, and flowing strain,
That Phoebus may command your sacred spring
Euphonious as the fount of Helicon

May flow. Let my bold verse, with vehemence,
Sonorous swell; not like the shepherd's lay,
But like war's trumpet's soul-enkindling note,
The Hero's breast inflaming, and his cheek
Flushing with martial ire. My verse exalt
To sing the warlike race who aided Mars,
And through the universe their fame diffuse,
If verse to such transcendent worth may soar.

And thou, whose birth conferr'd a sacred pledge

Of Lusitania's ancient liberty,

Nor less our hope assur'd that through thy zeal
Christianity her holy light shall spread ;-

O thou, who strik'st new terror in the Moor,
While we the wonder of
our age behold
In thee, whom God hath given to the world,
That Faith a more transcendent victory
May gain:-Resplendent Scion of a stem,
By Him who sav'd mankind beloved more
Than all its spreading branches in the west,
Which shade the Gallic and Imperial throne,-
Behold the emblems on thy shield impress'd
In mem❜ry of that glorious victory,

In which He gave, for banners and for arms,
His wounds and cross on which his blood was shed:
Great monarch!-Whose extended empire first 6

The sun salutes with earliest Eastern ray,

Darts on thy reign his bright meridian beams,

And gilds it last descending in the West;

Thy powerful arm the ignominious yoke
Shall fix upon the base Ismaelite,

Subdue the Eastern Turk, and Heathen blind,

Who drink the waters of the holy stream:- 7

Bend, for a while, the noble majesty

Which in thy youthful mien I contemplate,
Such as when riper years shall call thee hence
To grace the temple of eternal fame;
And condescend, from thy illustrious throne,
To view this new and unaffected pledge
Of love of great and patriot deeds display'd
In verse that emulates their high renown.
Thou shalt see Patriot-zeal fir'd by the hope,
Not of a sordid, but immortal wreath:-
"Tis not a sordid bribe-the prize of fame,
As herald of the land that gave me birth.
Thy people's name thou shalt see magnified,
And thou shalt judge, which is most glorious-
With scepter'd sway to rule the Universe,
Or reign the Monarch of a Race like these.-

To celebrate their glorious deeds demands No airy fictions of poetic art,

Fantastical or fabulous, like those

Which swell the numbers of the Foreign Muse; Their great and bright achievements far surpass The dreams in which the poet's fancy strays, And all, tho' true, Orlando in his rage,

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