Luís Vaz de Camões
The Lusiads
First Canto
1
Of arms and of the heroes known to fame,
Who from the western Lusitanian shore,
By seas before unknown, a path did frame,
Beyond Taprobana, and sailed o'er;
In perils and in wars of mighty name,
Beyond what human strength could promise store,
And 'midst a distant people, nobly raised
A kingdom new, which they so much have praised;
2
And also of the glorious memories
Of those Kings, who spread afar
The Faith, the Empire, and the lands of vice,
Devastating Africa and Asia far;
And those who, by their valorous enterprise,
Escape the law of death, beyond compare;
Singing, I will spread them far and wide,
If genius and art will lend their aid beside.
3
Let cease the great voyages of the wise Greek,
And of the Trojan, which they made; let fade
The fame of the victories of Alexander the Great,
And of Trajan, which they had displayed;
For I sing the illustrious Lusitanian heart,
To whom Neptune and Mars obedience paid:
Let cease all that the ancient Muse doth sing,
For another valor more high shall spring.
4
And you, my Tagus, since in me you have made
A new and ardent genius to arise,
If my humble verse has always celebrated
Your joyful river, before your eyes,
Grant me now a sound lofty and sublimated,
A grandiloquent and flowing style, likewise,
So that from your waters, Phoebus may ordain
That they be not envious of Hypocrene's reign.
5
Grant me a fury great and sonorous,
And not of rustic reed or rude pipe,
But of a sounding and warlike trumpet,
Which inflames the breast and changes the gesture's stripe;
Grant me a song equal to the deeds of your famous
Folk, who aid Mars so much in his gripe;
That it may spread and be sung throughout the universe,
If such a sublime price can be contained in verse.
6
And you, O noble security
Of ancient Lusitanian liberty,
And no less certain hope,
Of growth for the small Christianity;
You, O new fear of the Moorish lance,
Fatal wonder of our age,
Given to the world by God, who commands all,
To give a great part of the world to God;
7
You, tender and young flourishing branch
Of a tree of Christ more beloved
Than any born in the West,
Called Caesar or most Christian;
(See it on your shield, which present
Shows you the victory already passed,
In which He gave you for arms, and left
Those which He took for Himself on the Cross)
8
You, powerful King, whose high Empire
The Sun, at its rising, sees first;
Sees it also in the middle of the Hemisphere,
And when it descends, leaves it last;
You, from whom we expect yoke and vitupery
From the base Ishmaelite knight,
From the Oriental Turk, and from the Gentile,
Who still drinks the liquor of the holy river;
9
Incline your majesty for a moment,
Which in that tender gesture I contemplate in you,
Which already shows itself as in its full age,
When you will ascend to the eternal temple;
Turn the eyes of royal benevolence
To the ground: you will see a new example
Of love for valorous patriotic deeds,
Disseminated in numerous verses.
10
You will see love of country, not moved
By vile reward, but high and almost eternal:
For it is not a vile reward to be known
By a proclamation from my paternal nest.
Listen: you will see the name magnified
Of those of whom you are the supernal lord,
And you will judge which is more excellent,
Whether to be King of the world, or of such a people.
To access the full text of Os Lusíadas, by Camões, click here
http://www.silviolobo.com.br/bases/doc/oslusiadas.txt
1
Of arms and of the heroes known to fame,
Who from the western Lusitanian shore,
By seas before unknown, a path did frame,
Beyond Taprobana, and sailed o'er;
In perils and in wars of mighty name,
Beyond what human strength could promise store,
And 'midst a distant people, nobly raised
A kingdom new, which they so much have praised;
2
And also of the glorious memories
Of those Kings, who spread afar
The Faith, the Empire, and the lands of vice,
Devastating Africa and Asia far;
And those who, by their valorous enterprise,
Escape the law of death, beyond compare;
Singing, I will spread them far and wide,
If genius and art will lend their aid beside.
3
Let cease the great voyages of the wise Greek,
And of the Trojan, which they made; let fade
The fame of the victories of Alexander the Great,
And of Trajan, which they had displayed;
For I sing the illustrious Lusitanian heart,
To whom Neptune and Mars obedience paid:
Let cease all that the ancient Muse doth sing,
For another valor more high shall spring.
4
And you, my Tagus, since in me you have made
A new and ardent genius to arise,
If my humble verse has always celebrated
Your joyful river, before your eyes,
Grant me now a sound lofty and sublimated,
A grandiloquent and flowing style, likewise,
So that from your waters, Phoebus may ordain
That they be not envious of Hypocrene's reign.
5
Grant me a fury great and sonorous,
And not of rustic reed or rude pipe,
But of a sounding and warlike trumpet,
Which inflames the breast and changes the gesture's stripe;
Grant me a song equal to the deeds of your famous
Folk, who aid Mars so much in his gripe;
That it may spread and be sung throughout the universe,
If such a sublime price can be contained in verse.
6
And you, O noble security
Of ancient Lusitanian liberty,
And no less certain hope,
Of growth for the small Christianity;
You, O new fear of the Moorish lance,
Fatal wonder of our age,
Given to the world by God, who commands all,
To give a great part of the world to God;
7
You, tender and young flourishing branch
Of a tree of Christ more beloved
Than any born in the West,
Called Caesar or most Christian;
(See it on your shield, which present
Shows you the victory already passed,
In which He gave you for arms, and left
Those which He took for Himself on the Cross)
8
You, powerful King, whose high Empire
The Sun, at its rising, sees first;
Sees it also in the middle of the Hemisphere,
And when it descends, leaves it last;
You, from whom we expect yoke and vitupery
From the base Ishmaelite knight,
From the Oriental Turk, and from the Gentile,
Who still drinks the liquor of the holy river;
9
Incline your majesty for a moment,
Which in that tender gesture I contemplate in you,
Which already shows itself as in its full age,
When you will ascend to the eternal temple;
Turn the eyes of royal benevolence
To the ground: you will see a new example
Of love for valorous patriotic deeds,
Disseminated in numerous verses.
10
You will see love of country, not moved
By vile reward, but high and almost eternal:
For it is not a vile reward to be known
By a proclamation from my paternal nest.
Listen: you will see the name magnified
Of those of whom you are the supernal lord,
And you will judge which is more excellent,
Whether to be King of the world, or of such a people.
To access the full text of Os Lusíadas, by Camões, click here
