Book IV: State of Portugal on the Death of Dom Fernando

As the toss'd vessel on the ocean rolls,When dark the night, and loud the tempest howls,When the 'lorn mariner in every waveThat breaks and gleams, forebodes his wat'ry grave;But when the dawn, all silent and serene,With soft-pac'd ray dispels the shades obscene,With grateful transport sparkling in each eye,The joyful crew the port of safety spy;Such darkling tempests, and portended fate,While weak Fernando liv'd, appall'd the state;Such when he died, the peaceful morning rose,The dawn of joy, and sooth'd the public woes.As blazing glorious o'er the shades of night,Bright in his east breaks forth the lord of light,So, valiant John with dazzling blaze appears,And, from the dust his drooping nation rears.Though sprung from youthful passion's wanton loves,Great Pedro's son in noble soul he proves;And Heaven announc'd him king by right divine;--A cradled infant gave the wondrous sign.Her tongue had never lisp'd the mother's name,No word, no mimic sound her lips could frame,When Heaven the miracle of speech inspir'd:She raised her little hands, with rapture fir'd,"Let Portugal," she cried, "with joy proclaimThe brave Don John, and own her monarch's name."

The burning fever of domestic rageNow wildly rav'd, and mark'd the barb'rous age;Through every rank the headlong fury ran,And first, red slaughter in the court began.Of spousal vows, and widow'd bed defil'd,Loud fame the beauteous Leonore revil'd.The adult'rous noble in her presence bled,And, torn with wounds, his num'rous friends lay dead.No more those ghastly, deathful nights amaze,When Rome wept tears of blood in Scylla's days:More horrid deeds Ulysses' towers beheld:Each cruel breast, where rankling envy swell'd,Accus'd his foe as minion of the queen;Accus'd, and murder closed the dreary scene.All holy ties the frantic transport brav'd,Nor sacred priesthood, nor the altar sav'd.Thrown from a tower, like Hector's son of yore,The mitred head was dash'd with brains and gore.Ghastly with scenes of death, and mangled limbs,And, black with clotted blood, each pavement swims.

With all the fierceness of the female ire,When rage and grief to tear the breast conspire,The queen beheld her power, her honours lost,And ever, when she slept, th' adult'rer's ghost,All pale, and pointing at his bloody shroud,Seem'd ever for revenge to scream aloud.

Castile's proud monarch to the nuptial bed,In happier days, her royal daughter led.To him the furious queen for vengeance cries,Implores to vindicate his lawful prize,The Lusian sceptre, his by spousal right;The proud Castilian arms, and dares the fight.To join his standard as it waves along,The warlike troops from various regions throng:Those who possess the lands by Rodrick given,What time the Moor from Turia's banks was driven;That race who joyful smile at war's alarms,And scorn each danger that attends on arms;Whose crooked ploughshares Leon's uplands tear,Now, cas'd in steel, in glitt'ring arms appear,Those arms erewhile so dreadful to the Moor:The Vandals glorying in their might of yoreMarch on; their helms, and moving lances gleamAlong the flow'ry vales of Betis' stream:Nor stay'd the Tyrian islanders behind,On whose proud ensigns, floating on the wind,Alcides' pillars tower'd: Nor wonted fearWithheld the base Galician's sordid spear;Though, still, his crimson seamy scars revealThe sure-aimed vengeance of the Lusian steel.Where, tumbling down Cuenca's mountain side,The murm'ring Tagus rolls his foamy tide,Along Toledo's lawns, the pride of Spain,Toledo's warriors join the martial train:Nor less the furious lust of war inspiresThe Biscayneer, and wakes his barb'rous fires,Which ever burn for vengeance, if the tongueOf hapless stranger give the fancied wrong.Nor bold Asturia, nor Guipuscoa's shore,Famed for their steely wealth, and iron ore,Delay'd their vaunting squadrons; o'er the dalesCas'd in their native steel, and belted mails,Blue gleaming from afar, they march along,And join, with many a spear, the warlike throng.As thus, wide sweeping o'er the trembling coast,The proud Castilian leads his num'rous host;The valiant John for brave defence prepares,And, in himself collected, greatly dares:For such high valour in his bosom glow'd,As Samson's locks by miracle bestow'd:Safe, in himself resolv'd, the hero stands,Yet, calls the leaders of his anxious bands:The council summon'd, some with prudent mien,And words of grave advice their terrors screen.By sloth debas'd, no more the ancient fireOf patriot loyalty can now inspire;And each pale lip seem'd opening to declareFor tame submission, and to shun the war;When glorious Nunio, starting from his seat,Claim'd every eye, and clos'd the cold debate:Singling his brothers from the dastard train,His rolling looks, that flash'd with stern disdain,On them he fix'd, then snatch'd his hilt in ire,While his bold speech bewray'd the soldier's fire,Bold and unpolish'd; while his burning eyesSeem'd as he dar'd the ocean, earth, and skies.

"Heavens! shall the Lusian nobles tamely yield!Oh, shame! and yield, untried, the martial field!That land whose genius, as the god of war,Was own'd, where'er approach'd her thund'ring car;Shall now her sons their faith, their love deny,And, while their country sinks, ignobly fly;Ye tim'rous herd, are ye the genuine lineOf those illustrious shades, whose rage divine,Beneath great Henry's standards aw'd the foe,For whom ye tremble and would stoop so low!That foe, who, boastful now, then basely fled,When your undaunted sires the hero led,When seven bold earls, in chains, the spoil adorn'd,And proud Castile through all her kindreds mourn'd,Castile, your awful dread--yet, conscious, say,When Diniz reign'd, when his bold son bore sway,By whom were trodden down the bravest bandsThat ever march'd from proud Castilia's lands?'Twas your brave sires--and has one languid reignFix'd in your tainted souls so deep a stain,That now, degen'rate from your noble sires,The last dim spark of Lusian flame expires?Though weak Fernando reign'd, in war unskill'd,A godlike king now calls you to the field.Oh! could like his, your mounting valour glow,Vain were the threat'nings of the vaunting foe.Not proud Castile, oft by your sires o'erthrown,But ev'ry land your dauntless rage should own.Still, if your hands, benumb'd by female fear,Shun the bold war, hark! on my sword I swear,Myself alone the dreadful war shall wage,Mine be the fight"--and, trembling with the rageOf val'rous fire, his hand half-drawn display'dThe awful terror of his shining blade,--"I and my vassals dare the dreadful shock;My shoulders never to a foreign yokeShall bend; and, by my sov'reign's wrath I vow,And, by that loyal faith renounc'd by you,My native land unconquer'd shall remain,And all my monarch's foes shall heap the plain."

The hero paus'd--'Twas thus the youth of Rome,The trembling few who 'scaped the bloody doomThat dy'd with slaughter Cannæ's purple field,Assembled stood, and bow'd their necks to yield;When nobly rising, with a like disdain,The young Cornelius rag'd, nor rag'd in vain:On his dread sword his daunted peers he swore,(The reeking blade yet black with Punic gore)While life remain'd their arms for Rome to wield,And, but with life, their conquer'd arms to yield.Such martial rage brave Nunio's mien inspir'd;Fear was no more: with rapt'rous ardour fir'd,"To horse, to horse!" the gallant Lusians cried;Rattled the belted mails on every side,The spear-staff trembled; round their necks they wav'dTheir shining falchions, and in transport rav'd,"The king our guardian!"--loud their shouts rebound,And the fierce commons echo back the sound.The mails, that long in rusting peace had hung,Now on the hammer'd anvils hoarsely rung:Some, soft with wool, the plumy helmets line,And some the breast-plate's scaly belts entwine:The gaudy mantles some, and scarfs prepare,Where various lightsome colours gaily flare;And golden tissue, with the warp enwove,Displays the emblems of their youthful love.

The valiant John, begirt with warlike state,Now leads his bands from fair Abrantes' gate;Whose lawns of green the infant Tagus laves,As from his spring he rolls his cooly waves.The daring van, in Nunio's care, could boastA general worthy of th' unnumber'd host,Whose gaudy banners trembling Greece defied,When boastful Xerxes lash'd the Sestian tide:Nunio, to proud Castile as dread a name,As erst to Gaul and Italy the fameOf Attila's impending rage. The rightBrave Roderic led, a chieftain train'd in fight;Before the left the bold Almada rode;And, proudly waving o'er the centre, nodThe royal ensigns, glitt'ring from afar,Where godlike John inspires and leads the war.

'Twas now the time, when from the stubbly plainThe lab'ring hinds had borne the yellow grain;The purple vintage heap'd the foamy tun,And fierce, and red, the sun of August shone;When from the gate the squadrons march along:Crowds press'd on crowds, the walls and ramparts throng.Here the sad mother rends her hoary hair,While hope's fond whispers struggle with despair:The weeping spouse to Heaven extends her hands:And, cold with dread, the modest virgin stands,Her earnest eyes, suffus'd with trembling dew,Far o'er the plain the plighted youth pursue:And prayers, and tears, and all the female wail,And holy vows, the throne of Heaven assail.

Now each stern host full front to front appears,And one joint shout heaven's airy concave tears:A dreadful pause ensues, while conscious prideStrives on each face the heart-felt doubt to hide.Now wild, and pale, the boldest face is seen;With mouth half open, and disorder'd mien,Each warrior feels his creeping blood to freeze,And languid weakness trembles in the knees.And now, the clangor of the trumpet sounds,And the rough rattling of the drum rebounds:The fife's shrill whistling cuts the gale, on highThe flourish'd ensigns shine, with many a dyeOf blazing splendour: o'er the ground they wheelAnd choose their footing, when the proud CastileBids sound the horrid charge; loud bursts the sound,And loud Artabro's rocky cliffs rebound:The thund'ring roar rolls round on every side,And trembling, sinks Guidana's rapid tide;The slow-pac'd Durius rushes o'er the plain,And fearful Tagus hastens to the main:Such was the tempest of the dread alarms,The babes that prattled in their nurses' armsShriek'd at the sound: with sudden cold impress'd,The mothers strain'd their infants to the breast,And shook with horror. Now, far round, beginThe bow-strings' whizzing, and the brazen dinOf arms on armour rattling; either vanAre mingled now, and man oppos'd to man:To guard his native fields the one inspires,And one the raging lust of conquest fires:Now with fix'd teeth, their writhing lips of blue,Their eye-balls glaring of the purple hue,Each arm strains swiftest to impel the blow; }Nor wounds they value now, nor fear they know, }Their only passion to offend the foe. }In might and fury, like the warrior god,Before his troops the glorious Nunio rode:That land, the proud invaders claim'd, he sowsWith their spilt blood, and with their corpses strews;Their forceful volleys now the cross-bows pour,The clouds are darken'd with the arrowy shower;The white foam reeking o'er their wavy mane,The snorting coursers rage, and paw the plain;Beat by their iron hoofs, the plain rebounds,As distant thunder through the mountains sounds:The pond'rous spears crash, splint'ring far around;The horse and horsemen flounder on the ground;The ground groans, with the sudden weight oppress'd,And many a buckler rings on many a crest.Where, wide around, the raging Nunio's swordWith furious sway the bravest squadrons gor'd,The raging foes in closer ranks advance,And his own brothers shake the hostile lance.Oh, horrid sight! yet not the ties of blood,Nor yearning memory his rage withstood;With proud disdain his honest eyes beholdWhoe'er the traitor, who his king has sold.Nor want there others in the hostile bandWho draw their swords against their native land;And, headlong driv'n, by impious rage accurs'd,In rank were foremost, and in fight the first.So, sons and fathers, by each other slain,With horrid slaughter dyed Pharsalia's plain.Ye dreary ghosts, who now for treasons foul,Amidst the gloom of Stygian darkness howl;Thou Catiline, and, stern Sertorius, tellYour brother shades, and soothe the pains of hell;With triumph tell them, some of Lusian raceLike you have earn'd the traitor's foul disgrace.

As waves on waves, the foes' increasing weightBears down our foremost ranks, and shakes the fight;Yet, firm and undismay'd great Nunio stands,And braves the tumult of surrounding bands.So, from high Ceuta's rocky mountains stray'd,The ranging lion braves the shepherd's shade;The shepherds hast'ning o'er the Tetuan plain,With shouts surround him, and with spears restrain:He stops, with grinning teeth his breath he draws,Nor is it fear, but rage, that makes him pause;His threat'ning eyeballs burn with sparkling fire,And, his stern heart forbids him to retire:Amidst the thickness of the spears he flings,So, midst his foes, the furious Nunio springs:The Lusian grass with foreign gore distain'd,Displays the carnage of the hero's hand.

Which from the vanquish'd Perez' arm he tore;Pierc'd through that shield, cold death invades his eye,And dying Perez saw his victor die.Edward and Pedro, emulous of fame,The same their friendship, and their youth the same,Through the fierce Brigians hew'd their bloody way,Till, in a cold embrace, the striplings lay.Lopez and Vincent rush'd on glorious death,And, midst their slaughter'd foes, resign'd their breath.Alonzo, glorying in his youthful might,Spurr'd his fierce courser through the stagg'ring fight:Shower'd from the dashing hoofs, the spatter'd goreFlies round; but, soon the rider vaunts no more:Five Spanish swords the murm'ring ghosts atone,Of five Castilians by his arm o'erthrown.Transfix'd with three Iberian spears, the gay,The knightly lover, young Hilario lay:Though, like a rose, cut off in op'ning bloom,The hero weeps not for his early doom;Yet, trembling in his swimming eye appearsThe pearly drop, while his pale cheek he rears;To call his lov'd Antonia's name he tries,

Now through his shatter'd ranks the monarch strode,And now before his rallied squadrons rode:Brave Nunio's danger from afar he spies,And instant to his aid impetuous flies.So, when returning from the plunder'd folds,The lioness her empty den beholds,Enrag'd she stands, and list'ning to the gale,She hears her whelps low howling in the vale;The living sparkles flashing from her eyes,To the Massylian shepherd-tents she flies;She groans, she roars, and echoing far aroundThe seven twin-mountains tremble at the sound:So, rag'd the king, and, with a chosen train,He pours resistless o'er the heaps of slain."Oh, bold companions of my toils," he cries,"Our dear-lov'd freedom on our lances lies;Behold your friend, your monarch leads the way,And dares the thickest of the iron fray.Say, shall the Lusian race forsake their king,Where spears infuriate on the bucklers ring!"

He spoke; then four times round his head he whirl'dHis pond'rous spear, and midst the foremost hurl'd;Deep through the ranks the forceful weapon pass'd,And many a gasping warrior sigh'd his last.With noble shame inspir'd, and mounting rage,His bands rush on, and foot to foot engage;Thick bursting sparkles from the blows aspire;Such flashes blaze, their swords seem dipp'd in fire;The belts of steel and plates of brass are riv'n,And wound for wound, and death for death is giv'n.

The first in honour of Saint Jago's band,A naked ghost now sought the gloomy strand;And he of Calatrave, the sov'reign knight, }Girt with whole troops his arm had slain in fight, }Descended murm'ring to the shades of night. }Blaspheming Heaven, and gash'd with many a wound,Brave Nunio's rebel kindred gnaw'd the ground.And curs'd their fate, and died. Ten thousand moreWho held no title and no office bore,And nameless nobles who, promiscuous fell,Appeas'd that day the foaming dog of hell.Now, low the proud Castilian standard liesBeneath the Lusian flag; a vanquish'd prize.With furious madness fired, and stern disdain,The fierce Iberians to the fight againRush headlong; groans and yellings of despairWith horrid uproar rend the trembling air.Hot boils the blood, thirst burns, and every breastPants, every limb, with fainty weight oppress'd,Slow now obeys the will's stern ire, and slowFrom every sword descends the feeble blow:Till rage grew languid, and tir'd slaughter foundNo arm to combat, and no breast to wound.Now from the field Castile's proud monarch flies,In wild dismay he rolls his madd'ning eyes,And leads the pale-lipp'd flight, swift wing'd with fear, }As drifted smoke; at distance disappear, }The dusty squadrons of the scatter'd rear; }Blaspheming Heaven, they fly, and him who firstForg'd murd'ring arms, and led to horrid wars accurs'd.

The festive days by heroes old ordain'dThe glorious victor on the field remain'd.The funeral rites, and holy vows he paid:Yet, not the while the restless Nunio stay'd;O'er Tago's waves his gallant bands he led,And humbled Spain in every province bled:Sevilia's standard on his spear he bore,And Andalusia's ensigns, steep'd in gore.Low in the dust, distress'd Castilia mourn'd,And, bath'd in tears, each eye to Heav'n was turn'd;The orphan's, widow's, and the hoary sire's;And Heav'n relenting, quench'd the raging firesOf mutual hate: from England's happy shoreThe peaceful seas two lovely sisters bore.The rival monarchs to the nuptial bed,In joyful hour, the royal virgins led,And holy peace assum'd her blissful reign,Again the peasant joy'd, the landscape smiled again.

But, John's brave breast to warlike cares inur'd,With conscious shame the sloth of ease endu'rd,When not a foe awak'd his a rage in Spain,The valiant hero brav'd the foamy main;The first, nor meanest, of our kings who boreThe Lusian thunders to the Afric shore.O'er the wild waves the victor-banners flow'd,Their silver wings a thousand eagles show'd;And, proudly swelling to the whistling gales,The seas were whiten'd with a thousand sails.Beyond the columns by Alcides plac'dTo bound the world, the zealous warrior pass'd.The shrines of Hagar's race, the shrines of lust,And moon-crown'd mosques lay smoking in the dust.O'er Abyla's high steep his lance he rais'd,On Ceuta's lofty towers his standard blaz'd:Ceuta, the refuge of the traitor train,His vassal now, insures the peace of Spain.

But ah, how soon the blaze of glory dies!Illustrious John ascends his native skies.His gallant offspring prove their genuine strain,And added lands increase the Lusian reign.

Yet, not the first of heroes Edward shoneHis happiest days long hours of evil own.He saw, secluded from the cheerful day,His sainted brother pine his years away.O glorious youth, in captive chains, to theeWhat suiting honours may thy land decree!Thy nation proffer'd, and the foe with joy,For Ceuta's towers, prepar'd to yield the boy;The princely hostage nobly spurns the thoughtOf freedom, and of life so dearly bought:The raging vengeance of the Moors defies,Gives to the clanking chains his limbs, and diesA dreary prison-death. Let noisy fameNo more unequall'd hold her Codrus' name;Her Regulus, her Curtius boast no more,Nor those the honour'd Decian name who bore.The splendour of a court, to them unknown,Exchang'd for deathful Fate's most awful frown,To distant times, through every land, shall blazeThe self-devoted Lusian's nobler praise.

Now, to the tomb the hapless king descends,His son, Alonzo, brighter fate attends.Alonzo! dear to Lusus' race the name;Nor his the meanest in the rolls of fame.His might resistless, prostrate Afric own'd,Beneath his yoke the Mauritanians groan'd,And, still they groan beneath the Lusian sway.'Twas his, in victor-pomp, to bear awayThe golden apples from Hesperia's shore,Which but the son of Jove had snatch'd before.The palm, and laurel, round his temples bound,Display'd his triumphs on the Moorish ground.When proud Arzilla's strength, Alcazer's towers,And Tingia, boastful of her num'rous powers,Beheld their adamantine walls o'erturn'd,Their ramparts levell'd, and their temples burn'd.Great was the day: the meanest sword that foughtBeneath the Lusian flag such wonders wroughtAs from the muse might challenge endless fame,Though low their station, and untold their name.

Now, stung with wild ambition's madd'ning fires,To proud Castilia's throne the king aspires.The Lord of Arragon, from Cadiz' walls,And hoar Pyrene's sides his legions calls;The num'rous legions to his standard throng,And war, with horrid strides, now stalks along.With emulation fir'd, the prince beheldHis warlike sire ambitious of the field;Scornful of ease, to aid his arms he sped,Nor sped in vain: The raging combat bled:Alonzo's ranks with carnage gor'd, DismaySpread her cold wings, and shook his firm array;To flight she hurried; while, with brow serene,The martial boy beheld the deathful scene.With curving movement o'er the field he rode,Th' opposing troops his wheeling squadrons mow'd:The purple dawn, and evening sun beheldHis tents encamp'd assert the conquer'd field.Thus, when the ghost of Julius hover'd o'erPhilippi's plain, appeas'd with Roman gore,Octavius' legions left the field in flight,While happier Marcus triumph'd in the fight.

When endless night had seal'd his mortal eyes,And brave Alonzo's spirit sought the skies,The second of the name, the valiant John,Our thirteenth monarch, now ascends the throne.To seize immortal fame, his mighty mind,(What man had never dar'd before), design'd;That glorious labour which I now pursue,Through seas unsail'd to find the shores that viewThe day-star, rising from his wat'ry bed,The first grey beams of infant morning shed.Selected messengers his will obey;Through Spain and France they hold their vent'rous way.Through Italy they reach the port that gaveThe fair Parthenope an honour'd grave;That shore which oft has felt the servile chain,But, now smiles happy in the care of Spain.Now, from the port the brave advent'rers bore,And cut the billows of the Rhodian shore;Now, reach the strand where noble Pompey bled;And now, repair'd with rest, to Memphis sped;And now, ascending by the vales of Nile,(Whose waves pour fatness o'er the grateful soil),Through Ethiopia's peaceful dales they stray,Where their glad eyes Messiah's rites survey:And now they pass the fam'd Arabian flood, }Whose waves of old in wondrous ridges stood, }While Israel's favour'd race the sable bottom trod: }Behind them, glist'ning to the morning skies,The mountains nam'd from Ishmael's offspring rise;Now, round their steps the blest Arabia spreadsHer groves of odour, and her balmy meads;And every breast, inspir'd with glee, inhalesThe grateful fragrance of Sabæa's gales:Now, past the Persian gulf their route ascendsWhere Tigris' wave with proud Euphrates blends;Illustrious streams, where still the native showsWhere Babel's haughty tower unfinished rose:From thence, through climes unknown, their daring courseBeyond where Trajan forced his way, they force;Carmanian hordes, and Indian tribes they saw,And many a barb'rous rite, and many a lawTheir search explor'd; but, to their native shore,Enrich'd with knowledge, they return'd no more.The glad completion of the fate's decree,Kind Heaven reserv'd, Emmanuel, for thee.The crown, and high ambition of thy sires,To thee descending, wak'd thy latent fires,And, to command the sea from pole to pole,With restless wish inflam'd thy mighty soul.

Now, from the sky, the sacred light withdrawn,O'er heaven's clear azure shone the stars of dawn,Deep silence spread her gloomy wings around,And human griefs were wrapp'd in sleep profound.The monarch slumber'd on his golden bed,Yet, anxious cares possess'd his thoughtful head;His gen'rous soul, intent on public good,The glorious duties of his birth review'd.When, sent by Heaven, a sacred dream inspir'dHis lab'ring mind, and with its radiance fir'd:High to the clouds his tow'ring head was rear'd,New worlds, and nations fierce, and strange, appear'd;The purple dawning o'er the mountains flow'd,The forest-boughs with yellow splendour glow'd;High, from the steep, two copious glassy streamsRoll'd down, and glitter'd in the morning beams;Here, various monsters of the wild were seen,And birds of plumage azure, scarlet, green:Here, various herbs, and flow'rs of various bloom;There, black as night, the forest's horrid gloom,Whose shaggy brakes, by human step untrod,Darken'd the glaring lion's dread abode.Here, as the monarch fix'd his wond'ring eyes,Two hoary fathers from the streams arise;Their aspect rustic, yet, a reverend graceAppear'd majestic on their wrinkled face:Their tawny beards uncomb'd, and sweepy long,Adown their knees in shaggy ringlets hung;From every lock the crystal drops distil,And bathe their limbs, as in a trickling rill;Gay wreaths of flowers, of fruitage, and of boughs,(Nameless in Europe), crown'd their furrow'd brows.Bent o'er his staff, more silver'd o'er with years,Worn with a longer way, the one appears;Who now slow beck'ning with his wither'd hand,As now advanc'd before the king they stand:--

"O thou, whom worlds to Europe yet unknown,Are doom'd to yield, and dignify thy crown;To thee our golden shores the Fates decree;Our necks, unbow'd before, shall bend to thee.Wide thro' the world resounds our wealthy fame;Haste, speed thy prows, that fated wealth to claim.From Paradise my hallow'd waters spring;The sacred Ganges I, my brother kingTh' illustrious author of the Indian name:Yet, toil shall languish, and the fight shall flame;Our fairest lawns with streaming gore shall smoke,Ere yet our shoulders bend beneath the yoke;But, thou shalt conquer: all thine eyes survey,With all our various tribes, shall own thy sway."

He spoke; and, melting in a silv'ry stream,Both disappear'd; when waking from his dream,The wond'ring monarch, thrill'd with awe divine,Weighs in his lofty thoughts the sacred sign.

Now, morning bursting from the eastern sky,Spreads o'er the clouds the blushing rose's dye,The nations wake, and, at the sov'reign's call,The Lusian nobles crowd the palace hall.The vision of his sleep the monarch tells;Each heaving breast with joyful wonder swells:"Fulfil," they cry: "the sacred sign obey;And spread the canvas for the Indian sea."Instant my looks with troubled ardour burn'd,When, keen on me, his eyes the monarch turn'd:What he beheld I know not, but I know,Big swell'd my bosom with a prophet's glow:And long my mind, with wondrous bodings fir'd,Had to the glorious, dreadful toil aspir'd:Yet, to the king, whate'er my looks betray'd,My looks the omen of success display'd.When with that sweetness in his mien express'd,Which, unresisted, wins the gen'rous breast,"Great are the dangers, great the toils," he cried,"Ere glorious honours crown the victor's pride.If in the glorious strife the hero fall,He proves no danger could his soul appal;And, but to dare so great a toil, shall raiseEach age's wonder, and immortal praise.For this dread toil, new oceans to explore,To spread the sail where sail ne'er flow'd before,For this dread labour, to your valour due,From all your peers I name, O VASCO, you.Dread as it is, yet light the task shall beTo you my GAMA, as perform'd for me."My heart could bear no more:--"Let skies on fire,Let frozen seas, let horrid war conspire,I dare them all," I cried, "and, but repineThat one poor life is all I can resign.Did to my lot Alcides' labours fall,For you my joyful heart would dare them all;The ghastly realms of death, could man invade,For you my steps should trace the ghastly shade."

While thus, with loyal zeal, my bosom swell'd,That panting zeal my prince with joy beheld:Honour'd with gifts I stood, but, honour'd moreBy that esteem my joyful sov'reign bore.That gen'rous praise which fires the soul of worth,And gives new virtues unexpected birth,That praise, e'en now, my heaving bosom fires,Inflames my courage, and each wish inspires.

Mov'd by affection, and allur'd by fame,A gallant youth, who bore the dearest name,Paulus, my brother, boldly su'd to shareMy toils, my dangers, and my fate in war;And, brave Coëllo urg'd the hero's claimTo dare each hardship, and to join our fame:For glory both with restless ardour burn'd,And silken ease for horrid danger spurn'd;Alike renown'd in council, or in field,The snare to baffle, or the sword to wield.Through Lisbon's youth the kindling ardour ran,And bold ambition thrill'd from man to man;And each, the meanest of the vent'rous band,With gifts stood honour'd by the sov'reign's hand.Heavens! what a fury swell'd each warrior's breast,When each, in turn, the smiling king address'd!Fir'd by his words the direst toils they scorn'd,And, with the horrid lust of danger fiercely burn'd.

With such bold rage the youth of Mynia glow'd,When the first keel the Euxine surges plough'd;When, bravely vent'rous for the golden fleece,Orac'lous Argo sail'd from wond'ring Greece.Where Tago's yellow stream the harbour laves,And slowly mingles with the ocean waves,In warlike pride, my gallant navy rode,And, proudly o'er the beach my soldiers strode.Sailors and landsmen, marshall'd o'er the strand,In garbs of various hue around me stand;Each earnest, first to plight the sacred vow,Oceans unknown, and gulfs untried to plough:Then, turning to the ships their sparkling eyes,With joy they heard the breathing winds arise;Elate with joy, beheld the flapping sail,And purple standards floating on the gale:While each presag'd, that great as Argo's fame,Our fleet should give some starry band a name.

Where foaming on the shore the tide appears,A sacred fane its hoary arches rears:Dim o'er the sea the ev'ning shades descend,And, at the holy shrine, devout, we bend:There, while the tapers o'er the altar blaze,Our prayers, and earnest vows to Heav'n we raise."Safe through the deep, where every yawning waveStill to the sailor's eye displays his grave;Thro' howling tempests, and thro' gulfs untried,O mighty God! be thou our watchful guide."While kneeling thus, before the sacred shrine,In holy faith's most solemn rite we join;Our peace with Heav'n the bread of peace confirms,And meek contrition ev'ry bosom warms:Sudden, the lights extinguish'd, all aroundDread silence reigns, and midnight-gloom profound;A sacred horror pants on every breath,And each firm breast devotes itself to death,An offer'd sacrifice, sworn to obeyMy nod, and follow where I lead the way.Now, prostrate round the hallow'd shrine we lie,Till rosy morn bespreads the eastern sky;Then, breathing fix'd resolves, my daring matesMarch to the ships, while pour'd from Lisbon's gates,Thousands on thousands crowding, press along,A woful, weeping, melancholy throng.A thousand white-rob'd priests our steps attend,And prayers, and holy vows to Heav'n ascend;A scene so solemn, and the tender woeOf parting friends, constrain'd my tears to flow.To weigh our anchors from our native shore-- }To dare new oceans never dar'd before-- }Perhaps to see my native coast no more-- }Forgive, O king, if as a man I feel,I bear no bosom of obdurate steel.----(The godlike hero here suppress'd the sigh,And wip'd the tear-drop from his manly eye;Then, thus resuming)--All the peopled shoreAn awful, silent look of anguish wore;Affection, friendship, all the kindred tiesOf spouse and parent languish'd in their eyes:As men they never should again behold,Self-offer'd victims to destruction sold,On us they fix'd the eager look of woe,While tears o'er ev'ry cheek began to flow;When thus aloud, "Alas! my son, my son,"A hoary sire exclaims, "oh! whither run,My heart's sole joy, my trembling age's stay,To yield thy limbs the dread sea-monster's prey!To seek thy burial in the raging wave,And leave me cheerless sinking to the grave!Was it for this I watch'd thy tender years,And bore each fever of a father's fears!Alas, my boy!"--His voice is heard no more,The female shriek resounds along the shore:With hair dishevell'd, through the yielding crowdA lovely bride springs on, and screams aloud;"Oh! where, my husband, where to seas unknown,Where wouldst thou fly, me and my love disown!And wilt thou, cruel, to the deep consignThat valued life, the joy, the soul of mine!And must our loves, and all the kindred trainOf rapt endearments, all expire in vain!All the dear transports of the warm embrace,When mutual love inspir'd each raptur'd face!Must all, alas! be scatter'd in the wind,Nor thou bestow one ling'ring look behind!"

Such, the 'lorn parents' and the spouses' woes,Such, o'er the strand the voice of wailing rose;From breast to breast the soft contagion crept,Moved by the woful sound the children wept;The mountain-echoes catch the big swoll'n sighs,And, through the dales, prolong the matron's cries;The yellow sands with tears are silver'd o'er,Our fate the mountains and the beach deplore.Yet, firm we march, nor turn one glance asideOn hoary parent, or on lovely bride.Though glory fir'd our hearts, too well we knewWhat soft affection, and what love could do.The last embrace the bravest worst can bear:The bitter yearnings of the parting tearSullen we shun, unable to sustainThe melting passion of such tender pain.

Now, on the lofty decks, prepar'd, we stand,When, tow'ring o'er the crowd that veil'd the strand,A reverend figure fix'd each wond'ring eye,And, beck'ning thrice, he wav'd his hand on high,And thrice his hoary curls he sternly shook,While grief and anger mingled in his look;Then, to its height his falt'ring voice he rear'd,And through the fleet these awful words were heard:

"O frantic thirst of honour and of fame,The crowd's blind tribute, a fallacious name;What stings, what plagues, what secret scourges curs'd,Torment those bosoms where thy pride is nurs'd!What dangers threaten, and what deaths destroyThe hapless youth, whom thy vain gleams decoy!By thee, dire tyrant of the noble mind,What dreadful woes are pour'd on human kind:Kingdoms and empires in confusion hurl'd,What streams of gore have drench'd the hapless world!Thou dazzling meteor, vain as fleeting air,What new-dread horror dost thou now prepare!High sounds thy voice of India's pearly shore,Of endless triumphs and of countless store:Of other worlds so tower'd thy swelling boast,Thy golden dreams when Paradise was lost,When thy big promise steep'd the world in gore,And simple innocence was known no more.And say, has fame so dear, so dazzling charms?Must brutal fierceness, and the trade of arms,Conquest, and laurels dipp'd in blood, be priz'd,While life is scorn'd, and all its joys despis'd?And say, does zeal for holy faith inspireTo spread its mandates, thy avow'd desire?Behold the Hagarene in armour stands,Treads on thy borders, and the foe demands:A thousand cities own his lordly sway,A thousand various shores his nod obey.Through all these regions, all these cities, scorn'dIs thy religion, and thine altars spurn'd.A foe renown'd in arms the brave require;That high-plum'd foe, renown'd for martial fire,Before thy gates his shining spear displays,Whilst thou wouldst fondly dare the wat'ry maze,Enfeebled leave thy native land behind,On shores unknown a foe unknown to find.Oh! madness of ambition! thus to dareDangers so fruitless, so remote a war!That Fame's vain flattery may thy name adorn,And thy proud titles on her flag be borne:Thee, lord of Persia, thee, of India lord,O'er Ethiopia's vast, and Araby ador'd!

"Curs'd be the man who first on floating wood,Forsook the beach, and braved the treach'rous flood!Oh! never, never may the sacred Nine,To crown his brows, the hallow'd wreath entwine;Nor may his name to future times resound;Oblivion be his meed, and hell profound!Curs'd be the wretch, the fire of heaven who stole,And with ambition first debauch'd the soul!What woes, Prometheus, walk the frighten'd earth!To what dread slaughter has thy pride giv'n birth!On proud Ambition's pleasing gales upborne,One boasts to guide the chariot of the morn;And one on treach'rous pinions soaring high,O'er ocean's waves dar'd sail the liquid sky:Dash'd from their height they mourn'd their blighted aim;One gives a river, one a sea the name!Alas! the poor reward of that gay meteor, fame!Yet, such the fury of the mortal race,Though fame's fair promise ends in foul disgrace,Though conquest still the victor's hope betrays,The prize a shadow, or a rainbow-blaze,Yet, still through fire and raging seas they runTo catch the gilded shade, and sink undone!"