| Verse 1 | ||
| "Estas sentenças tais o velho honrado Vociferando estava, quando abrimos As asas ao sereno e sossegado Vento, e do porto amado nos partimos. E, como é já no mar costume usado, A vela desfraldando, o céu ferimos, Dizendo: ' Boa viagem! ' ; logo o vento Nos troncos fez o usado movimento. |
"These wise words the revered old man Was uttering, when we opened Our wings to the quiet and assuaged Winds and from the loved port we departed : And as is the custom observed at sea, To sail unfurling, we shut in the sky , Saying: ' Bon voyage! ' ; soon after the wind Renders to our masts its borne impetus. |
|
| Verse 2 | ||
| "Entrava neste tempo o eterno lume No animal Nemeio truculento, E o mundo, que com tempo se consume, Na sexta idade andava enfermo e lento: Nela vê, como tinha por costume, Cursos do sol quatorze vezes cento, Com mais noventa e sete, em que corria, Quando no mar a armada se estendia. |
"Entered in this time, the eternal light In the fierce Nemean animal ; And the world, which with time consumes itself, In the sixth age walked, slowly and infirm ; In it sees, as handed down by custom, Fourteen times hundred of the sun's courses, With more ninety and seven, in that transit, When the navy launched itself out at sea. |
|
Notes :
'The Nemean animal' , meaning the zodiacal
sign of Leo. Nemeo (Greek:
Λέων της
Νεμέας; Latin: Leo Nemaeus)
refers
to the enormous lion, which in Greek mythology
lived in Nemea. It was invulnerable to all weapons until Hercules,
in
his first labour, strangled it with his bare hands. He then wore its
pelt.
| Verse 3 | ||
| "Já a vista pouco e pouco se desterra Daqueles pátrios montes que ficavam; Ficava o caro Tejo, e a fresca serra De Sintra, e nela os olhos se alongavam. Ficava-nos também na amada terra O coração, que as mágoas lá deixavam; E já depois que toda se escondeu, Não vimos mais enfim que mar e céu. |
"The vista little by little vanished from sight Where stood the mountains of our native land ; It held the dear Tagus, and the bracing range Of Cintra, and from it our eyes receded. Also left there we in our beloved land, The heart, which its wounds left relinquished there ; And soon after that all became concealed, Until we saw no more but sea and sky. |
|
Notes :
Tagus , is the largest river on the Iberian Peninsula. From its
source
in
the Fuente de García, in the Albarracín mountains, it runs to the
Atlantic
Ocean by Lisbon.
The Serra de Cintra, situated about 15 miles N.W. of Lisbon
| Verse 4 | ||
| "Assim fomos abrindo aqueles mares, Que geração alguma não abriu, As novas ilhas vendo e os novos ares, Que o generoso Henrique descobriu; De Mauritânia os montes e lugares, Terra que Anteu num tempo possuiu, Deixando à mão esquerda; que à direita Não há certeza doutra, mas suspeita. |
"Thus we were opening up those oceans, Which no generation had ever crossed, Espying new islands, and new areas, Which the noble Henry had discovered; Of Mauritania , the mountains and sites, Land which Antaeus at one time possessed, Passing by on the left side; for the right Has no certain other, but suspected. |
|
Notes :
Henry the Navigator (1394 — 1460) , Portuguese prince and
patron
of
explorers.
Mauritania . Term applied to parts of the North African coast,
including
Morocco.
Antaeus (Antaios). 'A son of Poseidon and Ge, a mighty giant
and
wrestler in Libya, whose strength was invincible so long as he
remained
in contact with his mother earth. The strangers who came to his
country
were compelled to wrestle with him; the conquered were slain,
and
out of
their skulls he built a house to Poseidon. Heracles discovered
the
source of his strength, lifted him up from the earth, and crushed
him in
the
air. (Apollod. ii. 5. § 11; Hygin. Fab. 31 ; Diod. iv. 17; Pind. Isthm.
iv.
87,
&c.;
Lucan, Pharsal. iv. 590, &c.; Juven. iii. 89; Ov. Ib. 397.) The tomb
of
Antaeus (Antaei collis), which formed a moderate hill in the
shape
of
a
man stretched out at full length, was shewn near the town of
Tingis
in
Mauretania down to a late period (Strab. xvii. p. 829; P. Mela, iii
10.
§
35,
&c.), and it was believed that whenever a portion of the earth
covering it
was taken away, it rained until the hole was filled up again.
Sertorius
is
said to have opened the grave, but when he found the skeleton
of
sixty
cubits in length, he was struck with horror and had it covered
again
immediately. (Strab. l. c.; Plut. Sertor. 9.).'
Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and
Mythology.
| Verse 5 | ||
| "Passámos a grande Ilha da Madeira, Que do muito arvoredo assim se chama , Das que nós povoámos, a primeira, Mais célebre por nome que por fama. Mas, nem por ser do mundo a derradeira, Se lhe aventajam quantas Vénus ama; Antes, sendo esta sua, se esquecera De Cipro, Gnido, Pafos e Citera. |
"We passed the great island of Madeira Which being so arboreal, is called thus, The first which by us was populated More celebrated for name than for fame : But, not to be at the end of the world If they distinguish it as Venus loves ; Before, this being hers, neglected would be Cyprus, Cnidus, Paphos, and Kythira. |
|
Notes :
Now known as Madeira, and Porto Santo, the former was so
named
by Juan Gonzales, and Tristan Vaz, from the Spanish word
'madera', or
wood, who claimed them in 1419, and peopled them from 1425.
Identified by commentators as the Insulae Purpuraiae, but see
note
(1)
Venus in mythology was the Roman goddess of love, and called
Aphrodite in Greek mythology. The Greek goddess Aphrodite
was
supposedly born on Cyprus. Or actually, from the foam of the
sea,
on
the
beach close to Paphos.
Cnidus or Knidos (now located in Turkey) was an ancient city of
Anatolia, which possessed a statue of Aphrodite made by the
famous
Praxiteles. Kythira is historically part of the Aeonian Islands. In
Ancient
Greek mythology, Kythira was considered to be the island of
celestial
Aphrodite, the Goddess of love.
| Verse 6 | ||
| "Deixamos de Massília a estéril costa, Onde seu gado os Azenegues pastam, Gente que as frescas águas nunca gosta Nem as ervas do campo bem lhe abastam: A terra a nenhum fruto enfim disposta, Onde as aves no ventre o ferro gastam, Padecendo de tudo extrema inópia, Que aparta a Barbaria de Etiópia. |
"We leave at Masilia the barren coast, Where the Zeneuges pasture for their gain, People who never taste running water Nor is it sufficient for fields of grass : An earth which in short to none yields its fruit , Where birds in their bellies iron consume, Suffering for all, poverty extreme, Which divides Barbary from Ethiopia. |
|
Notes :
Azenegues : People who lived in the vicinity of the River
Senegal.
[Alvise Cadamosto, known in Portuguese as Luís Cadamosto,
(1432-1488), was a
Venetian who was an early explorer of the African Atlantic coast
while in the
service of the Portuguese Prince, Henry the Navigator. In the
account of his
voyages he describes 'rio chamado de Senega,...é o primeiro
rio
das terras dos
negros, naquela costa; o qual rio separa os Negros dos Pardos
chamados
Azenegues; e separa também a terra seca e árida que é o
sobredito deserto, da
terra fértil, que é o país dos Negros.'
That is to say, ' a river called Senegal..it is the first river of the
land
of
the negroes,
at this coast; the same river separates the Negroes from the
Pardos
(pale
skinned) called Azenegues ; it separates also the dry and arid
land
which lies in
the above-named desert, from fertile land, which is in the country
of
the Negroes."
Passage in Portuguese quoted in 'Luís de Cadamosto : O
Mercador
de Veneza.',
article dated by author, Nov. 2001, published in Storm Magazine
]
Consumption of iron by ostriches was a widely held belief at that
time. "The estrich
digesteth harde yron to preserve his health." says John Lyly ,(c.
1553 – 1606), in
'Euphues, the Anatomy of Wit'; see Marianne Moore, The
Complete
Poems,
1981.
| Verse 7 | ||
| "Passamos o limite aonde chega O Sol, que para o Norte os carros guia, Onde jazem os povos a quem nega O filho de Climene a cor do dia. Aqui gentes estranhas lava e rega Do negro Sanagá a corrente fria, Onde o Cabo Arsinário o nome perde, Chamando-se dos nossos Cabo Verde. |
"We passed across the limit where the sun Arrives, when to the North its carriage leads, Where endure the people to whom denied, Clymene's son the colour of the day. Here, this strange people, washes and waters The dark Senegal in frigid currents, Where the Cape Assinarium drops its name, Calling itself instead our Cape Verde. |
|
Notes :
The Tropic of Cancer is the northern limit of the Sun's
course.
Helios, in Greek Mythology, was the representation of the Sun.
Son
of
Hyperion, he was a brother to Clymene, an oceanid or the Moon,
and
unknowingly had a son by Clymene. He travelled over the sky
every
day, from east to west, in a flaming chariot pulled by four
coursers,
to
bring light and heat to men. Phaeton, son of Helios, died trying to
drive
the Sun’s car in wishing to prove his heavenly paternity.
['Phaethon of Hesiod : Phaethon, son of Clymenus, son of Sol,
and
the nymph
Merope, who,
as we have heard was and Oceanid, upon being told by his
father
that
his grandfather was Sol, put to bad use the chariot he asked for.
For
when he was carried too near the earth, everything burned in the
fire
that came near, and, struck by a thunderbolt, he fell into the river
Po.
This river is called Eridanus by the Greeks; Pherecydes was the
first
to
name it. The Indians became black, because their blood was
turned
to
a dark color from the heat that came near.' - from Fables,
Hyginus,
trans.
by Mary Grant.
The story is also retold in the 'Metamorphoses' :
'Sanguine tum credunt in corpora summa vocato
Aethiopum populos nigrum traxisse colorem;'
For the full
context see Ovid Metamorphoses Liber II vs 1-400]
Called by Ptolemy, Caput Assinarium, identified by some as
Cape
Verde, but as indicated above, see note (1).
| Verse 8 | ||
| "Passadas tendo já as Canárias ilhas, Que tiveram por nome Fortunadas, Entramos, navegando, pelas filhas Do velho Hespério, Hespérides chamadas; Terras por onde novas maravilhas Andaram vendo já nossas armadas. Ali tomamos porto com bom vento, Por tomarmos da terra mantimento. |
"Having already passed the Canaries Which had held, as name, the Fortunate Isles, We entered, navigating, the daughters Of old Hesperus, called Hesperides ; Lands through where for new marvels Now our armada sighting proceeded. There, we took harbour on a goodly wind, That we might take provision from the land. |
|
Notes :
The Canaries, unreliably called by the ancients Insulæ
Fortunatæ,
and
by the Arabs, Al-khaldiyát , as mentioned in Al - Idrisi, but again,
see
note (1)below.
In Greek 'Hesperio' referred to the most western peninsulae. In
Greek
mythology, Hesperus (Greek Hesperos) is the personification of
the
"evening star", the planet Venus in the evening.The Hesperides
(Greek:
Ἑσπερίδες)
were
nymphs keeping a garden in a far western
corner of the world, located near the Atlas mountains in Libya, or
on
a
distant blessed island at the edge of the encircling Oceanus, the
world-ocean.
[Diodorus Siculus gives an account of Atlas and the Hesperides
in
the
'Bibliotheca Historica' :
'But we must not fail to mention what the myths relate about Atlas
and
about the race of the Hesperides....Now Hesperus begat a
daughter
named Hesperis, whom he gave in marriage to his brother and
after
whom the land was given the name Hesperitis; and Atlas begat
by
her
seven daughters, who were named after their father Atlantides,
and
after their mother, Hesperides.' - Diodorus Siculus IV 4.27.1-2 ;
trans.
by
C. H. Oldfather.]
The Greek geographer Strabo, placed the Hesperides in
Tartessos,
possibly the south of the Iberian peninsula. Hesiod said that the
ancient name of Cádiz, Erytheia, was another name for the
Hesperides.
Others situated the gardens of Hesperides in north Africa. - but
see
(1).below
| Verse 9 | ||
| "Àquela ilha apartámos que tomou O nome do guerreiro Santiago, Santo que os Espanhóis tanto ajudou A fazerem nos Mouros bravo estrago. Daqui, tanto que Bóreas nos ventou, Tornámos a cortar o imenso lago Do salgado Oceano, e assi deixámos A terra onde o refresco doce achámos. |
"From that island we set off, which carries The name of the warrior Santiago, The saint who so many Spaniards aided To cause amongst the Moors hardy damage. Since where, as when Boreas blew on us We turned to cut across the immense lake Of the salty Ocean, and thus we left, The land where such sweet refreshment we found. |
|
Notes :
Santiago, or St. James,(d. AD 44) , the son of Zebedee and
Salome
and brother
of John the Evangelist. An apparent lapse of the poet since
sources
state the
island to have been discovered on the 1st. of May, and
therefore,
consecrated to
the Lesser Santiago. For the former's rôle in connection with the
Moors, and other details
and uncertainities about the saint see note (2)below. For an account by Faria y Sousa of this
early
sequence see note (5)below.
| Verse 10 | ||
| "Por aqui rodeando a larga parte De África, que ficava ao Oriente, A província Jalofo, que reparte Por diversas nações a negra gente; A mui grande Mandinga, por cuja arte Logramos o metal rico e luzente, Que do curvo Gambeia as águas bebe, As quais o largo Atlântico recebe, |
"In this way, we rounding the larger part Of Africa, which stretched towards the East, To Jalofo province, which sets apart, For diverse nations, the negro people ; The very great Mandinga, through whose art, We enjoy the metal rich and lucent, Which of curved Gambia the waters drinks, And quays, which the high Atlantic receives, |
|
Notes :
The province of Jalofo lies between the two rivers, the Gambia
and
the Senegal.
Betwen the two lies Cape Verde, the most westerly point of
Africa.
The Gambia
River is a major river in Africa, running 1,130 km (700 miles) from
the
Fouta Djallon
plateau in north Guinea westward to the Atlantic Ocean at the city
of
Banjul. For the
mention of the Mandinka, and the gold see note (3) below
| Verse 11 | ||
| "As Dórcadas passámos, povoadas Das Irmãs, que outro tempo ali viviam, Que de vista total sendo privadas, Todas três dum só olho se serviam. Tu só, tu, cujas tranças encrespadas Netuno lá nas águas acendiam, Tornada já de todas a mais feia, De bívoras encheste a ardente areia. |
"We passed the Gorgades, inhabited By the Sisters, who lived there at one time, Who being deprived completely of their sight, Were all the three served by a single eye. Only you, you, whose entwined curly tresses Stimulated Neptune there in the seas, Now changed into the ugliest of all, Overwhelmed with vipers the burning sands. |
|
Notes :
Statius Sebosus, the Roman geographer of c. 100 BC, gave the
name of islands of the Gorgones to the Canary Islands. Since
Pliny
merged the Canary isles with the Islands of Cape Verde, the
latter
would appear to be the Isles of Gorgades, as after the voyage of
Hanno it was no longer possible to take the Canary Islands as
the
westernmost point in the Oikoumene, so that the name of the
Islands
of the Blessed shifted to the Islands of Cape Verde, see (1).below.
For the original source of the part relating to
the voyage of Hanno, and Pliny's passage referring to it , see (4).below.
In Greek mythology, the Gorgon was a female monster with
sharp
fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes. Homer mentions
only
one, but Hesiod cites three, saying, "Ceto bore to Phorcys ... the
Gorgons who dwell beyond glorious Ocean in the frontier land
towards Night where are the clear- voiced Hesperides, Sthenno,
and Euryale, and Medusa".( transl. by H. G. Evelyn-White. The
Theogony of Hesiod.) Aeschylus says that the three Gorgons
had
only one tooth and one eye between them, which they swapped
among themselves.
[Ovid (see M. Bk IV ; 753-803) has Perseus relating the story of
Medusa and Neptune;
......inveni, qui se vidisse referret.
hanc pelagi rector templo vitiasse Minervae
dicitur: aversa est et castos aegide vultus
nata Iovis texit, neve hoc inpune fuisset,
Gorgoneum crinem turpes mutavit in hydros.
Ovid : Metamorphoses ; Liber IV 796-800.
'Perseus tells the story of Medusa, when asked why she had
snakes
in her hair : "Of all her beauties none was more admired than her
hair: I came across a man who recalled having seen her. They
say
that Neptune, lord of the seas, violated her in the temple of
Minerva.
Jupiter’s daughter turned away, and hid her chaste eyes behind
her
aegis. So that it might not go unpunished, she changed the
Gorgon’s
hair to foul snakes."'- Kline translation.]
| Verse 12 | ||
| "Sempre enfim para o Austro a aguda proa No grandíssimo gôlfão nos metemos, Deixando a serra aspérrima Leoa, Co'o cabo a quem das Palmas nome demos. O grande rio, onde batendo soa O mar nas praias notas que ali temos, Ficou, com a Ilha ilustre que tomou O nome dum que o lado a Deus tocou. |
"Always, at last, southward the prow pointed, And in the largest gulf we put ourselves, Leaving the harsh Lioness mountain range, With the cape which we named as the Palmas. The immense river where, ringing loud sounds We heard the sea beat notes against the shore, Was placed, with the noble island which bears The name of one who touched the side for God. |
|
Notes :
The name Sierra Leone comes from the Portuguese name for
the
country: Serra Leoa.The literal meaning is "Lioness Mountains."
The mountain range runs between Guinea and Liberia.
In 1458, under the patronage of King Henry the Navigator,
Captain
Diogo Gomes (1440-1482) went on a voyage south, along the
coast
of West Africa, to the cape and estuary where the Gulf of Guinea
commences.
[Gomes named this promontory Cabo das Palmas, or Cape
Palmas. ' Caput Palmarum vulgo Cabo dos Palmas, promontor
Africae, in Guinea, ubi desinit ora Malaghettae, et incipit ora
littoralis
Guineae propriae, in austrum porrectum.' : Hofmann, Johann
Jacob
(1635-1706): Lexicon Universale.]
The grand river is said to refer to the River Niger, and the island
to
São Tomé, which was originally named after Fernão do Pó, a
Portuguese charter of the West African coast. He has been
regarded as the discoverer, in 1472, of the islands in the Gulf of
Guinea.
Approximately 21 km (15 mi) further along the coast
to
the east, the Cavalla River empties into the sea, marking the
border
between Liberia and the Côte d'Ivoire.
| Verse 13 | ||
| "Ali o mui grande reino está de Congo, Por nós já convertido à fé de Cristo, Por onde o Zaire passa, claro e longo, Rio pelos antigos nunca visto. Por este largo mar enfim me alongo Do conhecido pólo de Calisto, Tendo o término ardente já passado, Onde o meio do mundo é limitado. |
"There, the grand kingdom of the Congo is, For us now converted to faith in Christ, By where the Zaire passes, clear and long, River never sighted by the ancients. For this wide sea at length I move away From the recognised pole of Calisto, Having now passed the blazing terminus, Where the middle of the world is defined. |
|
Notes :
The MweneKongo or 'Manikongo', the Portuguese version of the
term,
was the title of the rulers of the Kingdom of Kongo, which existed
from the
fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries and comprised land along
the
central western part of Africa . The Mwenekongo's seat of power
was
M'banza-Kongo, (also São Salvador from 1570-1975) the
present-day
capital of Zaire Province in Angola. King Nkuwu Nzinga was
ruling
in
1483 when the Portuguese arrived, and was baptized by them as
King
João I in 1491. When he died in about 1509, his son, Nzinga
Mbemba,
also known as King Afonso I, despite opposition from his
half-brother,
Mpanzu a Kitima (see also note to verse 9 above), ruled the
Kongo for over
forty years. For an account by Faria y Sousa of this early
sequence see note (5)below.
According to fable, Calisto was a nymph of Diana. Jupiter having
assumed the figure of that goddess, completed his amorous
desires.
On the discovery of her pregnancy, Diana drove her from her
train.
She
fled to the woods, where she was delivered of a son. Juno
changed
them into bears, and Jupiter placed them in heaven, where they
form the
constellations of Ursa Major and Minor. This is founded on the
appearance of the northern pole-star, but when Gama
approached the
austral pole, the northern, of consequence, disappeared under
the
waves. Note in Mickle
| Verse 14 | ||
| "Já descoberto tínhamos diante, Lá no novo Hemisfério, nova estrela, Não vista de outra gente, que ignorante Alguns tempos esteve incerta dela. Vimos a parte menos rutilante, E, por falta de estrelas, menos bela, Do Pólo fixo, onde ainda se não sabe Que outra terra comece, ou mar acabe. |
"Already discovered we had ahead, There, in the new hemisphere, new star, Not seen by other folk, who ignorant Some of the times were uncertain of it. We witnessed the part less glowingly red, And, from defect of stars, less beautiful, Of the fixed Pole, where again one knows not, That another land starts, or sea ceases. |
|
Notes :
The new star was the Southern Cross, seated in the southern
celestial
Hemisphere.
| Verse 15 | ||
| "Assim passando aquelas regiões Por onde duas vezes passa Apolo, Dois invernos fazendo e dois verões, Enquanto corre dum ao outro Pólo, Por calmas, por tormentas e opressões, Que sempre faz no mar o irado Eolo, Vimos as Ursas, apesar de Juno, Banharem-se nas águas de Netuno. |
"Thus, moving past those regions, Across where two times passes Apollo, Creating two winters, and summers twice, As it runs from one to the other Pole, Through calm, through torment, and through storms, Which wroth Aeolus e'er makes in the sea , We saw the two Bears, in spite of Juno, Bathing themselves in waters of Neptune. |
|
Notes :
Eolo : Aeolus, Greek god of the winds. In the Odyssey Homer
represents Aeolus, ruler of island of Aeolia. He gave Odysseus
a
favourable wind for his voyage and a bag in which the
unfavourable winds were confined, but Odysseus's careless
companions opened the bag, releasing the winds and driving
their ship back to shore. The Aeolian harp is named after
him.
Juno : In Roman religion, the chief goddess and female
counterpart of Jupiter. She was identified with the Greek
goddess
Hera.
Neptune was the god of the sea in Roman mythology, similar to
the god Poseidon of Greek mythology.
'Callisto is sometimes called a daughter of Lycaon in Arcadia
and
sometimes of Nycteus or Ceteus, and sometimes also she is
described as a nymph. (Schol. ad Eurip. Orest. 1642; Apollod. iii.
8. § 2; comp. Hygin. Poet. Astr. ii. 1.) She was a huntress, and a
companion of Artemis. Zeus, however, enjoyed her charms; and,
in order that the deed might not become known to Hera, he
metamorphosed her into a she-bear. But, notwithstanding this
precaution, Callisto was slain by Artemis during the chase,
through the contrivance of Hera. Arcas, the son of Callisto, was
given by Zeus to Maia to be brought up, and Callisto was placed
among the stars under the name of Arctos. (Apollod. l. c.)
According to Hyginus, Artemis herself metamorphosed Callisto,
as she discovered her pregnancy in the bath. Ovid (Met. ii. 410,
&c.) makes Juno (Hera) metamorphose Callisto; and when
Arcas
during the chase was on the point of killing his mother, Jupiter
(Zeus) placed both among the stars.'
Source : Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and
Mythology.
[The story was also retold by Ovid, with some variations :
Intumuit Iuno, postquam inter sidera paelex
fulsit, et ad canam descendit in aequora Tethyn
Oceanumque senem, quorum reverentia movit
saepe deos, causamque viae scitantibus infit: 508-514
'quaeritis, aetheriis quare regina deorum
sedibus huc adsim? pro me tenet altera caelum!...
...at vos si laesae tangit contemptus alumnae,
gurgite caeruleo septem prohibete triones
sideraque in caelo stupri mercede recepta
pellite, ne puro tinguatur in aequore paelex. 525-530:
Ovid : Metamorphoses ; Liber II 401-531
'Juno was angered when she saw his inamorato shining among
the stars, and went down into the waters to white-haired Tethys
and old Oceanus to whom the gods often make reverence.
When
they asked her the reason for her visit she began "You ask me
why I, the queen of the gods, have left my home in the heavens to
be here? Another has taken my place in the sky!.."'
'"....If this contemptible insult to your foster-child moves you, shut
out the seven stars of the Bear from your dark blue waters,
repulse this constellation set in the heavens as a reward for her
defilement, and do not let my rival dip in your pure flood!" '-Kline
translation.]
| Verse 16 | ||
| "Contar-te longamente as perigosas Coisas do mar, que os homens não entendem: Súbitas trovoadas temerosas, Relâmpados que o ar em fogo acendem, Negros chuveiros, noites tenebrosas, Bramidos de trovões que o mundo fendem, Não menos é trabalho, que grande erro, Ainda que tivesse a voz de ferro. |
"To you recount at length the perilous Things of the sea, which men understand not : Sudden frightening tornadoes, flashes Of lightning which ignite the air with fire, Black drizzling rain, dark and sinister nights, Bellowing of thunder which rents the world, Of that great straying, the effort involved Would need no less than the voice of iron. |
|
| Verse 17 | ||
| "Os casos vi que os rudos marinheiros, Que têm por mestra a longa experiência, Contam por certos sempre e verdadeiros, Julgando as cousas só pela aparência, E que os que têm juízos mais inteiros, Que só por puro engenho e por ciência, Vêem do mundo os segredos escondidos, Julgam por falsos, ou mal entendidos. |
"Matters I saw which the uncouth sailors, Who hold in mastery long experience Always recount as true, and genuine, Judging causes by their appearance, While those who hold judgment more integral, Who only for pure thought, and for science, Perceive the hidden secrets of the world, Judge them as false, or poorly understood. |
|
| Verse 18 | ||
| "Vi, claramente visto, o lume vivo Que a marítima gente tem por santo Em tempo de tormenta e vento esquivo, De tempestade escura e triste pranto. Não menos foi a todos excessivo Milagre, e coisa certo de alto espanto, Ver as nuvens do mar com largo cano Sorver as altas águas do Oceano. |
"I saw, in clear view, the living fire Which maritime folk regard as sacred In times of torment, and of winds averse, Of dismal tempests and plangent mourning. Not less was it to all exorbitant Miracle, and thing assured of great awe, To see the sea clouds like an ample tube Swallow the high waters of the ocean. |
|
Notes :
Probably Saint Elmo's fire : A visible electric discharge on a
pointed object,
such as the mast of a ship or the wing of an airplane, during an
electrical storm.
Also called corposant. St. Elmo is an Italian corruption of St.
Erasmus,
fourth-century A.D patron saint of Mediterranean sailors, who saw
the fire as a
sign of his protection over them. The belief had its origins in
ancient Greece,
where if one appeared, it was called Helena, and if two, Castor
and
Polydeuces. Mickle notes; ' During the expedition of the Golden
Fleece, in a
violent tempest these fires were seen to hover over the heads of
Castor and
Pollux, who were two of the Argonauts, and a calm immediately
ensued. After
the apotheoses of these heroes, the Grecian sailors invoked
these fires by the
names of Castor and Pollux, or the sons of Jupiter. The
Athenians
called them
Σωτήρες, Saviours.'
Welsh mariners knew the fire as canwyll yr ysbryd
("spirit-candles") or canwyll
yr ysbryd glân ("candles of the Holy Ghost"), or the "candles of
St.
David". In
Russian these are "Saint Nicholas" or "Saint Peter's lights".
| Verse 19 | ||
| "Eu o vi certamente (e não presumo Que a vista me enganava) levantar-se No ar um vaporzinho e subtil fumo, E, do vento trazido, rodear-se: Daqui levado um cano ao pólo sumo Se via, tão delgado, que enxergar-se Dos olhos facilmente não podia: Da matéria das nuvens parecia. |
"I saw it surely (and do not presume That the sight deceived me), raising itself In air a vapour, and a subtle smoke, Which, dragged around by the wind, swirled itself : From where raised as a tube to the pole's tip Was seen, so fine that to distinguish it With the eyes easily was beyond me : Of nubecular stuff it rather seemed. |
|
| Verse 20 | ||
| "Ia-se pouco e pouco acrescentando E mais que um largo masto se engrossava; Aqui se estreita, aqui se alarga, quando Os golpes grandes de água em si chupava; Estava-se coas ondas ondeando: Em cima dele uma nuvem se espessava, Fazendo-se maior, mais carregada Co'o cargo grande d'água em si tomada. |
"It went on growing little by little, And more like a broad mast swelled up in size; Here narrowing itself, there enlarging, When the huge gulps of water it sucked in; Turned itself like the waves undulating : At the summit it thickened as a cloud, Making itself immense, much more laden By the huge weight of water taken in. |
|
| Verse 21 | ||
| "Qual roxa sanguessuga se veria Nos beiços da alimária (que imprudente, Bebendo a recolheu na fonte fria) Fartar co'o sangue alheio a sede ardente; Chupando mais e mais se engrossa e cria, Ali se enche e se alarga grandemente: Tal a grande coluna, enchendo, aumenta A si, e a nuvem negra que sustenta. |
"Like purple blood-sucker which might be
seen On the lips of beasts ( which imprudently, In drinking had picked up by some cold spring) Quench with another's blood its burning thirst ; Sucking more and more, plumps up, and I say, There it loads up and greatly enlarges: So the huge column, filling out, augments Itself, and the black cloud which it supports. |
|
| Verse 22 | ||
| "Mas depois que de todo se fartou, O pé que tem no mar a si recolhe, E pelo céu chovendo enfim voou, Porque coa água a jacente água molhe: Às ondas torna as ondas que tomou, Mas o sabor do sal lhe tira e tolhe. Vejam agora os sábios na escritura, Que segredos são estes de Natura. |
"Later, though, when satiated withal, The foot it kept in the sea it recalled, And for the sky raining at last it soared, Since to unleash water, water imbibe : The waves turn into the waves which it held, But the taste of salt it takes and removes. Show the causes now wise men, in writing, What secrets are these possessed by Nature. |
|
| Verse 23 | ||
| "Se os antigos filósofos, que andaram Tantas terras, por ver segredos delas, As maravilhas que eu passei, passaram, A tão diversos ventos dando as velas, Que grandes escrituras que deixaram! Que influição de signos e de estrelas! Que estranhezas, que grandes qualidades! E tudo sem mentir, puras verdades. |
"If the old philosophers, who travelled So many lands, to view the secrets there, The marvels which I passed by, had traversed, To such variable winds carrying sail, What great writings they would have left behind! What influence of stars and of omens! What bizarreness, what great quiddities! And all without lying, the purest truths. |
|
| Verse 24 | ||
| "Mas já o Planeta que no céu primeiro Habita, cinco vezes apressada, Agora meio rosto, agora inteiro Mostrara, enquanto o mar cortava a armada, Quando da etérea gávea um marinheiro, Pronto coa vista, "Terra! Terra!" brada. Salta no bordo alvoroçada a gente Co'os olhos no horizonte do Oriente. |
"But now the sphere which in the first sky Finds habitation, five times hurried by, Now half-visaged, now with face entire Showed, while the fleet cut its wake in the sea, When from the aerial crow's-nest a sailor, Promptly upon the sight, 'Land! Land!' cried out. Leapt to the side the agitated crew With their eyes on the eastern horizon. |
|
Notes :
The 'Planet' would seem to refer to the moon, the armada having
left Lisbon on
the 8th. of July, anchored at St.Helena on the 4th. of November,
making
five lunar months in all.
| Verse 25 | ||
| "A maneira de nuvens se começam A descobrir os montes que enxergamos; As âncoras pesadas se adereçam; As velas, já chegados, amainamos. E para que mais certas se conheçam As partes tão remotas onde estamos, Pelo novo instrumento do Astrolábio, Invenção de subtil juízo e sábio, |
"In manner of clouds they stirred duty-bound To discover the mounts we had perceived ; The weighty anchors we prepared to cast ; The sails, already near, we lessened. And to be more certain we took our bearings, Of the regions so remote where we were, With the new instrument, the astrolabe, Invention of subtle wit and genius. |
|
Notes :
The astrolabe : It is believed that the astrolabe owes its
development to the
ancient Greek mathematician Hipparchus (2nd century BC), and
to
Hypatia of
Alexandria, but other possibilities also exist. The oldest existing
instruments,
however, are in Arabic and date from the tenth century - AH 315
(AD 927/8).
The first person said to have made an astrolabe in the Islamic
world was the
8th century Persian mathematician Fazari , while the
mathematics
was
established by Al-Battani. Later, Al-Zarqālī, of
Toledo
in Castile, Al-Andalus, a
leading 11th century Arab mathematician and astronomer of his
time,
constructed a flat astrolabe, which being independent of the
latitude of the
observer, could be used all over the world.
| Verse 26 | ||
| "Desembarcamos logo na espaçosa, Parte, por onde a gente se espalhou, De ver coisas estranhas desejosa Da terra que outro povo não pisou; Porém eu co'os pilotos na arenosa Praia, por vermos em que parte estou, Me detenho em tomar do Sol a altura E compassar a universal pintura. |
"We disembarked, soon, in a spacious, Stretch, where the men went their separate ways, To look upon strange and alluring things On land which no other folk had stepped on ; Though, I, with the pilots, on the sandy, Shore, for us to see whereabouts we were, Stayed behind to take the sun's altitude And compass in a general framework. |
|
| Verse 27 | ||
| "Achamos ter de todo já passado Do Semicapro Pexe a grande meta, Estando entre ele e o círculo gelado Austral, parte do mundo mais secreta. Eis, de meus companheiros rodeado, Vejo um estranho vir de pele preta, Que tomaram por força, enquanto apanha De mel os doces favos na montanha. |
"We held in sight of all already passed Half-Capricorn Pisces the great limit, Being between it, and the frozen circle Austral, the most secret part of the world. When, lo, surrounded by my companions, I saw a strange man with a negroid skin, Who was taken by force, when gathering Honey from the sweet combs in the mountain. |
|
Notes :
'Do Semicapro Pexe..' : Being between the two zodiacal signs,
marking the transition from the equatorial circle into the southern,
or austral zone.
| Verse 28 | ||
| "Torvado vem na vista, como aquele Que não se vira nunca em tal extremo; Nem ele entende a nós, nem nós a ele, Selvagem mais que o bruto Polifemo. Começo-lhe a mostrar da rica pelo De Colcos o gentil metal supremo, A prata fina, a quente especiaria: A nada disto o bruto se movia. |
"Perturbed he comes into view, like
someone Who had never found himself in such straits ; Neither he understands us, nor we him, More savage than the beast Polyphemus. I start to show him some of the rich fleece Of Colchis, the supreme noble metal, Of fine silver, and some hot condiments, But none of it induced the brute to move. |
|
Notes :
Polyphemus, a character in Greek mythology, a Cyclops, the
one-eyed son of Poseidon and Thoosa. who played a pivotal
role
in Homer's Odyssey.
Colchis, now located on the Black Sea coast of Georgia. Earlier
writers spoke of it under the name of Aea, the residence of the
mythical king, Aeetes, to whom Jason, with the Argonauts, came
to
claim the golden fleece as his own.
| Verse 29 | ||
| "Mando mostrar-lhe peças mais somenos: Contas de cristalino transparente, Alguns soantes cascavéis pequenos, Um barrete vermelho, cor contente. Vi logo, por sinais e por acenos, Que com isto se alegra grandemente. Mando-o soltar com tudo, e assim caminha Para a povoação que perto tinha. |
"I ask to show him pieces more unique: Rosaries made of crystal, transparent, A few sonorous delicate hand-bells, A vermilion beret, briskly coloured. I quickly saw, by the signs and gestures, That with this, he cheered up a great deal. I ask he be set free with all, thus he Walks off to the people who were close by. |
|
| Verse 30 | ||
| "Mas logo ao outro dia, seus parceiros, Todos nus, e da cor da escura treva, Descendo pelos ásperos outeiros, As peças vêm buscar que estoutro leva: Domésticos já tanto e companheiros Se nos mostram, que fazem que se atreva Fernão Veloso a ir ver da terra o trato E partir-se com eles pelo mato. |
"But soon, on another day, his kinsmen, All nude, and of a dark, dusky colour, Descending from the wild and rough-hewn knolls, Led by him come to seek out the items : Already tame all, and as companions Show themselves to us, doing which he dares Fernao Veloso to go see the lie of land, And depart with them into the jungle. |
|
| Verse 31 | ||
| "É Veloso no braço confiado, E de arrogante crê que vai seguro; Mas, sendo um grande espaço já passado, Em que algum bom sinal saber procuro, Estando, a vista alçada, co'o cuidado No aventureiro, eis pelo monto duro Aparece, e, segundo ao mar caminha, Mais apressado do que fora, vinha. |
"Is Veloso, in the arm confident, And arrogant, believes he walks secure : But, being already a great while gone by, Of which some good sign to learn I look , Finding, the view high-up, and with the town Our venturer, lo, on the hard mountain Appears, and, keeping to the sea route, More hastily from that beyond, he came. |
|
| Verse 32 | ||
| "O batel de Coelho foi depressa Pelo tomar; mas, antes que chegasse, Um Etíope ousado se arremessa A ele, por que não se lhe escapasse; Outro e outro lhe saem; vê-se em pressa Veloso, sem que alguém lhe ali ajudasse; Acudo eu logo, e enquanto o remo aperto, Se mostra um bando negro descoberto. |
"The boat of Coelho was swiftly got To take him in; but before it arrived, An audacious Ethiope threw himself Upon him, so that he might not escape; Yet others run for him; in haste is seen Veloso, with no-one there to aid him; Soon I help him, but as I start to row, I see a negro band come into view. |
|
| Verse 33 | ||
| "Da espessa nuvem setas e pedradas Chovem sobre nós outros sem medida; E não foram ao vento em vão deitadas, Que esta perna trouxe eu dali ferida; Mas nós, como pessoas magoadas, A resposta lhe demos tão tecida, Que, em mais que nos barretes, se suspeita Que a cor vermelha levam desta feita. |
"A dense cloud, of arrows and of hurled
stones Rained above us beyond any measure ; And not being to the wind, went flatly down, But this leg I brought wounded from there ; Though we, even so as injured people, Offered them a response, so accomplished That, much more than our berets, one suspects Was the colour red they took from this act. |
|
| Verse 34 | ||
| "E sendo já, Veloso em salvamento, Logo nos recolhemos para a armada, Vendo a malícia feia e rudo intento Da gente bestial, bruta e malvada, De quem nenhum melhor conhecimento Pudemos ter da Índia desejada Que estarmos ainda muito longe dela; E assim tornei a dar ao vento a vela. |
"And being Veloso now in safety come, Soon we return back to the armada, Seeing the horrid malice and rude intent Of the bestial folk, wild and wicked, From whom nor yet better understanding Could we conceive of desired India From which we were still so very far off ; And thus I turned to give sail to the wind. |
|
| Verse 35 | ||
| "Disse então a Veloso um companheiro (Começando-se todos a sorrir) : -"Ó lá, Veloso amigo, aquele outeiro É melhor de descer que de subir." - "Sim, é, (responde o ousado aventureiro) Mas quando eu para cá vi tantos vir Daqueles cães, depressa um pouco vim, Por me lembrar que estáveis cá sem. |
"Said as much to Veloso a comrade (Prefacing it albeit with a smile) -'How now, friend Veloso, from that hill top It's easier to descend than to climb.' -' Yes, 'tis, (replies the bold adventurer) But when I saw so many coming here Of those dogs, a bit faster I rushed down, Remembering you were here without me. |
|
| Verse 36 | ||
| "Contou então que, tanto que passaram Aquele monte, os negros de quem falo, Avante mais passar o não deixaram, Querendo, se não torna, ali matá-lo; E tornando-se, logo se emboscaram, Por que, saindo nós para tomá-lo, Nos pudessem mandar ao reino escuro, Por nos roubarem mais a seu seguro. |
"Recounted then, all that had befallen At that mount, the negroes of whom I speak, To pass onwards they had him not allowed, Seeking, if he cedes not, to kill him there; And turning around, soon they ambushed him Because, getting us out by taking him, They could despatch us to the dark kingdom, For them to rob us in greater safety. |
|
| Verse 37 | ||
| "Porém já cinco Sóis eram passados Que dali nos partíramos, cortando Os mares nunca doutrem navegados, Prósperamente os ventos assoprando, Quando uma noite estando descuidados, Na cortadora proa vigiando, Uma nuvem que os ares escurece Sobre nossas cabeças aparece. |
"However afterwards five suns passed by, From yonder where we had set off, cleaving The seas no others had navigated, The winds favourably filling our sails, When of a night, being in a carefree mood , At the cutting prow keeping watchful eye, A cloud which darkens the atmosphere, Appears, looming above our heads. |
|
Notes :
'..cinco Sóis eram passados' : These five days are taken to be
those spent at the southern extremity of Africa. Barros and
Castanheda say that the armada passed the Cape of Good
Hope
on the 20th. November, to which Castanheda adds
'Wednesday'. Vasco da Gama's diary records;
"E ao domingo pela manhã, que foram dezanove dias do mês
de
Novembro, fomos outra vez com o cabo, e não o pudemos
dobrar,
porque o vento era su-sueste e o dito cabo jaz
nordeste-sudoeste;
e em este dia mesmo virámos em a volta do mar, e à noite de
segunda-feira viemos em a volta da terra. E à quarta-feira, ao
meio-dia, passámos pelo dito cabo ao longo da costa, com
vento à
popa." (DVVG, vol. I, pp. 12 e 13, da transcrição, Livr. Civilização,
1945.)
| Verse 38 | ||
| "Tão temerosa vinha e carregada, Que pôs nos corações um grande medo; Bramindo o negro mar, de longe brada Como se desse em vão nalgum rochedo. - 'Ó Potestade, disse, sublimada! Que ameaço divino, ou que segredo Este clima e este mar nos apresenta, Que mor cousa parece que tormenta?' |
"So alarmingly it came and so charged, That our hearts were plunged into great fear ; Roaring the black sea, in far-reaching moans As though it threw itself in vain against some rock. -' Oh Power, it said, of authority sublime! Which minatory god, or what secret, This clime and this sea to us manifests, What major cause appears which torments?' |
|
| Verse 39 | ||
| "Não acabava, quando uma figura Se nos mostra no ar, robusta e válida, De disforme e grandíssima estatura, O rosto carregado, a barba esquálida, Os olhos encovados, e a postura Medonha e má, e a cor terrena e pálida, Cheios de terra e crespos os cabelos, A boca negra, os dentes amarelos. |
"It had not run its course, when a figure Showed itself to us in air, strong, robust, In its stature gigantic and deformed, With heavy mien, and a squalid beard, Deep-sunken eyes, and a disposition Dire and malign, of pale and citrine hue, Covered in earth and curls the head of hair, With the mouth black, and the teeth stained yellow. |
|
| Verse 40 | ||
| "Tão grande era de membros, que bem
posso Certificar-te, que este era o segundo De Rodes estranhíssimo Colosso, Que um dos sete milagres foi do mundo: Com um tom de voz nos fala horrendo e grosso, Que pareceu sair do mar profundo: Arrepiam-se as carnes e o cabelo A mi e a todos, só de ouvi-lo e vê-lo. |
"So immense were its limbs, that I can well Guarantee you, that it was the younger Of Rhodes most extravagant Colossus, Which one of the world's seven wonders was : When he spoke to us in tone of voice thick and bass, It seemed to boom out from the deepest sea : The hair and the flesh bristled up in fright Of mine and all, just in seeing it and hearing it. |
|
Notes :
The Colossus of Rhodes was a huge bronze statue of the Greek
god Helios, erected on the Greek island of Rhodes where it
stood
from 292 BC until 280 BC when it was destroyed by an
earthquake.
It measured 70 cubits tall, over 30 metres (100 feet), and was and
one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
| Verse 41 | ||
| "E disse: - 'Ó gente ousada, mais que
quantas No mundo cometeram grandes cousas, Tu, que por guerras cruas, tais e tantas, E por trabalhos vãos nunca repousas, Pois os vedados términos quebrantas, E navegar meus longos mares ousas, Que eu tanto tempo há já que guardo e tenho, Nunca arados d'estranho ou próprio lenho: |
"And said: - ' O bold folk, more than how many In the world who have committed great things, You, who for cruel wars, much and many, And for vain endeavours never repose, Since you transgress in limited preserves, And dare to navigate my wide sea-tracts, Which I for as long have held and guarded, Never by a stranger's log, or mine, ploughed: |
|
| Verse 42 | ||
| - 'Pois vens ver os segredos escondidos Da natureza e do úmido elemento, A nenhum grande humano concedidos De nobre ou de imortal merecimento, Ouve os danos de mim, que apercebidos Estão a teu sobejo atrevimento, Por todo o largo mar e pela terra, Que ainda hás de sojugar com dura guerra. |
'Since you come to see the hidden secrets Of nature and of the moist element, Not to any great human being yielded, Of noble or of immortal desert, Hear the punishment from me, warnings Which are to your arrogant impudence, For all the wide sea and the land, which you Yet have to subdue through bitter warfare. |
|
| Verse 43 | ||
| - 'Sabe que quantas naus esta viagem Que tu fazes, fizerem de atrevidas, Inimiga terão esta paragem Com ventos e tormentas desmedidas. E da primeira armada que passagem Fizer por estas ondas insofridas, Eu farei d'improviso tal castigo, Que seja mor o dano que o perigo. |
'Know that as many ships on this voyage Which you make, they will be in insolence, This zone will bar them in hostility With winds and tempests beyond all measure. That the first armada which passes through Shall have insufferable waves made for it, Suddenly, I'll inflict such chastisement, That the damage is more than worth the risk. |
|
Notes :
Possibly an allusion to Pedro Álvares Cabral (about 1467 –
about 1520), who was a Portuguese navigator and explorer.
Cabral is generally regarded as the European discoverer of
Brazil after he landed there in April, 1500. Cabral resumed his
voyage on May, 1500, but at the end of the month the fleet was
struck by a storm as it neared the southern tip of Africa and four
vessels, including that of Bartolomeu Dias, were lost. "The daytime,"
says Faria, "was so dark that the sailors could scarcely see each
other, or hear what was said for the horrid noise of the winds. Among
those who perished was the celebrated Bartholomew Diaz, who was
the first modern discoverer of the Cape of Good Hope, which he
named the Cape of Tempests."
| Verse 44 | ||
| - 'Aqui espero tomar, se não me engano, De quem me descobriu, suma vingança. E não se acabará só nisto o dano Da vossa pertinace confiança; Antes, em vossas naus vereis cada ano, Se é verdade o que meu juízo alcança, Naufrágios, perdições de toda sorte, Que o menor mal de todos seja a morte. |
'Here I wait to take, if I'm not deceived, Of who discovered me, complete vengeance. And not only in this will end the damage Of your firm and obstinate confidence; Before, in your ships you will see each year, If it is truth which my judgment reaches, Ship-wrecks, and perdition of every kind, Where the least of all ill will be to die. |
|
| Verse 45 | ||
| - 'E do primeiro Ilustre, que a ventura Com fama alta fizer tocar os Céus, Serei eterna e nova sepultura, Por juízos incógnitos de Deus. Aqui porá da Turca armada dura Os soberbos e prósperos troféus; Comigo de seus danos o ameaça A destruída Quíloa com Mombaça. |
'And for the first nobleman, who fortune With high fame allows to touch the heavens, I will be eternal and new burial, On account of unknown decrees of God. Here will be laid of the strong Turkish fleet The superb and magnificent trophies; By me for their injuries the menace For ruined Kilwa along with Mombasa. |
|
Notes :
The 'primeiro illustre' was identified by Mickel as Pedro Cabral, see
note to Verse 43. However, it might refer to
Dom Francisco Almeida, the first viceroy of India, who perished
in March, 1510, in armed struggle against the native people
encountered just north of the Cape of Good Hope.
| Verse 46 | ||
| - 'Outro também virá de honrada fama, Liberal, cavaleiro, enamorado, E consigo trará a fermosa dama Que Amor por grã mercê lhe terá dado. Triste ventura e negro fado os chama Neste terreno meu, que duro e irado Os deixará dum cru naufrágio vivos Para verem trabalhos excessivos. |
'Another, too, will come of honoured fame Enamoured, liberal, cavalier, And with him will bring the beautiful dame Who Love for gramercy will grant to him. Sad fortune and dark destiny their flame In this my terrain, which harsh and irate, Will leave them from a cruel shipwreck, live, For them to see travails exorbitant. |
|
Notes :
The sad topic of this verse, as of the next verse, is dealt with in the
note which follows verse 48.
| Verse 47 | ||
| - 'Verão morrer com fome os filhos caros, Em tanto amor gerados e nascidos; Verão os Cafres ásperos e avaros Tirar à linda dama seus vestidos; Os cristalinos membros e perclaros A calma, ao frio, ao ar verão despidos, Depois de ter pisada longamente Co'os delicados pés a areia ardente. |
'They shall see die of hunger the dear sons Conceived and begotten in so much love ; Shall see the Kafirs rough and covetous, Pull off the pretty woman her dresses : The fair, immaculate and snow white limbs From warmth, to cold, they shall see bared to air, And then, to have to trek for a long way, The burning sands with their delicate feet . |
|
Notes :
Kafir : Arabic ; كافر kāfir; plural
كفّار kuffār, from a root
meaning "to
disbelieve, to deny. to hide", refers to various types of unbelief, and
is
equivalent to M.Fr. infidèle of ca. 1330( "qui ne croit pas en Dieu,
païen" -
Renart le Contrefait), from L. infidelis "unfaithful". Later, in English and
Dutch,
from the 16th century, as by Richard Hakluyt in 1589, to the early 20th
century,
it came to be widely applied as a term for black southern Africans,
although
its use by the Portuguese, including that by the poet here in South
Africa,
predates it.
The sad topic of this verse is dealt with in the note which follows
verse
48.
| Verse 48 | ||
| - 'E verão mais os olhos que escaparem De tanto mal, de tanta desventura, Os dois amantes míseros ficarem Na férvida e implacável espessura. Ali, depois que as pedras abrandarem Com lágrimas de dor, de mágoa pura, Abraçados as almas soltarão Da formosa e misérrima prisão.' - |
'And they shall see, too, their eyes blinded to So much evil, so many misfortunes, The two lovers turn into wretched beings In the fervid and pitiless deep bush. There, when later the rocks they shall soften With tears of dolour, of pure chagrin, They will liberate the souls embraced From fine and most miserable prison.' |
|
Notes :
Verses 46-48 generally taken to refer to the account of Manuel de
Sousa y
Sepuvéda, made famous by Jerónimo Corte Real (1530 - 1588) in
his
'Naufrágio E Lastimoso Sucesso Da Perdição De Manuel De
Sousa
Sepúlveda.' (1594), of the immense and painful suffering undergone
by him,
his wife, and his little sons, after being shipwrecked off the coast of
Southern
Africa.
For more of the story see (6)below.
| Verse 49 | ||
| "Mais ia por diante o monstro horrendo Dizendo nossos fados, quando alçado Lhe disse eu: - 'Quem és tu? que esse estupendo Corpo certo me tem maravilhado'.- A boca e os olhos negros retorcendo, E dando um espantoso e grande brado, Me respondeu, com voz pesada e amara, Como quem da pergunta lhe pesara: |
"More would the horrid monster have gone on Speaking of our destiny, when upright I said to him : ' Who are you? Certainly, This stupendous body has amazed me.' "The mouth, and the swarthy eyes contorted, And giving a frightful and huge bellow, He responded, with voice low and bitter, As one who by the question was burdened :" |
|
| Verse 50 | ||
| - 'Eu sou aquele oculto e grande Cabo, A quem chamais vós outros Tormentório, Que nunca a Ptolomeu, Pompónio, Estrabo, Plínio, e quantos passaram, fui notório. Aqui toda a Africana costa acabo Neste meu nunca visto Promontório, Que para o Pólo Antarctico se estende, A quem vossa ousadia tanto ofende'. |
'I am of that occult and immense Cape, Which others of you name Tempestuary, That never to Ptolemy, Strabo, Pomponio, Pliny, and many now past, was well-known. I, here, terminate all of Africa's coast In this my never sighted promontory, Which to the Antarctic Pole might extend, To whom your boldness gives so much offence.' |
|
Notes :
Tempestuary - since the original name given to that headland by
Portuguese
sailors was the Cape of Tempests, as stated in note to verse 43.
Ptolemy, Strabo, Pliny are classical writers known for their
geographical
works.
NOTES :
(1)Since Hanno's voyage, and
possibly from earlier times, the region on and off the west coast
of
Africa was known to Ptolemy and Pliny. Livio Catullo Stecchini,
the
great historian of ancient cartography, stated that "Ptolemy’s
calculation of longitudes for Interior Libya is distorted because
he
confused the Atlas-Pillar of the Sky with the Great Atlas." This is
an
error that occurs in Pliny, he says, who criticizes Polybius for
having
placed the
inner part of the Gulf of Guinea in line with the Atlas. When he
made
the
necessary allowance for the correct starting point of Ptolemy's
geography of the western isles, he found him to be "substantially
correct in matters of latitude—and even his apparent errors of
longitude
have an explanation." It is clear that knowledge of this area was
extensive and dates back to remoter times in the past, but that
later
Muslim and Renaissance geographers, relying on ancient
cosmography, reproduced the errors along with their truths.
Subsequent identifications of the Hesperidian islands are based
on
uncertainty, therefore, including that of calling these islands the
Insulæ
Purpurariæ, so- called, according to Pliny, because Juba
"established a dyeing industry that used Gaetulian purple", and
which by
Pliny were placed as part of the Islands of the Blessed. For a full
discussion of this entanglement, the source quoted is available
at
Metrum "The Mapping of
the
Earth".
(2) Tradition has it this James
preached the
Gospel in Spain. According to it, St. James the Greater, having
preached
Christianity in Spain, returned to Judea and was put to death by
order of Herod;
his body was miraculously translated to Iria Flavia in Spain, and
later to
Compostela, which during the Middle Ages, became a famous
place of
pilgrimage. In the twelfth century was founded the Order of
Knights
of
St. James of
Compostela. In this later tradition he miraculously appeared to
fight
for the
Christian army during the Reconquista, and was called
Matamoros
(Moor-slayer). From then on, "Santiago y cierra España" ("St
James
and strike for Spain") has
been the traditional battle cry of Spanish armies, although, with
regard to the
preaching of the Gospel in Spain by St. James the Greater,
several
historical
difficulties have been raised. For more details seeSt. James
the
Greater in the Catholic Encyclopaedia.
Later, Saint James had a place in the Kongo with the spread of
Christianity in the
country in the late fifteenth century, from 1483, by the Portuguese.
When the
second Christian king, King Afonso I of Kongo, whose native
name
was Mvemba
a Nzinga, was facing his brother, Mpanzu a Kitima, in battle, his
vision of Saint
James in the sky frightened Mpanzu a Kitima's soldiers, and
gave
Afonso the
victory. - see also note to verse 13. For the descritpion by Faria
y
Sousa
of this early sequence see note (5)below.
(3)
In 'Ethiopia Minor and a geographical account of the Province of
Sierra Leone' :
(c. 1615)
Almada,
André Alvares d', fl. 1594, et al. Alvares discusses the
Jalofos as, 'The
first blacks, those nearest to us...who start on the south side of the
Sanaga River ;
and this river sparates them from the Alarves, who are on the
other
side of the
river, the North side.' The description continues with the
statement
that they stretch
all the way into the hinterland.
The Mandinka (also known as Mandingo) are a Mande people
of
West Africa,
and are descendants of the ancient Mali Empire, many highly
Islamicised by this
time. The earliest mention of Ghana was by an Arab astronomer
a
little before 800
AD, but the best early source is that of El-Bakri, writing in 1067
AD,
who testifies to
the fact that Ghana is not the name of a country but is a word
which
means'king',
around the time when it disintegrated under the influence of the Al
Moravid
(Arabic: مرابط Murabit )
Berber
dynasty. Later, the Mandinka forces of Sundiata
Keita, founded the new Mali Empire. In Ghana, by the start of the
first
millennium
AD, a number of clans of the Mandé people had come together.
The
nation
comprised a confederation of three independent states (Mali,
Mema, and
Wagadou) and other provinces. Located conveniently between
the
main desert
source of salt, and the gold fields at the upper Senegal River, the
region was described by Al
Idrisi, who also provided details of the Mali kingship, its central
trading
connections in the area, and to the north with the southern
Mediterranean coast.
(4) The relevant passage from
Pliny is :
[Gorgades(Dórcadas): 'Contra hoc promontorium (Hesperionceras)
Gorgades insulæ narrantur, Gorgonum quondam domus, bidui
navigatione distantes a continente, ut tradit Xenophon
Lampsacenus. Penetravit in eas Hanno Pœnorum imperator,
prodiditque hirta fœminarum corpora viros pernicitate evasisse,
duarumque Gorgonum cutes argumenti et miraculi gratia in Junonis
templo posuit, spectatas usque ad Carthaginem captam.'- Plin. Hist.
Nat. l. 6. c. 31.
Against this promontory (Heperionceras -the Horn of Hesperus),
the
islands of the Gorgades are related, inhabited by the Gorgons
formerly, two days' navigation away from the continent, as
handed
down by Xenophon Lampsacenus. They were penetrated by
Commander Hanno Carthaginian, where he saw hairy female
bodied men nimbly going forth, two of which Gorgon's skins by
miraculous and demonstrative grace deposited in Juno's
temple, were in evidence until the Carthaginian capture. - Plin.
Hist.
Nat. l. 6. c. 31. - my translation!
Juno, in this context was presumably Tanit , a Phoenician lunar
goddess, worshiped as the patron goddess at Carthage.
The original source detailed by Pliny, Hanno
said this about it :
'At the farther end of this bay was an island, like the first, with a
lake, within which was another island full of savages. By far the
greater number were women with shaggy bodies, whom our
interpreters called Gorillas. Chasing them we were unable to
catch
any of the men, all of whom, being used to climbing precipices,
got
away, defending themselves by throwing stones. But we caught
three women, who bit and mangled those who carried them off,
being unwilling to follow them. We killed them, however, and
flayed
them and brought their skins back to Carthage. For we did not
sail
further as our supplies gave out.' The Phoenicians, trans.by
Donald
Harden, Thames and Hudson. ]
(5)
The Christianisation of the Congo : 'The Portuguese, having
brought an
ambassador from Congo to Lisbon, sent him back instructed in
the faith.
By this means the king, queen, and about 100,000 of the people
were
baptized; the idols were destroyed and churches built. Soon
after,
the
prince, who was then absent at war, was baptized by the name of
Alonzo. His younger brother, Aquitimo, however, would not
receive the
faith, and the father, because allowed only one wife, turned
apostate,
and left the crown to his pagan son, who, with a great army,
surrounded
his brother, when only attended by some Portuguese and
Christian
blacks, in all only thirty-seven. By the bravery of these, however,
Aquitimo was defeated, taken, and slain. One of Aquitimo’s
officers
declared, they were not defeated by the thirty-seven Christians,
but by a
glorious army who fought under a shining cross. The idols were
again
destroyed, and Alonzo sent his sons, grandsons, and nephews
to
Portugal to study; two of whom were afterwards bishops in
Congo.'
--
Extract from Faria y Sousa,(1590 - 1649), Portuguese patriot,
historian,
and poet.
(6) Recently a
summary of the story based on another source was published as
detailed
below.
"The Historical Account :
'On February 1552 Don Manuel de Sousa y Sepuvéda set sail for
Lisbon on
the 'San Juan'. Having completed his term as captain-general of the
island
of
Diu in Portuguese India, Manuel was returning home with his family
and court.
Their journey would have been uneventful if they had started before
the
stormy season; but rounding the Cape of Good Hope at this time, the
ship
was beaten off its course and grounded in the territory of the Kafir
savages.
The survivors, led by Manuel, set out along the coast with the hope of
meeting some ivory-traders. After more than a month of hardship and
death
resulting in a gradual weakening of Manuel's fortitude and judgment,
the
party took refuge in a Kafir village. Having surrendered their arms in
order to
calm the fears of the natives, the Portuguese were defenseless when
they
were attacked in their sleep, robbed, and driven into the wilderness.
There
the savages fell upon them again and stripped them of every last
remnant.
Dismayed and incredulous, Manuel stood helplessly by as his wife
resisted
in vain. In shame she flung herself to the ground where she dug a
hole with
her hands and buried herself to the waist in the sand. Manuel
dazedly
watched his wife and infant sons lying on the earth until their cries of
hunger
drove him to search for food. His feeble efforts to sustain them were
in vain
and one by one they died. He could bear no more. After burying
them he
walked off into the wilderness to disappear forever.
Eight Portuguese survived these disasters and were rescued by an
ivory-trader. They arrived in Mozambique on 25 May 1553.' [A
summary of the account from Fray Antonio de San Román, 'Historia
general de la India Oriental (Valladoid, 1603) pp. 742-753.]". For the
original
article in which this passage appears see - 'The shipwreck of Don
Manuel
de Sousa in the Spanish Theater' by Edwin J. Webber : PMLA
(continues
Transactions and Proceedings of the Modern Language
Association of
America)Vol. 66, No. 6 (Dec., 1951), pp. 1114-1122.
Luís Vaz de Camões born c. 1524/25, Lisbon, died
June 10, 1580, Lisbon.
Portugal's great national poet, author of the epic poem Os Lusíadas
(1572; The Lusiads), which describes Vasco da Gama's discovery
of the sea route to India. Camões had a momentous and
unprecedented impact on Portuguese and Brazilian literature alike,
due not only to his epic but due also to his posthumously published
lyric poetry.
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