The Lusiad; Or, The Discovery of India, an Epic Poem
1572
The Lusiad; Or, The Discovery of India, an Epic Poem
1572
Translated by William Julius Mickle
The Lusiads is the poem that invented Portugal. Written in 1572 by Luís de Camões, it follows Vasco da Gama's audacious voyage around Africa to India, the first European crossing of the equator into unknown waters. But this is no mere adventure chronicle. Camões weaves the navigators' journey through storms, mutinies, and alien shores with interveneing gods, haunted islands, and the poet's own shattered life. The result is a work where national pride collides with human fragility, where discovery becomes a meditation on ambition's cost. Camões had seen the Orient himself, fought in Morocco, loved recklessly, and written from exile. That wound runs through every stanza. Five centuries later, The Lusiads remains essential not as propaganda but as portrait: a window into how Europe first turned toward Asia, and a reminder that every empire was once an act of breathtaking, terrifying courage.
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“No mar tanta tormenta, e tanto dano,Tantas vezes a morte apercebida!Na terra tanta guerra, tanto engano,Tanta necessidade avorrecida!Onde pode acolher-se um fraco humano,Onde terá segura a curta vida,Que não se arme, e se indigne o Céu serenoContra um bicho da terra tão pequeno?””
— Luís de Camões
“Não mostra quanto pode; e, com razão:Que é fraqueza entre ovelhas ser leão.””
— Luís de Camões
“E ponde na cobiça um freio duro,E na ambição também, que indignamenteTomais mil vezes, e no torpe e escuroVício da tirania infame e urgente;Porque essas honras vãs, esse ouro puro,Verdadeiro valor não dão à gente.Milhor é merecê-los sem os ter,Que possuí-los sem os merecer.””
— Luís de Camões
“The price of arduous and heroic achievement is toil and fatigue. To risk one’s life, even to lose it, is to win renown; for fear is infamous, and the refusal to give way to it, though it may shorten our earthly span, bestows on us the longer life of fame. I have chosen you from among all my people for such an enterprise as is your due. It promises great hardships, but honour and glory as well; and I know that for my sake you will bear all lightly.””
— Luís de Camões
“Ó glória de mandar! Ó vã cobiçaDesta vaidade, a quem chamamos Fama!Ó fraudulento gosto, que se atiçaCua aura popular, que honra se chama!Que castigo tamanho e que justiçaFazes no peito vão que muito te ama!Que mortes, que perigos, que tormentas,Que crueldades neles esprimentas!””
— Luís de Camões
“Que um fraco Rei f az fraca a forte gente.””
— Luís de Camões
“Estavas, linda Inês, posta em sossego,De teus anos colhendo doce fruto,Naquele engano da alma, ledo e cego,Que a fortuna não deixa durar muito,Nos saudosos campos do Mondego,De teus fermosos olhos nunca enxuto,Aos montes ensinando e às ervinhasO nome que no peito escrito tinhas.””
— Luís de Camões
“E outros em quem poder não teve a morte.””
— Luís de Camões
“Vede que fresca fonte rega as flores,Que lágrimas são a água, e o nome amores.””
— Luís de Camões
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Camões, Luís de. The Lusiad; Or, The Discovery of India, an Epic Poem. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-lusiad-or-the-discovery-of-india-an-epic-poem-447f6387-f782-42b0-9d3f-c2e6c2aae01e.Camões, L. D. (1572). The Lusiad; Or, The Discovery of India, an Epic Poem. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-lusiad-or-the-discovery-of-india-an-epic-poem-447f6387-f782-42b0-9d3f-c2e6c2aae01eCamões, Luís de. The Lusiad; Or, The Discovery of India, an Epic Poem. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-lusiad-or-the-discovery-of-india-an-epic-poem-447f6387-f782-42b0-9d3f-c2e6c2aae01e.
