"
Though the translator was willing to retain the manner of Homer, he
thought it proper to correct the error in natural history fallen into by
Camoens.
Though the translator was willing to retain the manner of Homer, he
thought it proper to correct the error in natural history fallen into by
Camoens.
Camoes - Lusiades
By the force of the enchantment the
favoured Scylla was changed into a hideous monster, whose loins were
surrounded with the ever-barking heads of dogs and wolves. Scylla, on
this, threw herself into the sea, and was metamorphosed into the rock
which bears her name. The rock Scylla at a distance appears like the
statue of a woman. The furious dashing of the waves in the cavities,
which are level with the water, resembles the barking of wolves and
dogs.
[416] Thyoneus, a name of Bacchus.
[417] _High from the roof the living amber glows. --_
"From the arched roof,
Pendent by subtle magic, many a row
Of starry lamps, and blazing cressets, fed
With naptha and asphaltus, yielded light
As from a sky. "
MILTON.
[418] The Titans.
[419] The north wind.
[420] _And rent the Mynian sails. _--The sails of the Argonauts,
inhabitants of Mynia.
[421] See the first note on the first book of the Lusiad.
[422]
_In haughty England, where the winter spreads
His snowy mantle o'er the shining meads. --_
In the original--
_La na grande Inglaterra, que de neve
Boreal sempre abunda;_
that is, "In illustrious England, always covered with northern snow.
"
Though the translator was willing to retain the manner of Homer, he
thought it proper to correct the error in natural history fallen into by
Camoens. Fanshaw seems to have been sensible of the mistake of his
author, and has given the following (uncountenanced by the Portuguese)
in place of the eternal snows ascribed to his country:--
"In merry England, which (from cliffs that stand
Like hills of snow) once Albion's name did git. "
[423] Eris, or Discordia, the goddess of contention. --VIRGIL, AEneid ii.
337. --_Ed. _
[424]
_What knighthood asks, the proud accusers yield,
And, dare the damsels' champions to the field. --_
The translator has not been able to discover the slightest vestige of
this chivalrous adventure in any memoirs of the English history. It is
probable, nevertheless, that however adorned with romantic ornament, it
is not entirely without foundation in truth. Castera, who unhappily does
not cite his authority, gives the names of the twelve Portuguese
champions: Alvaro Vaz d'Almada, afterwards Count d'Avranches in
Normandy; another Alvaro d'Almada, surnamed the Juster, from his
dexterity at that warlike exercise; Lopez Fernando Pacheco; Pedro Homen
d'Acosta; Juan Augustin Pereyra; Luis Gonfalez de Malafay; the two
brothers Alvaro and Rodrigo Mendez de Cerveyra; Ruy Gomex de Sylva;
Soueyro d'Acosta, who gave his name to the river Acosta in Africa;
Martin Lopez d'Azevedo; and Alvaro Gonfalez de Coutigno, surnamed
Magricio. The names of the English champions, and of the ladies, he
confesses are unknown, nor does history positively explain the injury of
which the dames complained. It must, however, he adds, have been such as
required the atonement of blood; _il falloit qu'elle fut sanglante_,
since two sovereigns allowed to determine it by the sword. "Some
critics," says Castera, "may perhaps condemn this episode of Camoens;
but for my part," he continues, "I think the adventure of Olindo and
Sophronia, in Tasso, is much more to be blamed. The episode of the
Italian poet is totally exuberant, whereas that of the Portuguese has a
direct relation to his proposed subject: the wars of his country, a vast
field, in which he has admirably succeeded, without prejudice to the
first rule of the epopea, the unity of the action. " The severest critic
must allow that the episode related by Veloso, is happily introduced. To
one who has ever been at sea, the scene must be particularly pleasing.
favoured Scylla was changed into a hideous monster, whose loins were
surrounded with the ever-barking heads of dogs and wolves. Scylla, on
this, threw herself into the sea, and was metamorphosed into the rock
which bears her name. The rock Scylla at a distance appears like the
statue of a woman. The furious dashing of the waves in the cavities,
which are level with the water, resembles the barking of wolves and
dogs.
[416] Thyoneus, a name of Bacchus.
[417] _High from the roof the living amber glows. --_
"From the arched roof,
Pendent by subtle magic, many a row
Of starry lamps, and blazing cressets, fed
With naptha and asphaltus, yielded light
As from a sky. "
MILTON.
[418] The Titans.
[419] The north wind.
[420] _And rent the Mynian sails. _--The sails of the Argonauts,
inhabitants of Mynia.
[421] See the first note on the first book of the Lusiad.
[422]
_In haughty England, where the winter spreads
His snowy mantle o'er the shining meads. --_
In the original--
_La na grande Inglaterra, que de neve
Boreal sempre abunda;_
that is, "In illustrious England, always covered with northern snow.
"
Though the translator was willing to retain the manner of Homer, he
thought it proper to correct the error in natural history fallen into by
Camoens. Fanshaw seems to have been sensible of the mistake of his
author, and has given the following (uncountenanced by the Portuguese)
in place of the eternal snows ascribed to his country:--
"In merry England, which (from cliffs that stand
Like hills of snow) once Albion's name did git. "
[423] Eris, or Discordia, the goddess of contention. --VIRGIL, AEneid ii.
337. --_Ed. _
[424]
_What knighthood asks, the proud accusers yield,
And, dare the damsels' champions to the field. --_
The translator has not been able to discover the slightest vestige of
this chivalrous adventure in any memoirs of the English history. It is
probable, nevertheless, that however adorned with romantic ornament, it
is not entirely without foundation in truth. Castera, who unhappily does
not cite his authority, gives the names of the twelve Portuguese
champions: Alvaro Vaz d'Almada, afterwards Count d'Avranches in
Normandy; another Alvaro d'Almada, surnamed the Juster, from his
dexterity at that warlike exercise; Lopez Fernando Pacheco; Pedro Homen
d'Acosta; Juan Augustin Pereyra; Luis Gonfalez de Malafay; the two
brothers Alvaro and Rodrigo Mendez de Cerveyra; Ruy Gomex de Sylva;
Soueyro d'Acosta, who gave his name to the river Acosta in Africa;
Martin Lopez d'Azevedo; and Alvaro Gonfalez de Coutigno, surnamed
Magricio. The names of the English champions, and of the ladies, he
confesses are unknown, nor does history positively explain the injury of
which the dames complained. It must, however, he adds, have been such as
required the atonement of blood; _il falloit qu'elle fut sanglante_,
since two sovereigns allowed to determine it by the sword. "Some
critics," says Castera, "may perhaps condemn this episode of Camoens;
but for my part," he continues, "I think the adventure of Olindo and
Sophronia, in Tasso, is much more to be blamed. The episode of the
Italian poet is totally exuberant, whereas that of the Portuguese has a
direct relation to his proposed subject: the wars of his country, a vast
field, in which he has admirably succeeded, without prejudice to the
first rule of the epopea, the unity of the action. " The severest critic
must allow that the episode related by Veloso, is happily introduced. To
one who has ever been at sea, the scene must be particularly pleasing.
