_
[550] Mickle, in place of the first seventeen stanzas of this canto, has
inserted about three hundred lines of his own composition; in this
respect availing himself of the licence he had claimed in his
preface.
[550] Mickle, in place of the first seventeen stanzas of this canto, has
inserted about three hundred lines of his own composition; in this
respect availing himself of the licence he had claimed in his
preface.
Camoes - Lusiades
Virgil,
in no instance, has more closely copied Homer, than Tasso has imitated
the appearance of Bacchus, or the evil demon, in the dream of the
Moorish priest. The enchanter Ismeno thus appears to the sleeping
Solyman:--
"Soliman' Solimano, i tuoi silenti
Riposi a miglior tempo homai riserva:
Che sotto il giogo de straniere genti
La patria, ove regnasti, ancor' e serva.
In questa terra dormi, e non rammenti,
Ch'insepolte de' tuoi l'ossa conserva?
Ove si gran' vestigio e del tuo scorno,
Tu neghittoso aspetti il nuovo giorno? "
Thus elegantly translated by Mr. Hoole:--
"Oh! Solyman, regardless chief, awake!
In happier hours thy grateful slumber take:
Beneath a foreign yoke thy subjects bend,
And strangers o'er thy land their rule extend:
Here dost thou sleep? here close thy careless eyes,
While uninterr'd each lov'd associate lies?
Here where thy fame has felt the hostile scorn,
Canst thou, unthinking, wait the rising morn? "
The conclusion of this canto has been slightly altered by the
translator. Camoens, adhering to history, makes GAMA (when his factors
are detained on shore) seize upon some of the native merchants as
hostages. At the intreaty of their wives and children the zamorim
liberates his captives; while GAMA, having recovered his men and the
merchandise, sailed away, carrying with him the unfortunate natives,
whom he had seized as hostages.
As there is nothing heroic in this dishonourable action of GAMA'S,
Mickle has omitted it, and has altered the conclusion of the
canto. --_Ed.
_
[550] Mickle, in place of the first seventeen stanzas of this canto, has
inserted about three hundred lines of his own composition; in this
respect availing himself of the licence he had claimed in his
preface. --_Ed. _
[551] _Thy sails, and rudders too, my will demands. _--According to
history.
[552] _My sov'reign's fleet I yield not to your sway. _--The circumstance
of GAMA'S refusing to put his fleet into the power of the zamorim, is
thus rendered by Fanshaw:--
"The Malabar protests that he shall rot
In prison, if he send not for the _ships_.
_He_ (_constant_, and with noble _anger_ hot)
His haughty _menace_ weighs not at _two chips_. "
[553] _Through Gata's hills. _--The hills of Gata or Gate, mountains
which form a natural barrier on the eastern side of the kingdom of
Malabar.
"Nature's rude wall, against the fierce Canar
They guard the fertile walls of Malabar. "
LUSIAD, vii.
[554] _Then, furious, rushing to the darken'd bay. _--For the
circumstances of the battle, and the tempest which then happened, see
the Life of GAMA.
[555] _I left my fix'd command my navy's guard. _--See the Life of GAMA.
[556] _Unmindful of my fate on India's shore.
in no instance, has more closely copied Homer, than Tasso has imitated
the appearance of Bacchus, or the evil demon, in the dream of the
Moorish priest. The enchanter Ismeno thus appears to the sleeping
Solyman:--
"Soliman' Solimano, i tuoi silenti
Riposi a miglior tempo homai riserva:
Che sotto il giogo de straniere genti
La patria, ove regnasti, ancor' e serva.
In questa terra dormi, e non rammenti,
Ch'insepolte de' tuoi l'ossa conserva?
Ove si gran' vestigio e del tuo scorno,
Tu neghittoso aspetti il nuovo giorno? "
Thus elegantly translated by Mr. Hoole:--
"Oh! Solyman, regardless chief, awake!
In happier hours thy grateful slumber take:
Beneath a foreign yoke thy subjects bend,
And strangers o'er thy land their rule extend:
Here dost thou sleep? here close thy careless eyes,
While uninterr'd each lov'd associate lies?
Here where thy fame has felt the hostile scorn,
Canst thou, unthinking, wait the rising morn? "
The conclusion of this canto has been slightly altered by the
translator. Camoens, adhering to history, makes GAMA (when his factors
are detained on shore) seize upon some of the native merchants as
hostages. At the intreaty of their wives and children the zamorim
liberates his captives; while GAMA, having recovered his men and the
merchandise, sailed away, carrying with him the unfortunate natives,
whom he had seized as hostages.
As there is nothing heroic in this dishonourable action of GAMA'S,
Mickle has omitted it, and has altered the conclusion of the
canto. --_Ed.
_
[550] Mickle, in place of the first seventeen stanzas of this canto, has
inserted about three hundred lines of his own composition; in this
respect availing himself of the licence he had claimed in his
preface. --_Ed. _
[551] _Thy sails, and rudders too, my will demands. _--According to
history.
[552] _My sov'reign's fleet I yield not to your sway. _--The circumstance
of GAMA'S refusing to put his fleet into the power of the zamorim, is
thus rendered by Fanshaw:--
"The Malabar protests that he shall rot
In prison, if he send not for the _ships_.
_He_ (_constant_, and with noble _anger_ hot)
His haughty _menace_ weighs not at _two chips_. "
[553] _Through Gata's hills. _--The hills of Gata or Gate, mountains
which form a natural barrier on the eastern side of the kingdom of
Malabar.
"Nature's rude wall, against the fierce Canar
They guard the fertile walls of Malabar. "
LUSIAD, vii.
[554] _Then, furious, rushing to the darken'd bay. _--For the
circumstances of the battle, and the tempest which then happened, see
the Life of GAMA.
[555] _I left my fix'd command my navy's guard. _--See the Life of GAMA.
[556] _Unmindful of my fate on India's shore.
