[453]
_Their fairest offspring from their bosoms torn,
(A dreadful tribute !
_Their fairest offspring from their bosoms torn,
(A dreadful tribute !
Camoes - Lusiades
By the counsel of Minerva he threw a
precious stone among them, in striving for which they slew one another.
Only five survived, who afterwards assisted him to build the city of
Thebes. --Vid. Ovid. Met. iv.
_Terrigenae pereunt per mutua vulnera fratres. _
[449]
_So fall the bravest of the Christian name,
While dogs unclean. --_
Imitated from a fine passage in Lucan, beginning--
_Quis furor, O Cives! quae tanta licentia ferri,
Gentibus invisis_ Latium _pr? bere cruorem? _
[450] The Mohammedans.
[451] Constantinople.
[452] _Beyond the Wolgian Lake. _--The Caspian Sea, so called from the
large river Volga, or Wolga, which empties itself into it.
[453]
_Their fairest offspring from their bosoms torn,
(A dreadful tribute ! )--_
By this barbarous policy the tyranny of the Ottomans was long sustained.
The troops of the Turkish infantry and cavalry, known by the name of
Janissaries and Spahis, were thus supported. "The sons of
Christians--and those the most completely furnished by nature--were
taken in their childhood from their parents by a levy made every five
years, or oftener, as occasion required. "--SANDYS.
[454] Mohammedans.
[455]
_O'er Afric's shores
The sacred shrines the Lusian heroes rear'd. --_
See the note on book v. p. 137.
[456] _Of deepest west. _--Alludes to the discovery and conquest of the
Brazils by the Portuguese.
[457] The poet, having brought his heroes to the shore of India,
indulges himself with a review of the state of the western and eastern
worlds; the latter of which is now, by the labour of his heroes,
rendered accessible to the former. The purpose of his poem is also
strictly kept in view. The west and the east he considers as two great
empires; the one of the true religion, the other of a false. The
professors of the true, disunited and destroying one another; the
professors of the false one, all combined to extirpate the other.
precious stone among them, in striving for which they slew one another.
Only five survived, who afterwards assisted him to build the city of
Thebes. --Vid. Ovid. Met. iv.
_Terrigenae pereunt per mutua vulnera fratres. _
[449]
_So fall the bravest of the Christian name,
While dogs unclean. --_
Imitated from a fine passage in Lucan, beginning--
_Quis furor, O Cives! quae tanta licentia ferri,
Gentibus invisis_ Latium _pr? bere cruorem? _
[450] The Mohammedans.
[451] Constantinople.
[452] _Beyond the Wolgian Lake. _--The Caspian Sea, so called from the
large river Volga, or Wolga, which empties itself into it.
[453]
_Their fairest offspring from their bosoms torn,
(A dreadful tribute ! )--_
By this barbarous policy the tyranny of the Ottomans was long sustained.
The troops of the Turkish infantry and cavalry, known by the name of
Janissaries and Spahis, were thus supported. "The sons of
Christians--and those the most completely furnished by nature--were
taken in their childhood from their parents by a levy made every five
years, or oftener, as occasion required. "--SANDYS.
[454] Mohammedans.
[455]
_O'er Afric's shores
The sacred shrines the Lusian heroes rear'd. --_
See the note on book v. p. 137.
[456] _Of deepest west. _--Alludes to the discovery and conquest of the
Brazils by the Portuguese.
[457] The poet, having brought his heroes to the shore of India,
indulges himself with a review of the state of the western and eastern
worlds; the latter of which is now, by the labour of his heroes,
rendered accessible to the former. The purpose of his poem is also
strictly kept in view. The west and the east he considers as two great
empires; the one of the true religion, the other of a false. The
professors of the true, disunited and destroying one another; the
professors of the false one, all combined to extirpate the other.
