HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, SATURDAY, JUNE 10, 1933
MACAO WEEKLY SUPPLEMENT
CAMOENS AND MACAO
THE STORY OF HIS "LUSIADAS ”
BY J. M. BRAGA.
The Tenth of June is Camoens Day, the anniversary of the death of Portugal's Immortal Bard, who in 1580 departed this life leaving behind him, the Lusiadaa," the story of his antion, in ons of the great lyric poems of the world,
Macan will honour the occasion in a special manner, in the Gar dens that bear the name of Ca. mens, in a romantic book. The retreat is formed of a number of granite boulders loosely thrown to- gether, and is called the "Grotto" where, surmounting a pedestal, stands a bronze bust of Luia Vaz de Camoens, who sang in his "Lu. sindas" of the glories of the Portu- güese natioN
in the early days of Macao's his tory Camoens is thought to have walked its shores, and legend even has it that the post frequented the grotto, penning a portion of his epic poem in the seclusion of the leafy bowers of the garden.
name of the Portuguese, and re- garding which Professor Edgar Prestage writes: Camoens Lu- sindas', cast in the Virgilian mould, celebrates the combination of faith and patriotism which led to the conquests of toe Portuguese, and though the voyage of Vasco da Gama occasioned its composition and formed the
skeleton round
which it grew, its true subject is the peito ilustre lusitano.".
Camoens was of noble stock and was born about 1524. Early in life he lost his father, but, through the solicitude, of a relative, Ď Bento de Camoans, his education was not neglected. When quite young, elegant of form and fine of. face, he entered the circle of young. men of promise who surrounded Prince Jono, in the Court of Lia- bon, for the prince was a patron of letters, and Camoens Was brought into close contact with the literary lights of the time.
The Lusindas is the work of one man, yet it combines the quali-
At the age of twenty he met and ties that have made famous many became enamoured of a lady of the of the other great eple poems of palace; Donna Caterina de Ataide, the world's literature; for Ca- love that became the ruling pas moens was not only a poet, he also sion of his life-the Portuguese displayed the powers of an his Dante and Beatrice and in later torian, a dramatist, and a philo years, in his exile from his native sopher. At a time when Europe, land, at Cauta for some years, then was interested in travels and dis. for twenty years in India, and for coveries; seeking Asias and Ameri- two years at Macao, many of his cas, or engaged in wars of religion, sonnets and other verses were nel- he, a soldier-pioneer himself, was dressed to his lady love. the only man who successfully pro- duced an epic on a contemporary subject.
......
The Natercia Romance.
To Caterina he gave the name of Natercia, a compound of the let ter which make up the name Ca- terina, but recent studies have been unkind to the Natercia Ro- mance," seeking to remove glamour that has made "Natercia" such a delicious memory for the Portuguese.
the
Poito Dustre Lusitano.
Upon a foundation of the clas- sica, with mythology to support his theme, he built his story, the exploits of the Portuguese in the Indies and the Southern Sens. Ca-
Modern. criticism mon's great achievement is the
ory of the Portuguese nation, will saver,.. however, remove the al and has for its mott the exploits luring charm. of Camoens's love- of Vasco da Gama the discovery story, the lifelong passion which of the sea-route to India, that is believed to have evoked from his great accomplishment which will soul the great. "Alma Minha Gen- For dyer
be associated with the til" the most touching love-sonnet
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CAMOES GROTTO AND THE BUST OF THE POET
CAMOES' DAY:
The anniversary of the death of Portugal's " Prince of Posts ?' is dttingly celebrated at Macio by a pilgrimage of all schools Children of the Colony to the romantic and picturesque Camoes* grotto at Camder' Gardens.
The site has been made more valuable by a bronze wreath faid there by Sir Miles Lampson, British Minister to China, on his last visit to the Colony three years ago, as a homage from British ra. sidents in China.
of all time.
This sonnet has been translated into English by Southey and others, yet the translation misses the artistry of language that is possible only in Portuguese.
And it was this love story that inspired that poem of enchanting beauty "Caterina to Camoens" in! which Elizabeth Barrett Browning has sought to record the lingering thoughts of Caterina "dying in Camoens's absence abroad, and re- ferring to the poem in which he re- corded the sweetness of her eyes."
The "Lusiadas,”
Camcens's great "Lusiadas" was published in 1571, after the poet's return to Lisbon, at the end of his adventures abroad. The story is supported by a classical setting, and the narrative of the adven tures of the Portuguese is exquisi- tely blended with romantic mytho logy.
paths are found, Which, some succeeding, others
still pursued; The furthest dwellers in South,
Africa's ground, By whom the Seven Stars had
ne'er been viewed, Were seen by any leaving
hind in turn
AN EMPERORS GIFT
How the Portuguese
י! ק
Came to Macao
Prior to the advent of the Por- tuguese, the water-routes of the China coast were infested with pirates and banditti who harassed: the towns on the coast of the "Middle K.ngdom" and waylaid the travellers on the seas. The re- doubtable Portuguese vanquished the marauders, ejecting them from fastness after fastness, and for their doughty deeds the "Men of the Western Ocean" were presented with Macao by the Emperor of the "Celestial Empire." The Portuguese reared up, the strong-hold and emporium which they hold to this day. -
From Macao arms of Portugal; sallied forth and their exploits dazzled the Eastern World, the! traders of Lusitania conducted a lucrative trade, while the clergy spread the story of the Gospel far and wide.
not enough of pain, Such sorrow-clouds around my
life should close;
But they, for whom I sang the
patriot-strain,
With sad return must pay: my
toils, by throes:
In pince of Peace and Rest T
hoped to gain,
In lieu of bay-wreaths bound
around my brows, Troubles by men
unseen they must invent,
When ills of every kind my
soul torment.”
The honour that came to Ch- moens from his work was, unfort- anatoly posthumous: his life' a tale of success and prosperity fol lowed by failure and disappoint-
menta.
His death in the poorest circum- stances of the dread plague, at the time when Lisbon was afflicted with the terrible epidemic, took place on June, 10th, 1580. He was buried with other victims, of the disease and a memorial was, set up in his honour, but the earthquake of 1,755 destroyed the stones, and his works remain as his eternal monument, which, treasured in the hearts of the Portuguese, neither time nor tide can waste away,
As Lyric Post...
The fame of the great poet of Portugal does not need to stand alone on the "Lusiades," and there are a few writers, who would even give him greater banpur aa lyric poet than for his epopes. His lyric and dramatic verses, were the greatest of his age, while his emotions have been recorded with a perfection never equalled by any other Portuguese. His verses on the human heart, caught in all the emotions, love, sentiments, passion, f'enthusiasm, sorrow and despair of
life-time are, in their native betongue, gems of beauty and bril
liance, And but little is known. outside Portugal of the sonnets, odes, elegies, oitavas, and redon- dilhas that are so much appreciat ed by scholar and laymen in his native Portugal.
As many as within the tropics
burn,"
and Camoens discovers for us the Southern Seas.
The Isle of Love.
Of the work of the poet, Mr. E. As the Portuguese approach in B. Osborn, of the London Morning dis the sea-gods, at Bacchus's in Post, reays, "The life within is stigation, order Aeolus to wreck Camoene's theme. One finds in his the ships, but Venus calms the heart a microcosm of the national storm, and at dawn the Portuguese heart; and especially is Camoens see the Indian Ghats. Then comes the interpreter of saudade, that Calicut and the splendour of the which suddenly-passes as a cloud a description of the arrival at vague melancholy and misgiving, reception accorded to the Port over Portuguese gaiety, with in- guese. Fresh obstacles are raised dividual and nation alike. All are by the unfriendly gods, but Venus realiste; their secret kingdom is ever protects the navigators, and not of this chaffering and intrigu on their return voyage guides them ing world," and the Lusiadas," to the enchanted "Isle of Love," to written in a little-appreciated. ton- Thus, as the explorers set out refreak them and as a reward for gue are sadly neglected. But those on their glorious adventure a con- their intrepidity. The descrip- who take the pains to master the ference of the gods takes place. tions of revelry on the island and Portuguese. Janguage and delve Venus and Mars look favourably the interplay of mythology in the into the beauties offered by that on the adventurers, while Bacchus ninth canto have been well clad, orie-eyed poet's peerless achie opposes the Portuguese aspirations.ed the finest portion of the Lust vement (the Lusiadaa) are amply The machinations of Bacchus are das." invariably foiled by Venus, and In a prophetic song one of the
The best English translation of when Jupiter listens to the suppli nymphs tells of the future achieve the 'Lusindas of Luiz de Ca cations of Venus he foretells thements of the Portuguese people in moens is undoubtedly that by Sir wonderful exploits of the Portu Africa, India, and the East,
Richard Burton, now long out of guese in Africa and the East, and The great poem is interpersoa print, and other writers in Eng even eends Mercury to guide the with gems of perfect description. fish have also attesapted to inter explorers.
The post had a keen insight into Table Mountain, embodied as the ture, and his verses on the nex in many of them after devoting long the splendours and wonders of Na-Pret some of the spirit of the poet,
of superstition and confronts the his lines on calm, when
storm are no less captivating that years of painstaking study to the Portuguese vikings" uttering threats of destruction, but the Portuguesa elude him; and,
Adamastor, appears as an awful
"Little by little, unknown
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"Sky, earth, and sea
sleeping, silently;
Sea stealth slowly o'er
aandy ground;
Slumber all the creatures
the main hath bound;
ATS
the
of
rewarded.
poetry of the Portuguese. "But," says Mr. Osborn, it is impossible to convey in any English version. the special beauty of Portuguese
poetry, which largely depends on liar artistry which far transcends, the system of vowel-sound-a' pecu-
Night covers all with mute at its best, anything that Milton
tranquility."
achieved in his mastery of. Eng-
The poet was painfully sensitive 'lish organ music.” of the shortcomings of his own countrymen, and, in almost a pro-
A National Shrine. photic vein, ho concludes the "cial interest to Macao, for in the The story of Camoens is of spe siadas" exhorting them to patrio
tie endeavours. He praa, himself, historic garden, in the secluded much ahead of his own time, his grove which he is said to have spirit over straining against the loved, he sat and worked away at conventions of his age. In his soul his undying epic, the "Lusiadas" there was the constant desire for and Macao dearly cherishes the freedom, and, like Byron after memory of the gallant man, whose him in another land, his wayward sword, was ever ready to serve his ness cost him the goodwill of many country and whose pen recorded a friend, while from the depths of the glories of his race, while the his soul was wrung
grotto has become a nationa! shrine, for in that humble shelter immortality trod.
And still, my Nymphs, 'twas Monimued on next column)
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