In 1801 his poetical rivalry with Macedo became more acute and personal, and ended by drawing from Bocage a stinging extempore poem, "Pena de Talião", which remains a monument to his powers of invective. In 1804 the illness (syphilis) from which he suffered increased, and the approach of death inspired some beautiful sonnets, including one directed to D. Maria, elder sister of Analia, who visited and consoled him. He became reconciled to his enemies, and died on 21 December 1805 of an aneurysm. He died in poverty on the eve of the French invasion, in a similar way to how Camões' death came just before the occupation of Portugal by the Duke of Alva's army. The gulf that divides the life and achievements of these two poets is accounted for less by difference of talent and temperament than by their environment, and illustrates the decline of Portugal in the two centuries that separate 1580 from 1805.