The sun., 1881-12-04

Of bellies lettres ranaing from epigram to epic.
Even the last humble homo Of the soldier poet
was unfortunate. During the great earthquake
OF 1775 the church roof fell In. and tho slab that
covered the Rrave was broken and lost 1t 10
extremely doubtful whether the bones disin-
TERED In 1885. and transferred with great cere-
mony In 1880. to the church OF the Jerony ymites
were properly identified with the remains OF
Camoens.
There are several extant likenesses Of the
poet which are believed to be authentic and
they all bear uneouivocal marks OF the visi-
gothic blue blood The color Of his hair was
saffron yellow. his eyes we're blue. and his face.
which was oval In form. was ruddy. Notwith-
standing the loss OF an eye. his pictures show
him to have been q sinRularly handsome man.
and when We also bear In mind his gallant
bearing. and tho joyous swestness Of temper on
which his contsmp poraries enlarge. we can un-
derstand those incidents In his early career at
tho court which Attest tho favor Of ono sex and
the jealousy Of the other. He seems to have becn
remark kably inclined to the tender passion. and II
10 noteworthy that while his models. virRil and
Lucan. touch very lightly Non the commerce
Of the sexes. the Portuguese poet goes out OF his
way to enrich his narrative with lovs passages.
with amorous adventures. and with descriptions
OF feminine charms. Capt. Burton insists that
NO reader san fail to remark the delicacy and
good taste Of his love scenes. though II 10 ad-
mitted that here and thsre you meet with An sx-
preston offensive to the standard OF nineteenth
century taste.
Not less warm than his love was the patriot
ism OF Camosns. He cannot feel. like Ger
yantes. that the age OF chtvalry has become q
theme for satire; he delights In rscountinR to
the Portugal OF his time. whom chivalry was
passing away. the exploits Of her glorious
primo. He mourns the change which he sees
creeping over her spirit. and he strives By pre-
ospt and example to raise the tone OF his day to
bis own towering height A. the Portuguese
themselves say. his truly nlial affection pal
pitated with patriotism" He 10 never weary Of
preaching public virtues. Of urging his lasRard
fellow citizsns TO do noble deeds. and OF pas-
sionately chidina their listlessness and indo-
lence their eGoism and dishonesty. His heroes
are what every man in arms should wish to b.
they are the nne flower Of Portuguese. Of Euro
pesn. gentlemen. His various portraits and q.
lusions show the most exalted conceptions Of .
GOOD king. great captain. wise counsellor.
. just Judge. Q pure priest
In an extended parallel which Capt. Burton
draws between the two great ornaments OF
Iberian literature. he points out that although
Camoens and Cervsntes were contain poraries
and must often have heard Of ono another. yet
strange to say. the Spanish writer 10 never
mentioned By tho Portuguese. while Cervantes
alludes to Camoens In only single passage.
Both were born hidalxos. OF ancient but decay
ing families. and both wore physically OF one
type. the dothic leo. Scan inavian. whose sians
are blue eyes and golden or bright chestnut
hair. Both. after the usual university course.
began life - soldiers OF fortune. and both
planted . lance In Africa, - the old saying
was. Both were mutilated In wars against
the Moslems. and both were ridiculed instead
OF beinO admired for their dismemberment.
Both received BY way OF recompense for their
military services petty ofricial appointments.
and both were repeatedly thrown into jail for
real cause OF debt and unjust charges OF NAL
fcasancs. Camoens wrote aome OF his nnest
verso In prison at Goa and Mozambique. and
Corvantes issued part OF his great romance
while undergoing similar durance. Both spent
their last sad and obscure years In their native
lands. enjoying little OF the popularity acquired
aftsrward. and apparently not expecting to OBJ
tain posthumous fame. Both were pauper een-
tlemen. whose situation appealed to the chari-
table. but the Spaniard was never brought quite
so low a. was the Portuguese.
Even In the range and direction Of their lit
ersry talent . striking analogy Ii presented BY
these writer's. Both wrote pastorals. satires.
dramas. . Labyrinth" Parnassus." and.
We might add. an epic. II N. Tains 10 justified In
pronouncinz Don QuiIote" the heroic poem OF
Spain. Both poets suffered from tho intcrfer-
encs Of ee,lasiastics. Thus. the Inauis!tion in
sisted upon changing or expunging certain
passages OF the Lusiads. and Cervantes
told the French Ambassador that. had II
not been for the Inauisitors. l should
have made my book much more anus
inR." Capt. Burton mentions another inter-
esting circumstance. namely. that both
authors wrote In the very presence OF death.
Camoens produced. shortly before expiring.
the sonnet numbered 1874. and Cervanteo. after
receiving extreme JUNCTION. indulGed his ruling
passion BY composing the dedication Of his
Persiles. Capt. Burton concludes his parallel by
observing that both these great men found their
country declining toward her fail. that both
tried to arrest the course OF fate. and that both
must have died laboring under q sore sense OF
failure. Both. after being tho eport Of misfor-
tune. ended their checkered lives and fecund
literary careers in sadness and manifold disap-
pointments AMI to both Fortune was as kind
after death as she had been unkind during life.
It 10 not uncommon for some critics OF Cam
oens to pronounce him the great poet OF q small
nation. and to aver that. however popular he may
be at home. he has never touched the heart OF
Europe. The Lusiads must rank. they say. with
the unread epics OF the world. The fact is.
however. that few poets have boon more trans
lated; A. We have shown. there are no less than
nine English versions OF the Lusiads. which
are also reproduced In every European lam
guARe. Moreover. as Capt. Burton demon
strates. un!riendly critics have never rendered
full Justice to what Camoens is at homo. We
are reminded that some eighty years after
the poets death the Portuguese Conauis-
.11 h.