THE LUSIADS

from book I

Arms and the Heroes, who from Lisbon's shores,
Thro' Seas' where sail was never spread before,
Beyond where Ceylon lifts her spicy breast,
And waves her woods above the watery waste,
With prowess more than human forc'd their way
To the fair kingdoms of the rifing day:
What wars they wag'd, what seas, what dangers past,
What glorious Empire crown'd their toils at last,
.....................................................................
Illustrious names, with deathless laurels crown'd,
While time rolls on in every clime renown'd

Translated by William Julius Mickle

The Lusiads, from the Latin name of Portugal, derived from
Lufus or Lyfas, the companion of Bacchus in his travels,
and who settled a colony in Lusitania.
See Plin. 1. iii. c. I.