BOOK I. |
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Subject proposed | |
Invocation to the Muses of the Tagus | |
Address to Don Sebastian | |
Assembly of the gods and goddesses | |
The fleet enters the Indian Ocean | |
Discovers islands there | |
Description of the natives | |
Intercourse with the ships | |
The governor visits Gama | |
Bacchus determines on obstructing the fleet | |
His stratagem for that purpose | |
Attack by the Portuguese on landing to obtain water | |
Bombardment of the town | |
Another plot of Bacchus | |
The poet’s reflections | |
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Treacherous invitation from the King of Mombas for the fleet to enter the harbour | |
Messengers sent on shore by Gama to look at the town | |
Venus and the Nereids save the fleet from danger | |
Venus appeals to Jupiter on behalf of the expedition | |
His reply | |
Mercury sent to earth | |
His message to Gama in a dream | |
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How the vessels escaped | |
They meet two Moorish ships | |
Their account of Melinda and its king | |
Hospitable reception by the King of Melinda | |
Gama’s address | |
The king’s reply | |
Night rejoicings in the ships and on shore | |
Visit of the king to the fleet | |
Gama’s speech | |
The king requests Gama to describe his country and relate its history | |
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Invocation to Calliope | |
Gama commences his story | |
Geographical description of Europe | |
Ancient history of Portugal commences | |
Fidelity of Egas Moniz | |
Battle of Ourique | |
Origin of the Portuguese shield and arms | |
Leiria, Mafra, Cintra, Lisbon, etc. | |
Palmella, etc., taken from the Moors | |
Alphonso at war with the Leonese | |
Gathering of the Moors to invest Santarem | |
Defeated by the Portuguese | |
Death of Alphonso | |
Don Sancho besieges Sylves | |
Character of Sancho II. | |
„ „ King Dionis | |
„ „ Alphonso IV. | |
The Moors assemble again to invade Portugal | |
The Queen of Spain asks aid from her father, the King of Portugal | |
The two allied sovereigns defeat the Moors | |
Episode of Inez de Castro, or the "Fair Inez" | |
Character of King Ferdinand | |
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State of Portugal on the death of Ferdinand | |
King John succeeds to the throne | |
Character of Queen Leonora | |
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The Castilians assemble in aid of Beatrice, daughter of Leonora | |
Don Nuno Alvarez’s loyalty | |
Battle between the Portuguese and Castilians | |
The latter defeated | |
Alphonso, after defeating the Moors, attacks the King of Arragon | |
Alphonso dies, and is succeeded by John II. | |
King John sends to explore the East by land | |
Emmanuel succeeds; his dream of the rivers Ganges and Indus | |
The king consults his council | |
Entrusts the expedition to Vasco de Gama | |
Vasco de Gama’s preparations | |
Parting of the armada with their friends | |
The old man’s farewell address | |
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Departure of the fleet from Lisbon | |
Madeira, Coast of Morocco, the Azenegues | |
The river Senegal, Cape Verde, San Jago, Jalofo, Mandinga | |
Dorcades, Sierra Leone, Cape Palmas | |
St. Thomas, Congo, the river Zaire | |
A water-spout described | |
They land near the Tropic of Capricorn | |
A native African met with | |
Veloso’s adventure on shore | |
Gigantic vision of the Cape | |
The armada lands at Saõ Braz | |
Currents encountered | |
The armada touches at Natal | |
Reaches Sofála; description of the inhabitants | |
The crews attacked by scurvy | |
Vasco de Gama compares his voyage with the narratives of ancient poets, and concludes his story | |
Reflections on the subject by the poet | |
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Hospitality of the King of Melinda | |
Gama takes his leave | |
Bacchus descends to Neptune’s abode | |
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Description thereof | |
The sea-gods assembled by Neptune. Bacchus’ address to Neptune and the other sea-gods | |
Neptune orders Æolus to let loose the winds on the Portuguese fleet | |
The fleet on a tranquil sea | |
Veloso, to pass the time away, relates the story of a tournament in England | |
A dark cloud comes over, and the storm arises | |
Venus, the morning star, appears, and the goddess calls the Nereids to her aid | |
Orithya, Galatea, and other sea-nymphs persuade Boreas to cease his blustering | |
Morning appears, and with it the mountain-tops of the Indian coast | |
Gama returns thanks to God | |
The poet’s reflections | |
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The Portuguese exhorted to the warfare of the cross, other nations being reproved | |
India described | |
The fleet anchors, and a message is sent on shore | |
Meeting with Mozaide, who speaks Spanish | |
Mozaide visits Gama, and describes the country | |
Gama goes on shore | |
Enters with the kotwâl into an Indian temple | |
Gama’s interview with the Indian king | |
His speech | |
The king’s reply | |
Mozaide’s description of the Portuguese | |
Visit of the kotwâl to the ships | |
The poet invokes the nymphs of the Tagus, and briefly describes his own shipwreck and other misfortunes | |
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Description of the pictures | |
Bacchus appears as Mohammed, to a priest in a dream | |
The king consults with the magi and the soothsayers | |
The priest consults his friends | |
How evil counsellors mislead kings | |
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The king’s defiant speech and base accusation | |
Gama’s answer to the king | |
Gama detained prisoner in the kotwâl’s house | |
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The king visits the house of the kotwâl | |
Addresses Gama, detained as a prisoner there | |
On what conditions he may be allowed to return to his fleet | |
Gama’s indignant reply | |
The king orders the signal to be given | |
The Moorish vessels surround the fleet, and attack it with clouds of arrows | |
The drums and trumpets of the fleet call to action | |
Destruction of the Moorish vessels by the cannon of the ships | |
Bombardment of Calicut by the fleet | |
The terrified multitude implores the king to release his prisoner | |
The king implores Gama to spare his city and people | |
Lama’s dignified reply | |
The terms offered by the king rejected by Gama | |
Gama directs the king to hoist the Portuguese flag and convey him to his ships | |
Peace restored. Presents of Indian productions | |
Mozaide had discovered to Gama the intended treachery | |
Conversion to Christianity of Mozaide | |
Return of the fleet to Portugal with the hostages | |
Venus raises the Island of Love in the sea, to afford the sailors a resting-place. She summons the Nereids, and informs them of her intentions. Seeks her son, Cupid | |
Cupid discharges the arrows of love at the sea-nymphs | |
Approach of the Portuguese fleet | |
The Island of Love described | |
The sailors land and pursue the nymphs | |
Tethys leads Gama to a palace on a lofty hill | |
The allegory explained | |
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Happiness of the heroes and nymphs | |
The poet apostrophizes his muse and bewails his own fate | |
The siren’s prophetic song | |
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She pauses to reflect on the ill-requited bravery of Pacheco | |
The siren resumes her prophetic song | |
Foretells the needless cruelty of Albuquerque, who puts to death a soldier for a venial offence | |
Soarez, Sequeyra, Menez, Mascarene, Nunio, Noronha, Souza, and other heroes | |
The nymph Tethys leads them to the summit of a rugged hill, where the globe in miniature is displayed before them | |
The Ptolemean system described | |
Sketch of the geography of the world | |
History of St. Thomas, the Apostle of India | |
Geographical description continued | |
Tethys bids the Portuguese farewell | |
Their return home and reception at Lisbon | |
The poet’s conclusion, and patriotic exhortation to his sovereign |