The dreams of bards surpass'd the world shall view,
And own their boldest fictions may be true;
Surpass'd, and dimm'd by the superior blaze
Of GAMA's mighty deeds, which here bright Truth displays.
Nor more let history boast her heroes old,
Their glorious rivals here, dread prince, behold:
Here shine the valiant Nunio's deeds unfeign'd,
Whose single arm the falling state sustain'd;
Here fearless Egas' wars, and, Fuas, thine,
To give full ardour to the song combine;
But ardour equal to your martial ire
Demands the thundering sounds of Homer's lyre.
To match the twelve so long by bards renown'd,[1]
Here brave Magricio and his peers are crown'd
(A glorious twelve!) with deathless laurels, won
In gallant arms before the English throne.
Unmatch'd no more the Gallic Charles shall stand,
Nor Cæsar's name the first of praise command:
Of nobler acts the crown'd Alonzos see,
Thy valiant sires, to whom the bended knee
Of vanquish'd Afric bow'd. Nor less in fame,
He who confin'd the rage of civil flame,
The godlike John, beneath whose awful sword
Rebellion crouch'd, and trembling own'd him lord.
- ↑ To match the twelve so long by bards renown'd.—The twelve peers of Charlemagne, often mentioned in the old romances. For the episode of Magricio and his eleven companions, see the sixth Lusiad.
