Page:Lusitania illustrata- notices on the history, antiquities, literature, etc., of Portugal. Literary department. Part I. Selection of sonnets, with biographical sketches of the authors (IA lusitaniaillustr00adam 0).pdf/28

2 her death. He gave up all his pursuits, and only afterwards composed the latter of the two following sonnets. In this he records as well the melancholy event, as the virtues of his lost partner; and, after pointing out that good actions and not extensive wealth, were the characteristics of what was called the golden age, states his opinion that it would not be likely to be restored in Portugal, whilst Lisbon and Oporto were, from their commercial intercourse, the seats of opulence and luxury. He died at the age of sixty-three, and was buried at the church of Sam Martinho de Carrezedo.

Sá de Miranda had two sons; the elder was sent when a boy to Africa. Here, having arrived at considerable rank, he fell by the side of Dom Antonio de Noronha, the friend of Camoens. The virtuous qualities which this youth possessed, and the great expectations which his father entertained from his excellent conduct, made him feel very sensibly his loss. Antonio Ferreira addressed a letter to the disconsolate parent couched in terms so appropriate, that Sá de Miranda dedicated to him the Elegy, which he composed on his death. The daughter of his other son became the wife of Dom Fernando Cores de Sotomayor, whose marriage dowry was the manuscript of her grandfather's Poems.