Page:Os Lusíadas (Camões, tr. Burton, 1880), Volume 1.djvu/37

 But, sithence antient Time slow minutes by

ere ruled the Peoples who desire such boon;

bend on my novel rashness favouring eye,

that these my verses may become thine own :

So shalt thou see thine Argonauts o'erfly

yon salty argent, when they see it shown

thou seest their labours on the raging sea:

Learn even now invok'd of man to be.

They walked the water's vasty breadth of blue,

parting the restless billows on their way;

fair favouring breezes breathed soft and true,

the bellying canvas bulging in their play :

The seas were sprent with foam of creamy hue,

flashing where'er the Prows wide open lay

the sacred spaces of that ocean-plain

where Proteus' cattle cleave his own domain:

When they who hold Olympick luminous height,

the Gods and Governors of our human race,

convened in glorious conclave, all unite

the coming course of Eastern things to trace:

Treading the glassy dome of lovely light,

along the Milky Way conjoint they pace,

gather'd together at the Thunderer's hest,

and by old Atlas' gentle grandson prest.