'To tell thee of the dangers of the sea
At length, which human understanding scare,
Thunder-storms sudden, dreadful in degree,
Lightnings, which seem to set on fire the air,
Dark floods of rain, nights of obscurity,
Rollings of thunder which the world would tear,
Were not less labour than a great mistake,
E'en if I had an iron voice to speak.
'I saw the sights, which a rude seaman's crew,
Who long experience as their guide revere,
Always account as positive and true,
Judging of things as only they appear;
But which by those who take a sounder view,
Who by pure genius and by science clear
Behold creation's mysteries profound,
Are judged ill-understood and without ground.
'I saw, and clearly saw, the living light 4 Which sailors everywhere as sacred hold,
In time of storm and crossing winds that fight,
Of tempest dark and desperation cold;
Nor less it was to all a marvel quite,
And matter surely to alarm the bold,
To observe the sea-clouds, with a tube immense, Suck water up from Ocean's deep expanse.
'I certainly beheld (nor do suppose
My sight deceived me aught) that in the air
A fume or vapour thin and subtle rose,
And by the wind began revolving there;
Thence to the topmost clouds a tube it throws,
But of a substance so exceeding rare,
That scarce the naked eye its form could see;
It seemed as like the clouds composed to be.
'Hia-se pouco e pouco accrescentando,
E mais, que hum largo mastro, se engrossava :
Aqui se estreita, aqui se alarga, quando
Os golpes grandes de agua em si chupava :
Estava-se co'as ondas ondeando,
Em cima della hua nuvem se espessava,
Fazendo-se maior, mais carregada
Co'o cargo grande d'agua em si tomada.
Qual rôxa sanguesuga se veria
Nos beiços da alimaria (que, imprudente,
Bebendo a recolheo na fonte fria)
Fartar co'o sangue alheio a sêde ardente :
Chupando, mais e mais se engrossa, e cria,
Alli se enche, e se alarga grandemente:
Tal a grande columna, enchendo, augmenta
A si, e a nuvem negra, que sustenta.
'Mas, despois que de todo se fartou,
O pé, que tem no mar, a si recolhe,
E pelo céo chovendo em fim voou ;
Porque co'a agua a jacente agua molhe;
Ás ondas torna as ondas, que tomou :
Mas o sabor do sal lhe tira, e tolle.
Vejam agora os sabios na escriptura,
Que segredos são estes de natura.
'Se os antiguos philosophos, que andaram
Tantas terras, por ver segredos dellas,
As maravilhas, que eu passei, passaram,
A tão diversos ventos dando as velas :
Que grandes escripturas que deixaram !
Que influição de signos, e de estrellas!
Que estranhezas, que grandes qualidades!
E tudo, sem mentir, puras verdades.
'Little by little it still larger grew,
Passing a large mast's thickness in degree;
Here narrowing, here enlarging, as it drew
Vast quantities of water from the sea ;
It oscillated with the waves, to view;
A-top, a dark thick cloud hung heavily,
Becoming yet more laden and enlarged,
With the vast waters' weight wherewith 'twas charged.
'E'en as we see the red leech that takes hold
Upon the cattle's lips (who heedlesswise
Have caught it, drinking in the fountain cold),
How with their blood its thirst it satisfies;
Still sucking, more and more its parts unfold,
And fill themselves to an enormous size :
So the great column, filling, substance gains,
And feeds the sable cloud which it sustains.
'But when it was quite gorged, it then withdrew
The foot that on the sea beneath had grown,
And o'er the heavens, in fine, it raining flew,
The jacent waters watering with its own;
W' th' waves it took the waves it doth renew;
But the salt savour has entirely flown:
Now let our scientific writers see
What mighty secrets these of nature be !
'If the philosophers of old who went
The secrets of so many lands to spy,
Had proved what I have proved of wonderment,
And hoisted sail to winds so contrary :
What writings had they left, of vast intent!
What influence shown of stars and signs on high!
What novelties! what wonders to surprise!
And all without untruth, pure verities.
'Mas já o planeta, que no céo primeiro
Habita, cinco vezes apressada,
Agora meio rosto, agora inteiro,
Mostrára, em quanto o mar cortava a armada : Quando da etherea gavea hum marinheiro, Prompto co'a vista, "Terra, Terra!" brada : Salta no bordo alvoroçada a gente
Co'os olhos no horizonte do Oriente.
'A maneira de nuvens se começam
A descobrir os montes, que enxergâmos :
As ancoras pezadas se adereçam,
As velas já chegados amainâmos:
E para que mais certas se conheçam
As partes tão remotas, onde estamos,
Pelo novo instrumento do Astrolabio,
Invenção de subtil juizo, e sabio:
'Desembarcámos logo na espaçosa
Parte, por onde a gente se espalhou,
De ver cousas estranhas desejosa,
Da terra, que outro povo não pizou :
Porêm eu co'os pilotos na arenosa
Praia; por vermos, em que parte estou,
Me detenho em tomar do sol a altura,
E compassar a universal pintura.
'Achámos ter de todo já passado
Do Semicapro peixe a grande meta,
Estando entre elle, e o circulo gelado
Austral, parte do mundo mais secreta.
Eis de meus companheiros rodeado,
Vejo hum estranho vir de pelle preta,
Que tomaram por força, em quanto apanha
De mel os doces favos na montanha.
'But now, the orb which in first heaven doth own
Her seat, five times her rapid course had sped,
Now in the half and now in full moon shown,
While o'er the sea the fleet had travelled;
When, watching in the airy top alone,
A keen-eyed sailor shouts, "Land, Land ahead!"
Forth on the deck o'erjoyed the whole crew leap,
And their fixed gaze on the East horizon keep.5
'The mountains that we saw at first appeared,
In the far view, like clouds and nothing more;
The heavy anchors presently are cleared,
The sails are lowered, just as we come to shore ;
And to make certain whither we had steered
In these far parts unknown to us before,
With Astrolabe, a novel instrument,
Which one of skill and learning did invent,
'We disembarked upon a space of land
O'er which our people, curious, quickly spread,
All novelties to see and understand
Of country, which we were the first to tread :
But I, with all the pilots on the sand,
To know exactly where we had been led,
Continue, the sun's altitude to scan,
And work and compass out a general plan.
'We found that we had crossed, since many a day,
The mighty bound of Capricornus' sign,
And 'twixt him and the cold south circle lay,
Which doth the world's most secret zone define.
Surrounded by my comrades in the bay,
A black-skinned stranger comes along the line,
Taken by force, whom hunting they espied
Sweet honeycomb, along the mountain side.
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