65 quotes
The moon, full orbed, forsakes her watery cave,
And lifts her lovely head above the wave...
Os Lusíadas (1572)
O foul disgrace, of knighthood lasting stain,
By men of arms a helpless lady slain!
Os Lusíadas (1572)
Cease all, whose actions ancient bards expressed:
A brighter valour rises in the West.
Os Lusíadas (1572)
My pen in this, my sword in that hand hold.
Os Lusíadas (1572)
Go, gentle spirit! now supremely blest,
From scenes of pain and struggling virtue go:
From thy immortal seat of heavenly rest
Behold us lingering in a world of woe!
My song shall spread where ever there are men,
If wit and art will so much guide my pen.
Os Lusíadas (1572)
Time changes, and our desires change. What we
believe—even what we are—is ever-
changing. The world is change, which forever
takes on new qualities.
Selected Sonnets: A Bilingual Edition (2008)
The lover becomes the thing he loves
By virtue of much imagining;
Since what I long for is already in me,
The act of longing should be enough.
Landeg White in The Collected Lyric Poems of Luis de Camoes (2016)
I'll sing a song of love so sweet, so blessed
with harmonious sounds, so true to the name
of love (with two thousand examples), it will enflame
even those with dead hearts in their chest.
Selected Sonnets: A Bilingual Edition (2008)
He who inflicts a vile and unjust harm by using the power and the force with which he is invested, does not conquer; the true victory is to have on one's side Right naked and entire.
Os Lusíadas (1572)
Once you experience love, I'm persuaded
you'll know what I'm on about in my verses.
Landeg White in The Collected Lyric Poems of Luis de Camoes (2016)
Dear gentle soul, you that departed
this life so soon and reluctantly,
rest in heaven eternally
while I remain here, broken-hearted.
What care, what wisdom, is of suffisance
The stroke of secret mischief to prevent,
Unless the Sovereign Guardian from on high
Supply the strength of frail Humanity?
Os Lusíadas (1572)
I, then inspired, the wondering world should see
Great Ammon's warlike son revived in thee;
Revived unenvious of the Muse's flame
That over the world resounds Pelides' name.
Os Lusíadas (1572)
For serving thee an arm to arms addressed;
for singing thee a soul the Muses raise.
Os Lusíadas (1572)
My sins, my wild loves, and Fate herself
have all conspired against me.
Selected Sonnets: A Bilingual Edition (2008)
Ah! where shall weary man take sanctuary,
where live his little span of life secure?
and 'scape of Heaven serene th' indignant storms
that launch their thunders at us earthen worms?
Os Lusíadas (1572)
Your own experience in love
will lead you through my verses' meaning.
O glory of commanding! O vain thirst
Of that same empty nothing we call fame!
The Lusiads (1572)
A sad event and worthy of Memory,
Who draws forth men from their (closed) sepulchres,
Befell that piteous maid, and pitiful
Who, after she was dead was (crowned) queen.
Os Lusíadas (1572)