It is my purpose but of those to sing
Of whose life Fate hath not yet cut the thread,
Of those who rightly merit ye should bring
Their ashes to this place when they are dead,
Where, despite busy Time on hasty wing,
Through this praiseworthy duty renderèd
By you, for countless years may live their fame,
Their radiant work, and their renownèd name.
And he who doth with righteous title merit
Of high renown to win a noble store,
Is DON ALONSO;[118] he 'tis doth inherit
From holy Phoebus heavenly wisdom's flower,
In whom shineth with lofty glow the spirit
Of warlike Mars, and his unrivalled power,
LEIVA his surname in whose glorious sound
Italy, Spain herself, hath lustre found.
Arauco's wars and Spanish worth hath sung
Another who the name ALONSO hath.
Far hath he wandered all the realms among
Where Glaucus dwells, and felt his furious wrath;
His voice was not untuned, nor was his tongue,
For full of strange and wondrous grace were both,
Wherefore ERCILLA[119] doth deserve to gain
Memorial everlasting in this plain.
Of JUAN DE SILVA[120] I to you declare
That he deserves all glory and all praise,
Not only for that Phoebus holds him dear,
But for the worth that is in him always;
Thereto his works a testimony clear
Will be, wherein his intellect doth blaze
With brightness which illumineth the eyes
Of fools, dazzling at times the keen and wise.
Be the rich number of my list increased
By him to whom Heaven doth such favour show
That by the breath of Phoebus is his breast
Sustained, and by Mars' valour here below;
Thou matchest Homer, if thou purposest
To write, thy pen unto such heights doth go,
DIEGO OSORIO,[121] that to all mankind
Truly is known thy loftiness of mind.
By all the ways whereby much-speaking fame
A cavalier illustrious can praise,
By these it doth his glorious worth proclaim,
His deeds the while setting his name ablaze;
His lively wit, his virtue doth inflame
More than one tongue from height to height to raise
FRANCISCO DE MENDOZA'S[122] high career,
Nor doth the flight of time bring them to fear.
Happy DON DIEGO, DE SARMIENTO[123] bright,
CARVAJAL famous, nursling of our choir,
Of Hippocrene the radiance and delight,
Youthful in years, old in poetic fire;
Thy name will go from age to age, despite
The waters of oblivion, rising higher,
Made famous by thy works, from grace to grace,
From tongue to tongue, and from race unto race.
Now chief of all I would to you display
Ripeness of intellect in tender years,
Gallantry, skill that no man can gainsay,
A bearing courteous, worth that knows no fears;
One that in Tuscan, as in Spanish, may
His talent show, as he who did rehearse
The tale of Este's line and did enthral,
And he is DON GUTIERRE CARVAJAL.[124]