LUIS DE VARGAS,[125] thou in whom I see
A genius ripe in thy few tender days,
Strive thou to win the prize of victory,
The guerdon of my sisters and their praise;
So near are thou thereto, that thou to me
Seemest triumphant, for in countless ways
Virtuous and wise, thou strivest that thy fame
May brightly shine with clear and living flame.
Honour doth Tagus' beauteous bank receive
From countless heavenly spirits dwelling there,
Who make this present age wherein we live,
Than that of Greeks and Romans happier;
Concerning them this message do I give
That they are worthy of sepulture here,
And proof thereof their works have to us given,
Which point us out the way that leads to Heaven.
Two famous doctors first themselves present,
In Phoebus' sciences of foremost name,
The twain in age alone are different,
In character and wit they are the same;
All near and far they fill with wonderment,
They win amongst their fellows so much fame
By their exalted wisdom and profound
That soon they needs must all the world astound.
The name that cometh first into my song,
Of the twain whom I now to praise make bold,
Is CAMPUZANO,[126] great the great among,
Whom as a second Phoebus ye can hold;
His lofty wit, his more than human tongue,
Doth a new universe to us unfold
Of Indies and of glories better far,
As better than gold is wisdom's guiding star.
Doctor SUÁREZ is the next I sing,
And SOSA[127] is the name he adds thereto—
He who with skilful tongue doth everything
That free from blemish is and best, pursue;
Whoso should quench within the wondrous spring
His thirst, as he did, will not need to view
With eye of envy learnèd Homer's praise,
Nor his who sang to us of Troy ablaze.
Of Doctor BAZA,[128] if of him I might
Say what I feel, I without doubt maintain,
That I would fill all present with delight;
His learning, virtue, and his charm are plain
First have I been to raise him to the height
Where now he stands, and I am she who fain
Would make his name eternal whilst the Lord
Of Delos shall his radiant light afford.
If fame should bring the tidings to your ear
Of the strange works a famous mind displays,
Conceptions lofty, well-ordered, and clear,
Learning that would the listener amaze;
Things that the thought checketh in mid career,
And tongue cannot express, but straightway stays—
Whene'er ye are in trouble and in doubt
'Tis the Licentiate DAZA[129] leads you out.
Master GARAI'S[130] melodious works incite
Me to extol him more than all beside;
Thou, fame, excelling time of hasty flight,
His celebration deem a work of praise;
Fame, thou wilt find the fame he gives more bright
Than is thine own in spreading far and wide
His praise, for thou must, speaking of his fame,
From many-tongued to truthful change thy name.
That intellect, which, leaving far behind
Man's greatest, doth to the divine aspire,
Which in Castilian doth no pleasure find—
The heroic verse of Rome doth him inspire;
New Homer in Mantuan new combined
Is Master CÓRDOVA.[131] Worthy his lyre
Of praise in happy Spain, in every land,
Where shines the sun, where ocean laves the strand.