The Araucaniad

Canto XXVII

  [ 223 ] Canto XXVII Herein is set the description of many provinces, mountains, and cities, famous through nature and through wars. Alike ’tis told how the Spaniards raised a fortress in the Valley of Tucapel, and how Don Alonso de Ercilla chanced upon the beauteous Glaura. In this wise the mage proceeded: “No one in this place disturbs us; There is scarce one minim hidden; Universal drafts you’ll notice North to South, and eastward, westward, All embraced by air and ocean, Seas and mountains, lakes and rivers, Warrior lands, adorned by Nature. “Asia starts here. Calcedonia, Thrace you see; beyond the Bosphorus, Lydia, Caria, Licia, Licaonia, Here Pamphilia, Bythinia, Galatia; Paphlagonia on Pontus Euxine, Cappadocia’s plains, Pharmacia, And the storied stream Euphrates Emptying down the Gulf of Persia. “Here lies Syria, yon the unworthy Promised land denied the Hebrews, Palestine’s own blessèd Nazareth, Where spake Gabriel to Mary. Here you see the sacred ruins Of the city Titus ravished, Where the Author of Creation Was bemocked, and brought to torment. “See the expansive Mare Nostrum, Africa’s and Europe’s sleeve-edge; Farther on, the Red Sea’s waters That the staff of Moses parted; Gulf Ormuz, the Persian seashores Faintly here delineated; Ribboned, stretch the fertile valleys And the desert of Arabia. Brevity deserves men’s plaudits Universally accorded. Sermons are adjudged displeasing For their length and affectation. Prolix speech, though beneficial, Importunes, fatigues, and bores us. Savory foods when over-seasoned Change to bitter gall and wormwood. I, repentant, glimpse this pitfall On the lengthened road I travel. How can I, my journey ended, Show good taste, and please my audience? Though I hope to offer pleasure, Long I tarry in this journal; Toddlers cannot touch the aphelion; Tiny glasses hold scant potions. Should I seem, my lord, to someone To be loitering on this errand, Let him scan my course aberrant, Think upon this courier’s mission! I shall practice laconism; Following my itinerary, I was telling how the wizard Held in hand that global apple. Such its vastness that not twenty Could embrace its lucent circle, Where appeared distinctly, clearly, Everything delineated! Towns and country-side were mirrored, Traffic, busy merchandising, Birds, mammalian beasts, and lizards, Even snakes and tiny insects. [ 224 ] The Araucaniad “Persia, Elam, and Carmania On the West you see depicted, Where the steel of finest temper Fulminates in ceaseless flashing; Grangiana and Gedrosia Stretching to the Indian Ocean, East bazaars, and to the Orient Tropic lands of Aracosía. “Through the Ganges River basin, Toward the rising sun spreads India. Here stands Cathay’s city, Cauta, On the Indian Ocean founded. China and Malayan highlands, And the oriental high seas, Where Ceylon since days unnumbered Has been known as earth’s east boundary. “Tartary, Albania, Hircania Stretch toward Trebizondian borders, Other kingdoms and republics, Allies, or domains of Persia, The Iberians, once called Gorgians, And poor, widely-spread Circassians, Whose constricted, sea-locked shoreline Forms a crescent toward the ocean. “Here you see deep-bedded Cirro Circle Iberia and Albania; Here the tall Caucasian Mountains, Lording earth from lofty throne-peaks! There the famous Colchan Kingdom, With its storied Isle, Medea, Where the weary traveler Jason Sought the Golden Fleece adventurous! “Here you see Armenia, noted For its fabled city Tauris; To the South, the old and saintly Town Soltonia razed, dishonored Past rebuilding by the Tartar Tamerlane, who like the whirlwind Struck its minaretted towers, Rending as with bolts from heaven. “Here the Tigris and Euphrates Flow from Mesopotamian headlands Parallel toward Gulf of Persia, Past Egyptian plains, and Syria, Here the Parthian, Median Rivers Wind around the curving bulkheads Toward the Caspian Sea Hircanian, East Wind’s oval trysting-places. “To Assyria’s city, Babel, Where befell man’s lingual chaos, Whose walled opulence was fashioned By Semíramis, Nino’s mother; Alexander there was waylaid By quick-snipping Death, whose scissors Sheared the thread which Fate had woven, Cutting short his prosperous coursing. “Southward, Prester John’s dominions Stretch through Africa, where glimmer Sceva’s roofs and towers illustrious, Monarch of God-chosen cities; Thrice each year her fruit-trees flourish, Wither, die, bloom forth, and blossom, Twenty-two degrees meridian To the North of the Antarctic. “Here the towering Gogian summits Soar in grandeur, with their forelocks Crowned by snowcaps, high o’ershadowing Barren crags, majestic throne-seats. There sierras form a rampart Covered thick with thorny brambles, Lairs for bears and mountain lions, Boars...