June 24 marks the day in A.D. 1622 that an outnumbered and outgunned Portuguese force, composed of some determined Jesuits, a large number of slaves, and very few actual soldiers, repulsed a Dutch attack on Macau. You can read about it here in Portuguese, or here and here in English. The day was celebrated as a public holiday until Macau was returned to Chinese control in 1999.
Believe it or not, I had all but forgotten about Dia de Macau (which, by the way, is also the feast day of Saint John the Baptist, a fact that takes on a grim aspect when you read about Dutch attackers being decapitated by Portuguese-owned slaves), so my decision to translate the particular poem below, with all its martial overtones, is purely coincidental. Enjoy, and boa leitura!
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Depois da luta e depois da conquista
Fiquei só! Fora um acto antipático!
Deserta a Ilha, e no lençol aquático
Tudo verde, verde, — a perder de vista.
Porque vos fostes, minhas caravelas,
Carregadas de todo o meu tesoiro?
— Longas teias de luar de lhama de oiro,
Legendas a diamantes das estrelas!
Quem vos desfez, formas inconsistentes
Por cujo amor escalei a muralha,
— Leão armado, uma espada nos dentes?
Felizes vós, ó mortos da batalha!
Sonhais, de costas, nos olhos abertos
Reflectindo as estrelas, boquiabertos...
***
After the fight and after the conquest
I alone remained! It was an unpleasant act!
The island deserted, and on the aquatic sheet
Everything green, green, — extending beyond sight.
Why did you go, my caravels,
Laden with all my treasure?
— Long webs of cloth-of-gold moonlight,
Inscriptions to the diamonds of the stars!
Who undid you, inconsistent forms
For whose love I climbed the wall,
— An armed lion, a sword in my teeth?
Happy you are, oh slain in battle!
You dream, on your backs, your open eyes
Reflecting the stars, staring...
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