Afonso Africano (epic poem) facts for kids

Afonso Africano is an epic poem by Portuguese poet Vasco Mouzinho de Quevedo e Castelo Branco. It was first published in 1611. It is composed of twelve cantos. It is written in ottava rima which in Portugal is known as oitava rima. This stanza is made up of eight lines and rhymes abababcc. The same was earlier used by Luís de Camões in his Lusiads. Vasco Mouzinho de Quevedo's poem narrates about Portuguese king Afonso who was called The African. In the poem his expedition to Morocco, the war and the sieges of Arzilla and Tanger are described. The first stanza is typical for Renaissance epic poems.

As armas e o varão ilustre canto

que de Africano tem insígnia e nome,

cuja alta fama será viva, enquanto

no dourado horizonte o Sol assome.

Donde começarei? Que o grande espanto

me tem suspenso, que princípio tome,

que tantas obras quantas me apresenta

vivo calor que mais e mais se aumenta.