LUÍS DE CAMÕES (1524?-1580) lived a life full of love and adventure on three continents. His experiences are vividly woven into his poetry, which drew its formal inspiration from Virgil, Ovid, Petrarch and other poets, both classical and modern. A conceptualizing artist, Camões's extraordinary ability to forge his thought and experience into verses at once crystalline and compelling accounts for his status as one of the foremost poets in the European tradition. While The Lusiads (1572), his epic poem celebrating Portugal's maritime exploits, brought him immediate and enduring renown (there are more than fifteen translations of the work into English), his equally splendorous lyric poetry may hold more appeal for today's reader.

RICHARD ZENITH, a long-time resident of Portugal, has won prizes from the PEN Club and the Academy of American Poets for his translations from the poetry of Portugal's Fernando Pessoa and Brazil's João Cabral de Melo Neto. He has published his own poetry in reviews, a book of short stories titled Terceiras Pessoas, and numerous essays.