DIA DE PORTUGAL, DE CAMÕES E DAS COMUNIDADES PORTUGUESAS

Imagem retirada da página electrónica da [Escola Secundária 2/3 Lima de Freitas - Setúbal]. Image downloaded from the webpage of the referred «Lima de Freitas School», at Setúbal, Portugal.

Celebra-se hoje pelo Mundo inteiro o Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas. É o dia em que se assinala a morte de Luís Vaz de Camões a 10 de Junho de 1580 e é também o Dia Nacional de Portugal. Today we are cellebrating Portugal Day throughout the whole World («Day of Camões, Portugal and the Portuguese Communities»).

Today's image, while being also Take 8 for Anna Carson's [PROJECT BLUE], depicts Luís Vaz de Camões (c. 1517 or 1524–June 10, 1580), considered Portugal's and one of the World's greatest poets. His mastery of verse has been compared to Homer, Virgil, Dante and Shakespeare, the best example being «The Lusíadas». The poem is mainly about the 16th century Portuguese explorations, which brought fame and fortune to Portugal. Camões' poem, considered one of the finest and most important works in Portuguese literature, became a symbol for the greatness of the Portuguese Nation. Camões was an adventurer, lost one eye fighting in Ceuta, wrote the Portuguese epic poem Os Lusíadas while travelling, and survived a shipwreck in Cochinchina (present-day Vietnam). According to popular lore, Camões saved his epic poem by swimming with one arm while keeping the other arm above water. Camões became a national symbol. Yet, in the year of his death, Portugal lost its independence to Spain. Sixty years later, in December 1, 1640, the country regained its independence. Since then, because Camões' date of birth is not known, the date of his death is celebrated as Portugal's national day.

Text by Sailor Girl, with a little help from Wikipedia.