ANTONIO DE SOUSA DE MACEDO (1606-82), _moço fidalgo_ of Philip IV and later Secretary of Embassy and Minister (_Residente_) in London (1642-6) and Secretary of State to the weak and unlettered Afonso VI, wrote at the age of twenty-two _Flores de España, Excelencias de Portugal_ (1631). This historical work of considerable interest and importance was written in Spanish por ser mais universal, but he returned to Portuguese presently in a curious prose miscellany, _Eva e Ave_ (1676), and in the epic poem _Vlyssippo_ (1640) in fourteen cantos of _oitavas_. He seems to have felt that interest could not easily be sustained by the subject, the foundation of Lisbon by Ulysses. Accordingly, following the example of Camões, he inset various episodes. Canto 6 summarizes the events of the _Iliad_ and the _Odyssey_, canto 10 describes a tapestry adorned with future Portuguese victories, in canto 11 the Delphic Sibyl foretells the deeds of Portugal’s kings, down to Sebastian, in canto 12 the wise Chiron prophesies of her _famosos varões_. The style is correct, but the poem as a whole is commonplace. VASCO MOUSINHO DE QUEVEDO, of Setubal, although no records of his life remain, won high fame by his epic poem in _oitavas_ (twelve cantos) _Afonso Africano_ (1611), in which ‘the marvellous prowess of King Afonso V in Africa’ is described. The poem, admired by Almeida Garrett, is particularly wearisome because it is largely allegorical. The king conquering Arzila represents the strong man subduing the city of his own soul, the Moors are the spirits of the damned, and seven of their knights representing the seven deadly sins are defeated by seven Christian knights who stand for the virtues.