# The Rejected Stanzas explained — The Lusiads

> Chapter companion for The Lusiads by Luís de Camões.

## What happens

This chapter presents a collection of stanzas that were originally omitted from Camões's The Lusiads, discovered and published by Manoel de Faria y Sousa in his Commentaries (1639). The stanzas are extant in three manuscripts, with varying numbers of stanzas, totaling 79. The chapter notes that while many of these stanzas rival the quality of those in the popular Lusiads, they were likely excluded due to content that opposed public or priestly sentiment. Some stanzas also lack the polish of the final poem. The text includes a note on the editorial approach, with Juromenha's original text printed alongside the translation for comparison.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Power of Poetry

The chapter discusses the quality and potential reasons for the omission of these stanzas, highlighting the significance of poetic expression and its reception.

## Character check-ins

### Luís de Camões

The author of The Lusiads, whose omitted stanzas are the focus of this chapter.

### Man'oel

Discovered and published the rejected stanzas in his Commentaries.

### Viscount Juromenha

Provided the original text of the stanzas for comparison in his Vol. VI.

## Key lines

> These Stanzas, omitted by Camões, were discovered by Manoel de Faria y Sousa, and published in his Commentaries (Juan Sanches, 1639).

Camões left out these stanzas, but Manoel de Faria y Sousa found them and included them in his 1639 Commentaries.

_Introduces the provenance of the rejected stanzas._

> Many of them fully equal those retained in the popular Lusiads; but almost all contain something opposed to public, or rather to priestly, sentiment.

Many of these stanzas are as good as the ones in the published Lusiads, but nearly all have content that goes against public or church opinion.

_Explains the likely reason for their exclusion._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lusiads_se/chapters/the-rejected-stanzas
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lusiads_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_lusiads_se/chapters