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             NOTA: Os 
              interessados poderão ler AQUI 
              uma boa biografia do Padre António Vieira; e AQUI 
              uma outra nota com referências ao ideal do Quinto Império 
              de raiz portuguesa. 
            Vieira deixou 
              incompleto um livro em vários volumes a que deu o nome fantástico 
              "História do Futuro" em que abordava a questão 
              do Quinto Império. O livro está acessível na 
              rede, bem como esta 
              Tese sobre o tema. 
            English 
              version 
            An introduction 
              to the poem: Father 
              Antonio Vieira's life spanned for most of the XVII century. Born 
              during the period when the crowns of Portugal and Spain were united 
              under a Spanish king, he was nevertheless an ardent nationalist. 
              Educated and trained by the Jesuits, he served in Brazil where his 
              quick mind and oratory gifts soon made him noticed. Following the 
              1640 Portuguese uprising against the Spanish rule, he sailed to 
              Lisbon on a mission and subsequently became a trusted counselor 
              of King John IV.  
            His logical 
              reasoning which he explained in simple words to enraptured crowds, 
              both in Portugal and abroad, to whom he preached an egalitarian 
              society under God (he himself was of mixed blood) eventually made 
              him known as the most gifted preacher of his time. He is still considered 
              as the grand master of Portuguese Prose, whence the epithet "Emperor 
              of the Portuguese Language" bestowed upon him by Fernando Pessoa. 
            Based on old 
              prophecies that he interpreted in his own way and noticing the peculiar 
              Portuguese intuition for easy dealings with people of all races, 
              he postulated that Portugal was the Chosen Nation that would lead 
              the world to an era of peace, understanding and union in the Christian 
              Faith. This would be the Fifth Empire and the man who would make 
              all this happen was "The Yearned-for", the new King Sebastian. 
              In this respect, Pessoa was his "apprentice" and follower 
              as visionary and theoreticist of the Portuguese Fifth Empire. 
              
            Father Antonio 
              Vieira  
            Heaven 
              spangles the blue and has splendour. 
             
              This man, who once had fame and now glory has, 
             
              Emperor of the Portuguese language, 
             
              Was to us a heaven too. 
              
             
              In his wide expanse of meditation, 
             
              Constellated with form and with vision, 
             
              Rises, clear harbinger of moonlight, 
             
              King Don Sebastian. 
              
             
              But no, 't is not moonlight: 't is light ethereal. 
            'T 
              is a day, and, in the sky ample with desire, 
            The 
              unreal dawning of the Fifth Empire 
            Gilds 
              the banks of the Tagus.  
            
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