It is not necessary to relate the causes which induced me to publish
this poem without a name.
The favour with which it has been received may make me less diffident in
avowing it; and, as a second edition has been generally called for, I
have endeavoured to make it, in every respect, less unworthy of the
public eye.
I have availed myself of every sensible objection, the most material of
which was the circumstance, that the Indian maid, described in the first
book, had not a part assigned to her of sufficient interest in the
subsequent events of the poem, and that the character of the Missionary
was not sufficiently professional.
The single circumstance that a Spanish commander, with his army in South
America, was destroyed by the Indians, in consequence of the treachery
of his page, who was a native, and that only a priest was saved, is all
that has been taken from history. The rest of this poem, the personages,
father, daughter, wife, _et cet._ (with the exception of the names of
Indian warriors) is imaginary. The time is two months. The first four
books include as many days and nights. The rest of the time is occupied
by the Spaniards' march, the assembly of warriors, _et cet._
The place in which the scene is laid, was selected because South America
has of late years received additional interest, and because the ground
was at once new, poetical, and picturesque.
From old-fashioned feelings, perhaps, I have admitted some aÎrial
agents, or what is called machinery. It is true that the spirits cannot
be said to accelerate or retard the events; but surely they may be
allowed to show a sympathy with the fate of those, among whom poetical
fancy has given them a prescriptive ideal existence. They may be further
excused, as relieving the narrative, and adding to the imagery.
The causes which induced me to publish this poem without a name, induced
me also to attempt it in a versification to which I have been least
accustomed, which, to my ear, is most uncongenial, and which is, in
itself, most difficult. I mention this, in order that, if some passages
should be found less harmonious than they might have been, the candour
of the reader may pardon them.
_Scene_--SOUTH AMERICA.
_Characters._--Valdivia, commander of the Spanish armies--Lautaro, his
page, a native of Chili--Anselmo, the missionary--Indiana, his adopted
daughter, wife of Lautaro--Zarinel, the wandering minstrel.
_Indians._--Attacapac, father of Lautaro--Olola, his daughter, sister of
Lautaro--Caupolican, chief of the Indians--Indian warriors.
The chief event of the poem turns upon the conduct of Lautaro; but as
the Missionary acts so distinguished a part, and as the whole of the
moral depends upon him, it was thought better to retain the title which
was originally given to the poem.
[192] Dedicated to the Marquis of Lansdowne.