Theatre of the World (Theatrum Orbis Terrarum)

Rome extended your borders as far as scorched
Libya, into Asia, and to the Britons separated from the world.
Spain recently dared to extend her Empire even further;
across the unknown sea, she found new kingdoms and new
peoples, which is now considered the NEW WORLD.
The poet compares the ancient Roman Empire to the contemporary Spanish Empire, suggesting that Spain has surpassed Rome by discovering the Americas.

ASIA.

You see ASIA on the right, who shines splendidly
with Eastern gems and is entirely adorned with precious stones.
She displays in her hands a censer full of sweet smelling incense,
smelling of myrrh and pleasant cinnamon oil,
and yellow gum, pigments, spices, and all
the Assyrian dyes, the rich gifts of the Arabs.
Asia is depicted as a wealthy figure associated with luxury goods and the spice trade.

AFRICA.

AFRICA is in another part, notable for her very heat,
the Ethiopian woman, scorched by the reckless Phaëthon
In Greek mythology, Phaëthon was the son of the sun god Helios. He attempted to drive his father's sun chariot but lost control and flew too close to the earth. Ancient poets used this myth to explain the hot climate of Africa and the skin color of its inhabitants.
while that ignorant youth wore out the unbridled horses
and chariot of the Sun. He did not know how to turn the reins,
and he pressed the glowing axle too close to the earth.
He was mad to have conceived such great daring in his mind.
From this, she has her head entirely encircled by flashing rays,
and her limbs are naked because of the perpetual heat.
But because Egypt specifically claims for itself the balsams
sweating from fragrant wood, this maiden also
holds out a fragrant balsam branch in her right hand.

AMERICA.

The one you see on lower ground is called AMERICA.
The daring Vespucius, recently carried across the sea,
seized her by force, embracing the nymph with tender love.
original: "Vespucius". This refers to Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), the Italian explorer. Renaissance art often personified the Americas as a woman being "awakened" or "conquered" by European explorers.
She, forgetful of herself and of chaste modesty,
sits with her whole body naked, except for a feathered
band binding her hair, a gem marking her forehead,
and bells surrounding her smooth calves.
A wooden club is in her right hand: with it she slaughters fat
and well-fed men, and bodies captured in war.
These she cuts into quivering pieces and either roasts them
over slow flames or boils them in a hot bronze pot.
Or, if the madness of hunger stimulates her more, she devours
the limbs raw and just recently cut, flowing with black gore;
the warm limbs quiver beneath her teeth.
She feeds on the flesh of the wretched and on dark blood:
a deed horrible to see, and horrible to tell.
What does barbarian impiety not intend? What does
the contempt of the gods above not do?
This passage reflects the early European obsession with reports of cannibalism in the Americas, often used as a justification for colonization and "civilizing" missions.