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Yet ev'n in those obscure abodes to live,
Was more, alas! than cruel Fate would give;
For on the grassy verdure as he lay,
And breath'd the freshness of the early day,
Devouring dogs the helpless infant tore,

Fed on his trembling limbs, and lapp'd the gore.
Th' astonish'd mother, when the rumour came,
Forgets her father, and neglects her fame,
With loud complaints she fills the yielding air,
And beats her breast, and rends her flowing hair;
Then wild with anguish to her sire she flies,
Demands the sentence, and contented dies.

"But, touch'd with sorrow for the dead too late,
The raging god prepares t' avenge her fate.
He sends a monster, horrible and fell,
Begot by Furies in the depths of Hell.
The pest a virgin's face and bosom bears;
High on a crown a rising snake appears,
Guards her black front, and hisses in her hairs:
About the realm she walks her dreadful round,
When Night with sable wings o'erspreads the
ground,

Devours young babes before their parent's eyes, And feeds and thrives on public miseries.

"But generous rage the bold Chorcbus warms, Chorcbus, fam'd for virtue, as for arms; Some few like him, inspir'd with martial flame, Thought a short life well lost for endless fame. These, where two ways in equal parts divide, The direful monster from afar descry'd; Two bleeding babes depending at her side, Whose panting vitals, warm with life, she draws, And in their hearts embrues her cruel claws. The youths surround her with extended spears But brave Chorcbus in the front appears, Deep in her breast he plung'd his shining sword, And Hell's dire monster back to Hell restor❜d.

Concessere larem: viridi nam cespite terræ
Projectum temere, et patulo cœlum ore trahentem,
Dira canum rabies morsu depasta cruento
Disjicit. Hic vero attonitas ut nuntius aures
Matris adit, pulsi exanimo genitorque, pudorque,
Et metus: ipsa ultro sævis plangoribus amens
Tecta replet, vacuumque ferens velamine pectus
Occurrit confessa patri. nec motus, at atro
Imperat, infandum! cupientem occumbere leto.
Sero memor thalami, mæstæ solatia morti,
Phœbe, paras. monstrum infandis Acheronte sub
imo

Conceptum Eumenidum thalamis, cui virginis ora
Pectoraque, æternum stridens a vertice surgit
Et ferrugineam frontem discriminat anguis:
Hæc tam dira lues nocturno squallida passu
Illabi thalamis, animasque a stirpe recentes
Abripere altricum gremiis, morsuque cruento
Devesci, et multum patrio pinguescere luctu.
Haud tulit armorum præstans animique Chorobus;
Seque ultro lectis juvenum, qui robore primi
Famam posthabita faciles extendere vita,
Obtulit. illa novos ibat populata penates
Portarum in bivio. lateri duo corpora parvûm
Dependent, et jam unca manus vitalibus hæret,
Ferratique ungues tenero sub corde tepescunt.
Obvius huic latus omne virûm stipante coronâ,
It juvenis, ferrumque ingens sub pectore diro
Condidit; atque imas animæ mucrone corusco
Scrutatus latebras, tandem sua monstra profundo
Reddit habere Jovi. juvat ire, et visere juxta

Th' Inachians view the slain with vast surprize,
Her twisting volumes, and her rolling eyes,
Her spotted breast, and gaping womb embru'd
With livid poison, and our children's blood.
The croud in stupid wonder fix'd appear,
Pale ev'n in joy, nor yet forget to fear.
Some with vast beams the squalid corpse engage,
And weary all the wild efforts of rage.
The birds obscene, that nightly flock'd to taste,
With hollow screeches fled the dire repast;
And ravenous dogs, allur'd by scented blood,
And starving wolves ran howling to the wood.

"But, fir'd with rage, from cleft Parnassus
brow

Avenging Phobus bent his deadly bow,
And hissing flew the feather'd fates below:
A night of sultry clouds involv'd around
The towers, the fields, and the devoted ground:
And now a thousand lives together fled,
Death with his scythe cut off the fatal thread,
And a whole province in his triumph led.

"But Phœbus, ask'd why noxious fires appear,
And raging Sirius blasts the sickly year;
Demands their lives by whom his monster fell,
And dooms a dreadful sacrifice to Hell.

"Blest be thy dust, and let eternal fame Attend thy manes, and preserve thy name, Undaunted hero! who, divinely brave,

In such a cause disdain'd thy life to save;
But view'd the shrine with a superior look,
And its upbraided godhead thus bespoke :

"With piety, the soul's securest guard
And conscious virtue, still its own reward,
Willing I come, unknowing how to fear;
Nor shalt thou, Phoebus, find a suppliant here.

Liventes in morte oculos, uterique nefandam
Proluviem, et crasso squallentia pectora tabo,
Qua nostræ cecidere animæ. stupet Inacha pubes,
Magnaque post lacrymas etiamnum guadia pallent.
Hi trabibus duris, solatia vana dolori,
Proterere exanimes artus, asprosque molares
Deculcare genis; nequit iram explere potestas.
Illain et nocturno circum stridore volantes
Impasta fugistis aves, rabidamque canum vim,
Oraque sicca ferant trepidorum inhiâsse luporum.
Sævior in miseros fatis ultricis ademptæ
Delius insurgit, summaque biverticis umbra
Parnassi residens, arcu crudelis iniquo
Pestifera arma jacit, camposque, et celsa Cyclopums
Tecta superjecto nebularum incendit amictu.
Labuntur dulces animæ: Mors fila sororum
Ense metit, captamque tenens fert manibus ur
bem.

Quærenti quæ causa duci, quis ab æthere lævus
Ignis, et in totum regnaret Sirius annum !
Idem autor Pæan rursus jubet ire cruento
Inferias monstro juvenes, qui cæde potiti.

Fortunate animi, longumque in sæcula digne Promeriture diem! non tu pia degener arma Occulis, aut certæ trepidas occurrere morti. Cominus ora ferens, Cyrrhæi in limine templi Constitit, et sacras ita vocibus asperat iras:

Non missus, Thymbræe, tuos supplexve penates Advenio mea me pietas, et conscia virtus Has egere vias. ego sum qui cæde subegi, Phoebe, tuum mortale nefas; quem uubibus atris, Et squallente die, nigra quem tabe sinistri Quæris, inique, poli. quod si monstra effera magnis

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Thy monster's death to me was ow'd alone,
And 'tis a deed too glorious to disown.
Behold him here, for whom, so many days,
Impervious clouds conceal'd thy sullen rays;
For whom, as man no longer claim'd thy care,
Such numbers fell by pestilential air!
But if th' abandon'd race of human kind
From gods above no more compassion find;
If such inclemency in Heaven can dwell,
Yet why must unoffending Argos feel

The vengeance due to this unlucky steel?
On me, on me, let all thy fury fall,
'Nor err from me, since I deserve it all:
Unless our desert cities please thy sight,
Or funeral flames reflect a grateful light,
Discharge thy shafts, this ready bosom rend,
And to the shades a ghost triumphant send;
But for my country let my fate atone,
Be mine the vengeance, as the crime my own.'
"Merit distress'd, impartial Heaven relieves :
Unwelcome life relenting Phoebus gives;
For not the vengeful power, that glow'd with rage,
With such amazing virtue durst engage.
The clouds dispers'd, Apollo's wrath expir'd,
And from the wondering god th' unwilling youth
Thence we these altars in his temple raise, [retir'd.
And offer annual honours, feasts, and praise;
Those solemn feasts propitious Phœbus please:
These honours, still renew'd, his ancient wrath ap-

pease.

"But say, illustrious guest!" (adjoin'd the king) "What name you bear, from what high race you spring?

The noble Tydeus stands confess'd, and known
Our neighbour Prince, and heir of Calydon.
Relate your fortunes, while the friendly night
And silsnt hours to various talk invite."
The Theban bends on earth his gloomy eyes ;
Confus'd and sadly thus at length replies :
"Before these altars how shall I proclaim
(Oh generous prince!) my nation or my name,
Cara adeo Superis, jacturaque vilior orbis,
Mors hominum, et sævo tanta inclementia cœlo est ;
Quid meruere Argi? me, me divûm optime, solum
Objecisse caput fatis præstabit, an illud
Lene magis cordi, quod desolata domorum
Tecta vides? ignique datis cultoribus omnis
Lucet ager? sed quid fando tua tela nianusque
Demoror? expectant matres, supremaque fundunt
Vota mihi. Satis est: merui, ne parcere velles.
Proinde move pharetras, arcusque intende sonoros,
Insignemque animam leto demitte: sed illum
Pallidus Inachiis qui desuper imminet Argis,
Dum morior, depelle globum. Fors æqua merentes
Respicit. Ardentem tenuit reverentia cædis
Latoïdem, tristemque viro summissus honorem
Largitur vitæ. Nostro mala nubila cœlo
Diffugiunt; at tu stupefacti a limine Phœbi
Exoratus abis. Inde hæc stata sacra quotannis
Solennes recolunt epulæ, Phœbeiaque placat
Templa novatus honos. Has forte invisitis aras.
Vos quæ progenies? quanquam Calydonius (Eneus,
Et Parthaoni (dudum si certus ad aures
Clamor iit tibi jura domûs: tu pande quis Argos
Advenias quando hæc variis sermonibus hora est.
Dejecit mæstos extemplo Ismenius heros
In terram vultus, taciteque ad Tydea læsum
Obliquare oculos. Tum longa silentia movit :
Non super hos divûm tibi sum quærendus honores
Unde genus, quæ terra mihi: quis defluat ordo

Or through what veins our ancient blood has roll'd?
Let the sad tale for ever rest untold!
Yet if, propitious to a wretch unknown,
You seek to share in sorrows not your own;
Know then, from Cadmus I derive my race,
Jocasta's son, and Thebes my native place."
To whom the king (who feit his generous breast
Touch'd with concern for his unhappy guest)
Replies:-" Ah why forbears the son to name
His wretched father, known too well by Fame?
Fame, that delights around the world to stray,
Scorns not to take our Argos in her way.
Ev'n those who dwell where suns at distance roll,
In northern wilds, and freeze beneath the pole ;
And those who tread the burning Libyan lands,
The faithless Syrtes, and the moving sands;
Who views the western sea's extremest bounds,
Or drink of Ganges in their eastern grounds,
All these the woes of Edipus have known,
Your Fates, your Furies, and your haunted town.
If on the sons the parents' crimes descend,
What prince from those his lineage can defend?
Be this thy comfort, that 'tis thine t'efface
With virtuous acts thy ancestor's disgrace,
And be thyself the honour of thy race.
But see! the stars begin to steal away,
And shine more faintly at approaching day.
Now pour the wine; and in your tuneful lays
Once more resound the great Apollo's praise."

Oh father Phoebus! whether Lycia's coast
And snowy mountains thy bright presence boast;
Whether to sweet Castalia thou repair,
And bathe in silver dews thy yellow hair;
Or, pleas'd to find fair Delos float no more,
Delight in Cynthus, and the shady shore;
Or chuse thy seat in Ilion's proud abodes,
The shining structures rais'd by labouring gods ;
By thee the bow and mortal shafts are borne ;
Eternal charms thy blooming youth adorn :

Sanguinis antiqui, piget inter sacra fateri.
Sed si præcipitant miserum cognoscere curæ,
Cadmus origo patrum, tellus Mavortia Thebæ,
Et genitrix Jocasta mini. Tum motus Adrastus
Hospitiis (agnovit enim) quid nota recondis?
Scimus, ait: nec sic aversum fama Mycenis
Volvit iter. Regnum, et furias, oculosque pudentes
Novit et Arctoïs si quis de solibus horret,
Quique bibit Gangen, aut nigrum occasibus intrat
Oceanum, et si quos incerto littore Syrtes
Destituunt: ne p rge queri, casusque priorum
Annumerare tibi. Nostro quoque sanguine multum
Erravit pietas; nec culpa nepotibus obstat.
Tu modo dissimilis rebus mereare secundis
Excusare tuos. Sed jam temone supino
Languet Hyperboreæ glacialis portitor ursæ.
Fundite vina focis, servatoremque parentum
Latoïden votis iterumque iterumque canamus.
Phoebe parens, seu te Lycia Pataræa nivosis
Exercent dunieta jugis, seu rore pudico
Castalia flavos amor est tibi mergere crines:
Seu Trojam Thymbræus habes, ubi fama volentem
Ingratis Phrygios humeris subiisse molares :
Seu juvat gæum feriens Latonins umbra
Cynthus, et assiduam pelago non quærere Delon :
Tela tibi, longeque feros lentandus in hostes
Arcus, et ætherii dono cessere parentes
Fternum florere genas. Tu doctus iniquas
Parcarum prænosse minas, fatumque quod ultra est;
Et summo placitura Jovi. Quis letifer annus,
Bella quibus populis, mutent quæ sceptra cometa

Skill'd in the laws of secret fate above,
And the dark counsels of almighty Jove,
'Tis thine the seeds of future war to know,
The change of sceptres, and impending woe,
When direful meteors spread through glowing air
Long trails of light, and shake their blazing hair.
Thy rage the Phrygian felt, who durst aspire
T" excel the music of thy heavenly lyre;
Thy shafts aveng'd lewd Tityus' guilty flame,
Th' immortal victim of thy mother's fame;
Thy hand slew Python, and the dame who lost
Her numerous offspring for a fatal boast.
In Phlegya's doom thy just revenge appears,
Condemn'd to furies and eternal fears;
He views his food, but dreads, with lifted eye,
The mouldering rock that trembles from on high.
Propitious hear our prayer, Ó power divine!
And on thy hospitable Argos shine,
Whether the style of Titan please thee more,
Whose purple rays th' Achæmenes adore;
Or great Osiris, who first taught the swain
In Pharian fields to sow the golden grain;
Or Mitra, to whose beams the Persian bows,
And pays, in hollow rocks, his awful vows;
Mitra, whose head the blaze of light adorns,
Who grasps the struggling heifer's lunar horns.

Tu Phryga submittis citharæ. Tu matris honori
Terrigenam Tityon Stygiis extendis arenis.
Te viridis Python, Thebanaque mater ovantem,
Horruit in pharetris. Ultrix tibi torva Megæra
Jejunum Phlegyam subter cava saxa jacentem
Eterno premit accubitu, dapibusque profanis
Instimulat: sed mista famem fastidia vincunt.
Adsis ô memor hospitii, Junoniaque arva
Dexter ames; seu te roseum Titana vocari
Gentis Achæmeniæ ritu, seu præstat Osirin
Frugiferum, seu Persei sub rupibus antri
Indignata sequi torquentem cornua Mitram.

THE FABLE OF DRYOPE.
FROM OVID'S METAMORPHOSES, BOOK IX.

SHE said, and for her lost Galanthis sighs,
When the fair consort of her son replies:
Since you a servant's ravish'd form bemoan,
And kindly sigh for sorrows not your own;
Let me (if tears and grief permit) relate
A nearer woe, a sister's stranger fate.
No nymph of all Echalia could compare
For beauteous form with Dryope the fair,
Her tender mother's only hope and pride
(Myself the offering of a second bride).
This nymph, compress'd by him who rules the day,
Whom Delphi and the Delian isle obey,
Andræmon lov'd; and, bless'd in all those charms
That pleas'd a god, succeeded to her arms.

DIXIT: et, admonitu veteris commota ministræ,
Ingemuit: quam sie nurus est adfata dolentem:
Te tamen ô genitrix, alienæ sanguine vestro
Rapta movet facies. quid si tibi mira sororis [que
Fata meæ referam? quanquam lacrymæque dolor-
Impediunt, prohibentque loqui. fuit unica matri
(Me pater ex alia genuit) notissima formâ

chalidum Dryope: quam virginitate carentem, Vimque Dei passam, Delphos Delonque tenentis, Excipit Andræmon; et habetur conjuge felix.

A lake there was, with shelving banks around, Whose verdant summit fragrant myrtles crown'd. These shades, unknowing of the Fates, she sought, And to the Naiads flowery garlands brought; Her smiling babe (a pleasing charge) she prest Within her arms, and nourish'd at her breast. Not distant far, a watery lotos grows; The spring was new, and all the verdant boughs, Adorn'd with blossoms, promis'd fruits that vie In glowing colours with the Tyrian dye : Of these she cropp'd to please her infant son; And I myself the same rash act had done, But lo! I saw (as near her side I stood) The violated blossoms drop with blood. Upon the tree I cast a frightful look; The trembling tree with sudden horrour shook. Lotis the nymph (if rural tales be true), As from Priapus' lawless lust she flew, Forsook her form; and, fixing here, became A flowery plant, which still preserves her name. This change unknown, astonish'd at the sight, My trembling sister strove to urge her flight: And first the pardon of the nymphs implor'd, And those offended sylvan powers ador'd: But when she backward would have fled, she found Her stiffening feet were rooted in the ground: In vain to free her fastening feet she strove, And, as she struggles, only moves above; She feels th' encroaching bark around her grow By quick degrees, and cover all below: Surpris'd at this, her trembling hand she heaves To rend her hair; her hand is fill'd with leaves : Where late was hair, the shooting leaves are

seen

To rise, and shade her with a sudden green.
The child Amphissus, to her bosom press'd,
Perceiv'd a colder and a harder breast,
And found the springs, that ne'er till then deny'd
Their milky moisture, on a sudden dry'd.
I saw, unhappy! what I now relate,
And stood the helpless witness of thy fate,

Est lacus, acclivi devexo margine formam
Littoris efficiens: summum myrteta coronant.
Venerat huc Dryope fatorum nescia; quoque
Indignere magis, Nymphis latura coronas.
Inque sinu puerum, qui nondum impleverat annum,
Dulce ferebat onus; tepidique ope lactis alebat.
Haud procul a stagno, Tyrios imitata colores,
In spem baccarum florebat aquatica lotos.
Carpserat hinc Dryope, quos oblectamina nato
Porrigeret, flores: et idem factura videbar;
Namque aderam. Vidi guttas e store cruentas
Decidere; et tremulo ramos horrore moveri.
Scilicet, ut referunt tardi nunc denique agrestes,
Lotis in hanc nymphe, fugiens obscoena Priapi,

Contulerat versos, servato nomine, vultus.

Nescierat soror hoc; quæ cum perterrita retro
Ire, et adoratis vellet discedere nymphis,
Hæserunt radice pedes. Convellere pugnat: [imo,
Nec quidquam, nisi Summa, movet. succrescit ab
Totaque paulatim lentus premit inguina cortex.
Ut vidit, conata manu laniare capillos,
Fronde manum implevit : frondes caput omne tene-
bant.

At puer Amphissos (namque hoc avus Eurytus illi
Addiderat nomen) materna rigescere sentit
Ubera nec sequitur ducentem lacteus humor.
Spectatrix aderam fati crudelis; opemque
Non poteram tibi ferre, soror: quantumque valebam,

Embrac'd thy boughs, thy rising bark delay'd,
There wish'd to grow, and mingle shade with shade.
Behold Andræmon and th' unhappy sire
Appear, and for their Dryope inquire;
A springing tree for Dryope they find,
And print warm kisses on the panting rind;
Prostrate, with tears their kindred plant bedew,
And close embrace as to the roots they grew.
The face was all that now remain'd of thee.
No more a woman, nor yet quite a tree;
Thy branches hung with humid pearls appear,
From every leaf distils a trickling tear,
And strait a voice, while yet a voice remains,
Thus through the trembling boughs in sighs com-
plains:

"If to the wretched any faith be given,

I swear by all th' unpitying powers of Heaven,
No wilful crime this heavy vengeance bred;
In mutual innocence our lives we led:
If this be false, let these new greens decay,
Let sounding axes lop my limbs away,
And crackling flames on all my honours prey !
But from my branching arms this infant bear,
Let some kind nurse supply a mother's care:
And to his mother let him oft be led,
Sport in her shades, and in her shades be fed;
Teach him, when first his infant voice shall frame
Imperfect words, and lisp his mother's name,
To hail this tree; and say, with weeping eyes,
Within this plant my hapless parent lies:
And when in youth he seeks the shady woods,
Oh, let him fly the crystal lakes and floods,
Nor touch the fatal flowers; but warn'd by me,
Believe a goddess shrin'd in every tree.
My sire, my sister, and my spouse, farewell!
If in your breasts or love or pity dwell,
Protect your plant, nor let my branches feel
The browzing cattle, or the piercing steel.
Farewell! and since I cannot bend to join
My lips to yours, advance at least to mine.
My son, thy mother's parting kiss receive,
While yet thy mother has a kiss to give.

Crescentem truncum ramosque amplexa, morabar:
Et (fateor) volui sub eodem cortice condi.
Ecce vir Andræmon, genitorque miserrimus, adsunt;
Et quærunt Dryopen: Dryopen quærentibus illis
Ostendi loton. Tepido dant oscula ligno,
Adfusique sue radicibus arboris hærent.
Nil nisi jam faciem, quod non foret arbor, habebat
Cara soror. Lacrymæ verso de corpore factis
Irrorant foliis ac dum licet, oraque præstant
Vocis iter, tales effundit in aëra questus.
Si qua fides miseris, hoc me per numina juro
Non meruisse nefas. Patior sine crimine pœnam.
Viximus innocuæ: si mentior, arida perdam,
Quas habeo, frondes; et cæsa securibus uran
Hunc tamen infantem maternis demite ramis,
Et date nutrici; nostraque sub arbore sæpe
Lac facitote bibat; nostraque sub arbore ludat..
Cumque loqui poterit, matrem facitote salutet,
Et tristis dicat: Latet hoc sub stipite mater.
Stagna tamen timeat; nec carpat ab arbore flores:
Et frutices omnes corpus putet esse Dearum.
Care, vale, conjux, et tu germana, paterque!
Quis si qua est pietas, ab acutæ vulnere falcis,
A pecoris morsu frondes defendite nostras.
Et quoniam mihi fas ad vos incumbere non est,
Erigite huc artus, et ad oscula nostra venite,
Dum tangi possunt, parvumque attollite natum,

I can no more; the creeping rind invades
My closing lips, and hides my head in shadęs :
Remove your hands; the bark shall soon suffice
Without their aid to seal these dying eyes."

She ceas'd at once to speak, and ceas'd to be;
And all the nymph was lost within the tree;
Yet latent life through her new branches reign'd,
And long the plant a human heat retain'd.

Plura loqui nequeo; nam jam per candida mollis Colla liber serpet; summoque cacumine condor. Ex oculis removete manus: sine munere vestro Contegat inductus morientia lumina cortex. Desierant simul ora loqui, simul esse: diuque Corpore mutato rami caluere recentes.

VERTUMNUS AND POMONA. FROM OVID'S METAMORPHOSES, BOOK : THE fair Pomona flourish'd in his reign: Of all the virgins of the sylvan train, None taught the trees a nobler race to bear, Or more improv'd the vegetable care. To her the shady grove, the flowery field, The streams and fountains, no delights could yield j 'Twas all her joy the ripening fruits to tend, And see the boughs with happy burthens bend. The hook she bore instead of Cynthia's spear, To lop the growth of the luxuriant year, To decent form the lawless shoots to bring, And teach th' obedient branches where to spring. Now the cleft rind inserted grafis receives, And yields an offspring more than Nature gives; Now sliding streams the thirsty plants renew, And feed their fibres with reviving dew.

These cares alone her virgin breast employ, Averse from Venus and the nuptial joy. Her private orchards, wall'd on every side, To lawless sylvans all access deny'd. How oft the Satyrs and the wanton Fawns, Who haunt the forest, or frequent the lawns, The god whose ensign scares the birds of prey, And old Silenus, youthful in decay, Employ'd their wiles and unavailing care, To pass the fences, and surprise the fair! Like these, Vertumnus own'd his faithful flame, Like these, rejected by the scornful dame. REGE Sub hoc Pomona fuit: quâ nulla Latinas Inter Hamadryadas coluit solertius hortos, Nec fuit arborei studiosior altera fœtûs: Unde tenet nomen. Non sylvas illa, nec amnes Rus amat, et ramos felicia poma ferentes. Nec jaculo gravis est, sed aduncâ dextera falce: Quâ modò luxuriem premit, et spatiantia passim Brachia compescit; fissâ modò cortice virgam Inserit; et succos alieno præstat alumno. Nec patitur sentire sitim; bibulæque recurvas Radicis fibras labentibus irrigat undis. [cupida Hie amor, hoc studium: Veneris quoque nulla Vim tamen agrestûm metuens, pomaria claudit Intus, et accessus prohibet, refugitque viriles. Quid non et Satyri, saltatibus apta juventus, Fecere, et pinu præcincti cornua Panes, Sylvanusque suis semper juvenilior annis, Quique Deus fures, vel falce, vel inguine terret, Ut potirentur eâ? sed enim superabat amando Hos quoque Vertumnus; neque erat felicior illis

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To gain her sight a thousand forms he wears:
And first a reaper from the field appears,
Sweating he walks, while loads of golden grain
O'ercharge the shoulders of the seeming swain.
Oft o'er his back a crooked scythe is laid,
And wreaths of hay his sun-burnt temples shade:
Oft in his harden'd hand a goad he bears,
Like one who late unyoak'd the sweating steers.
Sometimes his pruning-hook corrects the vines,
And the loose stragglers to their ranks confines.
Now gathering what the bounteous year allows,
He pulls ripe apples from the bending boughs.
A soldier now, he with his sword appears;
A fisher next, his trembling angle bears.
Each shape he varies, and each art he tries,
On her bright charms to feast his longing eyes.
A female form at last Vertumnus wears,
With all the marks of reverend age appears,
His temples thinly spread with silver hairs:
Propp'd on his staff, and stooping as he goes,
A painted mitre shades his furrow'd brows.
The god, in this decrepit form array'd,
The gardens enter'd, and the fruit survey'd ;
And "
Happy you?" (he thus address'd the maid)
"Whose charms as far all other nymphs out-shine,
As other gardens are excell'd by thine!"
Then kiss'd the fair; (his kisses warmer grow
Than such as women on their sex bestow ;)
Then, plac'd beside her on the flowery ground,
Beheld the trees with autumn's bounty crown'd.
An elm was near, to whose embraces led,
The curling vine her swelling clusters spread:
He view'd her twining branches with delight,
And prais'd the beauty of the pleasing sight.
"Yet this tall elm, but for his vine" (he said)
"Had stood neglected, and a barren shade;
And this fair vine, but that her arms surround
Her marry'd elm, had crept along the ground.
Ah, beauteous maid! let this example move
Your mind, averse from all the joys of love:
Deign to be lov'd, and every heart subdue!
What nymph could e'er attract such crouds as you?

O quoties habitu duri messoris aristas
Corbe tulit, verique fuit messoris imago!
Tempora sæpe gerens fœno religata recenti,
Defectum poterat gramen versasse videri.
Sæpe manu stimulos rigida portabat; ut illum
Jurares fessos modo disjunxisse juvencos.
Falce data frondator erat, vitisque putator:
luduerat scalas, lecturum poma putares:
Miles erat gladio, piscator arundine sumpta.
Denique per multas aditum sibi sæpe figuras
Reperit, ut caperet spectatæ gaudia formæ.
Ille etiam picta redimitus tempora mitra,
Innitens baculo, positis ad tempora canis,
Adsimulavit anum: cultosque intravit in hortos;
Pomaque mirata est: Tantoque potentior, inquit,
Omnibus es nymphis, quas continet Albula ripis ;
Salve, virginei flos intemerate pudoris.

Paucaque laudatæ dedit oscula; qualia nunquam
Vera dedisset anus: glebaque incurva resedit,
Suspiciens pandos autumni pondere ramos.
Ulmus erat contra, spatiosa tumentibus uvis :
Quam socia postquam pariter cum vite probavit ;
At si staret, ait, cœlebs, sine palmite truncus,
Nil præter frondes, quare peteretur, haberet.
Hæc quoque, quæ juncta vitis requiescit in ulmo,
Si non nupta foret, terræ adclinata jaceret.
Tu tamen exemplo non tangeris arboris hujus,
Concubitusque fugis: nec te conjungere curas.
VOL XIL

P

Not she whose beauty urg'd the Centaur's arms,
Ulysses' queen, nor Helen's fatal charms.
Ev'n now, when silent scorn is all they gain,
A thousand court you, though they court in vain,
A thousand sylvans, demigods, and gods,
That haunt our mountains, and our Alban woods.
But if you'll prosper, mark what I advise,
Whom age and long experience render wise,
And one whose tender care is far above
All that these lovers ever felt of love,
(Far more than e'er can by yourself be guess'd)'
Fix on Vertumnus, and reject the rest.
For his firm faith I dare engage my own;
Scarce to himself, himself is better known.
To distant lands Vertumnus never roves;
Like you, contented with his native groves;
Nor at first sight, like most, admires the fair;
For you he lives; and you alone shall share
His last affection, as his early care.
Besides, he's lovely far above the rest,
With youth immortal, and with beauty blest.
Add, that he varies every shape with ease,
And tries all forins that may Pomona please.
But what should most excite a mutual flame,
Your rural cares and pleasures are the same.
To him your orchard's early fruit are duc,
(A pleasing offering when 'tis made by you)
He values these; but yet (alas!) complains,
That still the best and dearest gift remains.
Not the fair fruit that on you branches glows
With that ripe red th' autumnal sun bestows;
Nor tasteful herbs that in these gardens rise,
Which the kind soil with milky sap supplies;
You, only you, can move the god's desire:
Oh, crown so constant and so pure a fire!
Let soft compassion touch your gentle mind;
Think, 'tis Vertumnus begs you to be kind :
So may no frost, when early buds appear,
Destroy the promise of the youthful year;
Nor winds, when first your florid orchard blows,
Shake the light blossoms from their blasted boughs!"
This when the various god had urg'd in vain,
He straight assum'd his native form again;

Atque utinam velles! Helene non pluribus esset
Sollicitata procis: nec quæ Lapitheïa movit
Prælia, nec conjux timidis audacis Ulyssei.
Nunc quoque, cum fugias averserisque petentes,
Mille proci cupiunt; et semideique deique,
Et quæcunque tenent Albanos numina montes.
Sed tu, si sapies, si te bene jungere, anumque
Hanc audire voles, (quæ te plus omnibus illis
Plus quam credis, amo) vulgares rejice tædas:
Vertumnumque tori socium tibi selige: pro quo
Me quoque pignus habe, neque enim sibi notior ille
Quam mihi, nec toto passim vagus errat in orbe. [est,
Hæc loca sola colit; nec, uti pars magna procorum,
Ardor eris; solique suos tibi devovet annos.
Quam modo vidit, amat. tu primus et ultimus illi
Adde, quod est juvenis: quod naturale decoris
Munus habet; formasque apte fingetur in omnes :
Et, quod erit jussus (jubeas licet omnia) fiet. [tur,
Quid, quod amatis idem? quod, quæ tibi poma colun-
Primus habet; lætaque tenet tua munera dextra?
Sed neque jam fœtus desiderat arbore demtos,
Nec, quas hortus alit, cum succis mitibus herbas;
Nec quidquam, nisi te. miserere ardentis: et ipsum,
Qui petit, ore meo præsentem crede precari.—
Sic tibi nec vernum nascentia frigus adurat
Poma; nec excutiant rapidi florentia venti,

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