Fair recompense of labour well bestow'd, And wise precaution; which a clime so rude Makes needful still, whose Spring is but the child Of churlish Winter, in her froward moods Discov'ring much the temper of her sire. For oft, as if in her the stream of mild Maternal nature had revers'd its course, She brings her infants forth with many smiles; But once deliver'd kills them with a frown. He, therefore, timely warn'd, himself supplies Her want of care, screening and keeping warm The plenteous bloom, that no rough blast may sweep His garlands from the boughs. Again, as oft As the Sun peeps and vernal airs breathe mild, The fence withdrawn, he gives them ev'ry beam, And spreads his hopes before the blaze of day. To raise the prickly and green-coated gourd, So grateful to the palate, and when rare So coveted, else base and disesteem'd- Food for the vulgar merely-is an art That toiling ages have but just matur'd, And at this moment unassay'd in song.
Yet gnats have had, and frogs and mice long since, Their eulogy; those sang the Mantuan bard, And these the Grecian, in ennobling strains; And in thy numbers, Philips, shines for aye The solitary shilling. Pardon then, Ye sage dispensers of poetic fame,
Th' ambition of one meaner far, whose pow'rs Presuming an attempt not less sublime, Pant for the praise of dressing to the taste Of critic appetite, no sordid fare,
A cucumber, while costly yet and scarce. The stable yields a stercoraceous heap, Impregnated with quick fermenting salts, And potent to resist the freezing blast: For, ere the beech and elm have cast their leaf Deciduous, when now November dark
Checks vegetation in the torpid plant Expos'd to his cold breath, the task begins. Warily therefore, and with prudent heed, He seeks a favour'd spot; that where he builds Th' agglomerated pile his frame may front The sun's meridian disk, and at the back Enjoy close shelter, wall, or reeds, or hedge Impervious to the wind. First he bids spread Dry fern or litter'd hay, that may imbibe Th' ascending damps; then leisurely impose, And lightly, shaking it with agile hand From the full fork, the saturated straw. What longest binds the closest forms secure The shapely side, that as it rises takes, By just degrees, an overhanging breadth, Shelt'ring the base with its projected eaves; Th' uplifted frame, compact at ev'ry joint, And overlaid with clear translucent glass, He settles next upon the sloping mound, Whose sharp declivity shoots off secure From the dash'd pane the deluge as it falls. He shuts it close, and the first labour ends. Thrice must the voluble and restless Earth Spin round upon her axle, ere the warmth, Slow gath'ring in the midst, through the square mass Diffus'd, attain the surface: when, behold! A pestilent and most corrosive steam, Like a gross fog Boeotian, rising fast, And fast condens'd upon the dewy sash, Asks egress; which obtain'd, the overcharg'd And drench'd conservatory breathes abroad, In volumes wheeling slow, the vapour dank; And, purified, rejoices to have lost
Its foul inhabitant. But to assuage Th' impatient fervour, which it first conceives Within its reeking bosom, threat'ning death To his young hopes, requires discreet delay. Experience, slow preceptress, teaching oft
The way to glory by miscarriage foul,
Must prompt him, and admonish how to catch Th' auspicious moment, when the temper'd heat, Friendly to vital motion, may afford
Soft fomentation, and invite the seed. The seed, selected wisely, plump, and smooth, And glossy, he commits to pots of size Diminutive, well filled with well-prepar'd And fruitful soil, that has been treasur'd long, And drank no moisture from the dripping clouds. These on the warm and genial earth, that hides The smoking manure, and o'erspreads it all, He places lightly, and, as time subdues The rage of fermentation, plunges deep In the soft medium, till they stand immers❜d. Then rise the tender germs, upstarting quick, And spreading wide their spongy lobes; at first Pale, wan, and livid; but assuming soon, If fann'd by balmy and nutritious air, Strain'd through the friendly mats, a vivid green. Two leaves produc'd, two rough, indented leaves, Cautions he pinches from the second stalk A pimple, that portends a future sprout, And interdicts its growth. Thence straight succeed The branches, sturdy to his utmost wish; Prolific all, and harbingers of more.
The crowded roots demand enlargement now, And transplantation in an ampler space. Indulg'd in what they wish, they soon supply Large foliage, o'ershadowing golden flow'rs, Blown on the summit of th' apparent fruit. These have their sexes! and, when summer shines, The bee transports the fertilizing meal From flow'r to flow'r, and e'en the breathing air Wafts the rich prize to its appointed use. Not so when winter scowls. Assistant Art Then acts in Nature's office, brings to pass The glad espousals, and ensures the crop.
Grudge not, ye rich, (since Luxury must have His dainties, and the World's more num'rous half Lives by contriving delicates for you),
Grudge not the cost. Ye little know the cares, The vigilance, the labour, and the skill, That day and night are exercis'd, and hang Upon the ticklish balance of suspense, That ye may garnish your profuse regales With summer fruits brought forth by wintry suns. Ten thousand dangers lie in wait to thwart
The process. Heat and cold, and wind, and steam, Moisture and drought, mice, worms, and swarming flies,
Minute as dust, and numberless, oft work
Dire disappointment, that admits no cure, And which no care can obviate. It were long, Too long, to tell th' expedients and the shifts, Which he that fights a season so severe Devises, while he guards his tender trust; And oft at last in vain. The learn'd and wise Sarcastic would exclaim, and judge the song Cold as its theme, and like its theme the fruit Of too much labour, worthless when produc'd. Who loves a garden loves a green-house too. Unconscious of a less propitious clime, There blooms exotic beauty, warm and snug, While the winds whistle, and the snows descend. The spiry myrtle with unwith'ring leaf Shines there, and flourishes. The golden boast Of Portugal and western India there, The ruddier orange, and the paler lime, Peep through their polish'd foliage at the storm, And seem to smile at what they need not fear. Th' amomum there with intermingling flow'rs And cherries hangs her twigs. Geranium boasts Her crimson honours; and the spangled beau, Ficoides, glitters bright the winter long. All plants, of ev'ry leaf, that can endure
The winter's frown, if screen'd from his shrewd bite, Live there, and prosper. Those Ausonia claims, Levantine regions these; th' Azores send Their jessamine, her jessamine remote Caffraia: foreigners from many lands, They form one social shade, as if conven'd By magic summons of th❜ Orphean lyre. Yet just arrangement, rarely brought to pass But by a master's hand, disposing well The gay diversities of leaf and flow'r, Must lend its aid t' illustrate all their charms, And dress the regular yet various scene. Plant behind plant aspiring, in the van The dwarfish, in the rear retir'd, but still Sublime above the rest, the statelier stand. So once were rang'd the sons of ancient Rome, A noble show! while Roscius trod the stage, And so, while Garrick, as renown'd as he, The sons of Albion; fearing each to lose Some note of nature's music from his lips, And covetous of Shakspeare's beauty, seen In ev'ry flash of his far-beaming eye. Nor taste alone and well-contriv'd display Suffice to give the marshall'd ranks the grace Of their complete effect. Much yet remains Unsung, and many cares are yet behind, And more laborious; cares on which depends Their vigour, injur'd soon, not soon restor'd The soil must be renew'd, which often wash'd Loses its treasure of salubrious salts,
And disappoints the roots; the slender roots Close interwoven, where they meet the vase Must smooth be shorn away; the sapless branch Must fly before the knife; the wither'd leaf Must be detach'd, and where it strews the floor Swept with a woman's neatness, breeding else Contagion, and disseminating death. Discharge but these kind offices, (and who
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