In Phlegyas' doom thy juft revenge appears,
Condemn'd to furies and eternal fears;
He views his food, but dreads, with lifted eye,
The mould'ring rock that trembles from on high.
Propitious hear our pray'r, O pow'r divine!
And on thy hofpitable Argos fhine,
Whether the ftyle of Titan please thee more,
Whofe purple rays th' Achæmenes adore;
Or great Ofiris, who first taught the swain
In Pharian fields to fow the golden grain;
Or Mitra, to whose beams the Perfian bows,
And pays, in hollow rocks, his awful vows;
Mitra, whofe head the blaze of light adorns,
Who grafps the struggling heifer's lunar horns.
Jejunum Phlegyam fubter cava faxa jacentem
terno premit accubitu. dapibufque profanis Inftimulat: fed mifta famen faftidia vincunt. Adfis o, memor hofpitii, Junoniaque arva Dexter ames; feu te rofeum Titaná vocari Gentis Achæmeniæ ritu, feu præstat Ofirin Frugiferum, feu Perfei fub rupibus antri Indignata fequi torquentem cornua Mitram.
From the 14th book of Ovid's Metamorphofes.
HE fair Pomona flourish'd in his reign; Of all the virgins of the fylvan train, None taught the trees a nobler race to bear, Or more improv'd the vegetable care. To her the fhady grove, the flow'ry field, The ftreams and fountains, no delights could yield; 'Twas all her joy the rip'ning fruits to tend, And fee the boughs with happy burthens bend. The hook the bore inftead of Cynthia's fpear, To lop the growth of the luxuriant year, To decent form the lawless fhoots to bring, And teach th' obedient branches where to spring.
VERTUMNUS ET POMONA.
REGE fub hoc Pomona fuit: quae nulla La
İnter Hamadryadas coluit folertius hortos,
Nec fuit arborei ftudiofior altera foetus:
Unde tenet nomen. non fylvas illa, nec amnes; 5
Rus amat, et ramos felicia poma ferentes.
Nec jaculo gravis eft, fed adunca dextera falce:
Qua modo luxuriem premit, et fpatiantia paffim
Brachia compefcit: fiffa modo cortice virgam
Now the cleft rind inferted graffs receives,
And yields an offspring more than Nature gives;
Now fliding ftreams the thirty plants renew,
And feed their fibres with reviving dew.
Thefe cares alone her virgin breast employ,
Averfe from Venus and the nuptial joy.
Her private orchards, wall'd on ev'ry fide,
To lawless fylvans all accefs deny'd.
How oft the Satyrs and the wanton Fawns,
Who haunt the forefts and frequent the lawns,
The God whofe enfign fcars the birds of prey,
And old Silenus, youthful in decay,
Employ'd their wiles and unavailing care,
To pafs the fences, and furprise the fair?
Like thefe, Vertumnus own'd his faithful flame,
Like thefe, rejected by the fcornful dame.
To gain her fight a thousand forms he wears:
And first a reaper from the field appears,
Sweating he walks, while loads of golden grain
O'ercharge the fhoulders of the feeming fwain.
Inferit; et fuccos alieno præftat alumno,
Nec patitur fentire fitim: bibulæque recurvas 15
Radicis fibras labentibus irrigat undis.
Hic amor, hoc ftudium: Veneris quoque
Vim tamen agreftum metuens, pomaria claudit
Intus; et acceffus prohibit refugitque viriles.
Quid non et Satyri, faltatibus apta juventus,
Fecere, et pinu præcincti cornua Panes,
Sylvanufque fuis femper juvenilior annis,
Quique deus fures vel falce vel inguine terret,
Ut poterentur ea? fed enim fuperabat amando 25
Hos quoque Vertumnus: neque erat felicior illis.
O quoties habitu duri mefforis aristas
Oft o'er his back a crooked fcythe is laid,
And wreaths of hay his fun-burnt temples fhade:
Oft in his harden'd hand a goad he bears, 35
Like one who late unyok'd the fweating fteers.
Sometimes his pruning-hook corrects the vines,
And the loofe ftragglers to their ranks confines.
Now gath'ring what the bounteous year allows,
He pulls ripe apples from the bending boughs. 40
A foldier now, he with his fword appears;
A fisher next, his trembling angle bears;
Each shape he varies, and each heart he tries,
On her bright charms to feast his longing eyes.
A female form at last Vertumnus wears, 45
With all the marks of rev'rend age appears,
His temples thinly fpread with filver hairs;
Propp'd on his ftaff, and ftooping as he goes,
A painted mitre fhades his furrow'd brows.
The god in this decrepit form array'd,
The gardens enter'd, and the fruit furvey'd;
And, "Happy you," he thus addrefs'd the maid,)
Corbe tulit; verique fuit mefforis imago!
Tempora fæpe gerens fœno religata recenti,
Defectum poterat gramen versaffe videri
Sæpe manu limulos rigida portabat; ut illum 35
Jurares feffos modo disjunxiffe juvencos.
Falce data frondator erat, vitifque putator :
Induerat fcalas, lecturum poma putares.
Miles erat gladio, pifcator arundine fumta.
Denique per multas aditum fibi fæpe figuras
Repperit, ut caperet fpeatæ gaudia formæ.
Ille etiam picta redimitus tempora mitra,
Innitens baculo, pofitis ad tempora canis,
Adfimulavit anum: cultofque intravit in hortos;
Whofe
Whofe charms as far all other nymphs outfhine, "As other gardens are excell'd by thine!" Then kifs'd the fair; (his kiffes warmer grow 55 Than fuch as women on their fex beftow). Then plac'd befide her on the flow'ry ground, Beheld the trees with autumn's bounty crown'd. An elm was near, to whofe embraces led, The curling vine her fwelling clusters spread: 60 He view'd her twining branches with delight, And prais'd the beauty of the pleafing fight.
Yet this tall elm, but for his vine, (he faid), Had flood neglected, and a barren shade; And this fair vine, but that her arms furround 65 Her marry'd elm, had crept along the ground. Ah! beauteous maid, let this example move Your mind, averfe from all the joys of love. Deign to be lov'd, and every heart fubdue! What nymph could e'er attract fuch crowds as you? Not the whofe beauty urg'd the Centaur's arms, Ulyffes' Queen, nor Helen's fatal charms.
Pomaque mirata eft: Tantoque potentior, inquit.
Paucaque laudatæ dedit ofcula; qualia nunquam
Wera dediffet anus: glebaque incurva refedit,
Sufpiciens pando autumni pondere ramos.
Ulmus erat contra, fpaciofa tumentibus uvis: 60
Quam focia poftquam pariter cum vite probavit ;
At fi ftaret, ait cœlebs, fine palmite truncus,
Nil præter fondes, quare peteretur, haberet.
Hæc quoque, quæ juncta vitis requiefcit in ulmo,
Si non nupta foret, terræ adclinata jaceret.
Tu tamen exemplo non tangeris arboris hujus;
Concubitufque fugis; nec te conjungere curas.
Atque utinam velles! Helene non pluribus effet
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