EGE sub hoc Pomona fuit: qua nulla Latinas
Inter Hamadryadas coluit folertius hortos, Noc fuit arborei ftudiofior altera foetus : Unde tenet nomen. non sylvas illa, nec amnes; 5 Rus amat, et ramos felicia poma ferentes. Nec jaculo gravis eft, fed adunca dextera falce:
IO Qua modo luxuriem premit, et spatiantia paffim Brachia compescit ; fiffa modo cortice virgam Inserit; et succos alieno praestat alumno. Nec patitur sentire fitim: bibulaeque recurvas 15 Radicis fibras labentibus irrigat undis. Hic amor, hoc ftudium: Veneris quoque nulla cupido.
Froin the FOURTEENTH Book of
TH
H E 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 flow'ry field,
5
The streams and fountains, no delights could yield;
'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, IO
To decent form the lawless shoots to bring,
And teach th' obedient branches where to spring.
Now the cleft rind inserted graffs 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.
Vim tamen agreftûm metuens, pomaria claudit
Intus, et accessus prohibet refugitque virilcz. 20
Quid non et Satyri, saltatibus apta juventus,
Fecere, et pinu praecincti cornua Panes,
Sylvanusque suis semper juvenilior annis,
Quique Deus fures, vel falce, vel inguine terret,
Ut poterentur ea? sed enim superabat amando 25
Hos quoque Vertumnus : neque erat felicior illis.
O quoties habitu duri mesoris aristas
Corbe tulit, verique fuit messoris imago!
Tempora faepe gerens foeno religata recenti,
Defe&tum poterat gramen verfaffe videri.
Saepe manu stimulos rigida portabat; ut illum 35
Jurares fessos modo disjunxiffe juvencos.
Falce data frondator erat, vitisque putator.
Induerat scalas, lecturum poma putares.
Miles erat gladio, pifcator arundine fumta.
Denique per multas aditum fibi faepe figuras
Repperit, ut caperet spectatae gaudia formae.
Her private orchards, wall’d on ev'ry sides
To lawless sylvans all access deny'd.
20
How oft the Satyrs and the wanton Fawns,
Who haunt the forests, 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, 25
To pass the fences, and surprize the fair?
Like these, Vertumnus own'd his faithful Aame,
Like these, rejected by the scornful 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 shoulders of the seeming fwain.
Oft o'er his back a crooked scythe is laid,
And wreaths of hay his fun-burnt temples shade:
Oft in his harden'd hand a goad he bears, 35
Like one who late unyok'd the sweating steers.
Sometimes his pruning-hook corrects the vines,
And the loose ftraglers to their ranks confines.
Now gath’ring what the bounteous year allows,
He pulls ripe apples from the bending boughs.
A soldier now, he with his sword appears ;
A filher next, his trembling angle bears ;
Each shape he varies, and each art he tries,
On her bright charms to feast his longing eyes.
Ille etiam picta redimitus tempora mitra, 45
Innitens baculo, pofitis ad tempora canis,
Adfimulavit anum : cultofque intravit in hortos;
Pomaque mirata est: Tantoque potentior, inquit,
Paucaque laudatae dedit ofcula ; qualia nunquam
Vera dedisset anus : glebaque incurva resedit,
Suspiciens pandos autumni pondere ramos.
Ulmus erat contra, spatiosa tumentibus uvis: 60
Quam focia poftquam pariter cum vite probavit ;
At fi ftaret, ait, coelebs, fine palmite truncus,
Nil praeter frondes, quare peteretur, haberet.
Haec quoque, quae juncta vitis requiescit in ulmo,
Si non nupta foret, terrae adclinata jaceret.
Tu tamen exemplo non tangeris arboris hujus;
Concubitusque fugis ; nec te conjungere curas.
Atque utinam velles ! Helene non pluribus effet
Sollicitata procis: nec quae Lapitheïa movit
Proelia, nec conjux timidis audacis Ulyflei.
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