EGE fub hoc Pomona fuit: qua nulla Latinas
Inter Hamadryadas coluit folertius hortos,
Nec fuit arborei studiosior altera foetus:
Unde tenet nomen. non sylvas illa, nec amnes; 5
Rus amat, et ramos felicia poma ferentes.
Nec jaculo gravis est, sed adunca dextera falce: 10
Qua modo luxuriem premit, et spatiantia paffim
Brachia compefcit; fissa modo cortice virgam
Inferit; et fuccos alieno praeftat alumno.
Nec patitur fentire sitim: bibulaeque recurvas
Radicis fibras labentibus irrigat undis.
Hic amor, hoc studium: Veneris quoque nulla cupido.
ΡΟΜΟΝΑ.
From the FOURTEENTH Book of
OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.
HE fair Pomona flourish'd
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,
The streams and fountains, no delights could yield;
'Twas all her joy the ripening fruits to tend,
And fee 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 graffs receives,
And yields an offspring more than nature gives ;
Now fliding 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 agrestûm metuens, pomaria claudit
Intus, et acceffus prohibet refugitque viriles.
Quid non et Satyri, saltatibus apta juventus,
Fecere, et pinu praecinci cornua Panes,
Sylvanusque suis femper juvenilior annis,
Quique Deus fures, vel falce, vel inguine terret,
Ut poterentur ea? fed enim fuperabat amando
Hos quoque Vertumnus: neque erat felicior illis.
O quoties habitu duri messoris ariftas
Corbe tulit, verique fuit messoris imago!
Tempora faepe gerens foeno religata recenti,
Defectum poterat gramen versaffe videri.
Saepe manu stimulos rigida portabat; ut illum
Jurares feffos modo disjunxisse juvencos.
Falce data frondator erat, vitisque putator.
Induerat fcalas, lecturum poma putares.
Miles erat gladio, pifcator arundine sumta.
Denique per multas aditum sibi faepe figuras
Repperit, ut caperet spectatae gaudia formae.
Her private orchards, wall'd on ev'ry side,
To lawless sylvans all access deny'd.
How oft the Satyrs and the wanton Fawns,
Who haunt the forefts, 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 surprize the fair ?
Like these, Vertumnus own'd his faithful flame,
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 feeming swain.
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,
Like one who late unyok'd the sweating steers.
Sometimes his pruning-hook corrects the vines,
And the loose straglers to their ranks confines.
Now gath'ring what the bounteous year allows,
He pulls ripe apples from the bending boughs.
A foldier now, he with his fword 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.
Ille etiam picta redimitus tempora mitra,
Innitens baculo, positis ad tempora canis,
Adfimulavit anum: cultosque intravit in hortos;
Pomaque mirata eft: Tantoque potentior, inquit,
Paucaque laudatae dedit ofcula; qualia nunquam
Vera dedisset anus: glebaque incurva refedit,
Sufpiciens pandos autumni pondere ramos.
Ulmus erat contra, spatiosa tumentibus uvis:
Quam socia poftquam pariter cum vite probavit;
At fi ftaret, ait, coelebs, fine palmite truncus,
Nil praeter frondes, quare peteretur, haberet.
Haec quoque, quae juncta vitis requiefcit 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 esset
Sollicitata procis: nec quae Lapitheïa movit
Proelia, nec conjux timidis audacis Ulyssei.
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