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 seeming 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.
Ut potirentur eâ ? Sed enim fuperabat amando
Hos quoque Vertumnus: neque erat felicior illis.
O quoties habitu duri messoris aristas
Corbe tulit, verique fuit messoris imago!
Tempora fæpe gerens fæno religata recenti,
Defectum poterat gramen versasse videri.
Sæpe manu ftimulos rigida portabat; ut illum
Furares fessos modo disjunxisse juvencos.
Falce datâ, frondator erat, vitisque putator.
Induerat fcalas, lecturum poma putares.
A foldier 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 rev'rend age appears,
His temples thinly spread with silver hairs;
Prop'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 fruits survey'd,
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 plae'd befide her on the flow'ry ground,
Beheld the trees with autumn's bounty crown'd.
Miles erat gladio, piscator arundine fumtâ,
Denique per multas aditum fibi fæpe figuras
Repperif, ut caperet spectata gaudia forme.
Ille etiam pictâ redimitus tempora mitrá,
Innitens baculo, pofitis ad tempora canis
Adfimulavit anum: cultosque intravit in hortos ;
Pomaque mirata eft: Tantoque potentior, inquit.
Paucaque laudatæ dedit ofcula; qualia nunquam
Vera dedisset anus: glebâque incurva refedit,
Sufpiciens pandos autumni pondere ramos.
An Elm was near, to whose embraces led,
The curling vine her swelling clusters spread:
He view'd their twining branches with delight,
And prais'd the beauty of the pleasing fight.
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 ev'ry heart subdue!
What nymph cou'd e'er attract such crouds as you? 70
Not she whose beauty urg'd the Centaurs arms,
Ulyffes' Queen, nor Helen's fatal charms.
Ulmus erat contra, spatiosa tumentibus uvis:
Quam fociâ poftquam pariter cum vite probavit;
At fi ftaret, ait, cælebs fine palmite truncus,
Nil præter frondes, quare peteretur, haberet.
Hæc quoque, quæ junctâ vitis requiefcit in ulmo,
Si non nupta foret, terræ 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 quæ Lapitheia movit
Prælia, nec conjux timidis audacis Ulixei.
Ev'n now, when filent scorn is all they gain,
A thousand court you, tho' 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 wife,
And one whose tender care is far above
All that these lovers ever felt of love,
(Far more than e'er can by your self be guest)
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 fight, like most, admires the fair;
For you he lives; and you alone shall share
His last affection, as his early care.
Nunc quoque, cum fugias averserisque petentes,
Mille proci cupiunt; & semideique, deique,
Et quæcunque tenent Albanos numina montes.
Sed tu, fi fapies, fi te bene jungere, anumque
Hanc audire voles, (quæ te plus omnibus illis,
Plus quam credis, amo) vulgares rejice tædas:
Vertumnumque tori focium tibi delige: pro quo
Me quoque pignus habe. neque enim fibi notior ille eft,
Quam mihi. nec toto passim vagus errat in orbe,
Hæc loca fola colit; nec uti pars magna procorum,
Quam modo vidit, amat; tu primus & ultimus illi
Ardor eris; folique fuos tibi devovet annos.
Besides, he's lovely far above the reft,
With youth immortal, and with beauty bleft.
Add, that he varies ev'ry shape with ease,
And tries all forms that may Pomona please.
But what should most excite a mutual flame,
Your rural cares, and pleasures, are the fame :
To him your orchards early fruits are due,
(A pleasing off'ring 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 yon' branches glows
With that ripe red th' autumnal fun bestows;
Nor tafsteful herbs that in these gardens rise,
Which the kind foil with milky fap supplies;
You, only you, can move the God's defire:
Oh crown so constant and so pure a fire!
Let soft compaffion touch your gentle mind;
Think, 'tis Vertumnus begs you to be kind!
Adde, quod eft juvenis : quod naturale decoris
Munus habet: formasque aptè fingetur in omnes:
Et, quod erit jussus (jubeas licet omnia) fiet.
Quid, quod amatis idem? quod, quæ tibi poma coluntur,
Primus habet; lætâque tenet tua munera dextrâ?
Sed neque jam fætus defiderat arbore demtos,
Nec, quas hortus alit, cum fuccis mitibus herbas;
Nec quidquam, nifi te. Miserere ardentis: & ipfum,
Qui petit, ore meo præfentem crede precari.
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