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 streams and fountains no delights could yield;
'Twas all her joy the rip'ning fruits to tend,
And see the boughs with happy burthens bend.
The hook fhe bore inftead 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 fpring.
Now the cleft rind inferted 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.
Her private orchards, wall'd on ev'ry fide,
To lawless fylvans all access deny'd.
How oft the Satyrs and the wanton Fawns,
Who haunt the forefts, or frequent the lawns,
Fecere, et pinu praecincti cornua Panes,
Sylvanufque fuis 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 mefforis ariftas
Corbe tulit, verique fuit mefforis imago!
Tempora faepe gerens foeno religata recenti,
Defectum poterat gramen verfaffe videri.
Saepe manu ftimulos rigida portabat; ut illum
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 faepe figuras
Repperit, ut caperet fpectatae gaudia formae.
Ille etiam picta redimitus tempora mitra,
Innitens baculo, pofitis ad tempora canis,
Adfimulavit anum: cultofque intravit in hortos;
Pomaque mirata eft: Tantoque potentior, inquit.
Paucaque
The God whofe enfign fcares the birds of prey,
And old Silenus, youthful in decay,
Employ'd their wiles, and unavailing care,
To pass the fences, and furprize the fair?
Like thefe, Vertumnus own'd his faithful flame,
Like thefe, rejected by the scornful dame.
To gain her fight a thoufand 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.
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,
Like one who late unyok'd the fweating steers.
Sometimes his pruning-hook corrects the vines,
And the loose stragglers 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.
A female form at laft Vertumnus wears,
With all the marks of rev'rend age appears,
His temples thinly spread with filver hairs
Prop'd on his staff, and stooping as he goes,
A painted mitre fhades his furrow'd brows.
Paucaque laudatae dedit ofcula; qualia nunquam
Vera dediffet anus: glebaque incurva refedit,
Sufpiciens pandos autumni pondere ramos.
Ulmus erat contra, fpatiofa tumentibus uvis:
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 requiefcit in ulmo,
Si non nupta foret, terrae adclinata jaceret.
Tu tamen exemplo non tangeris arboris hujus;
Concubitufque fugis; nec te conjungere curas.
Atque utinam velles! Helene non pluribus effet
Sollicitata procis: nec quae Lapitheïa movit
Proelia, nec conjux timidis audacis Ulyffei.
Nunc quoque, cum fugias averferifque petentes,
Mille proci cupiunt; et femideique deique,
Et quaecunque tenent Albanos numina montes.
Sed tu, fi fapies, fi te bene jungere, anumque
The god in this decrepit form array'd,
The gardens enter'd, and the fruit furvey'd ;
And "Happy you! (he thus address'd the maid)
"Whose charms as far all other nymphs outshine,
"As other gardens are excell'd by thine!"
Then kifs'd the fair; (his kiffes warmer grow
Than fuch as women on their sex bestow.)
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:
He view'd her twining branches with delight,
And prais'd the beauty of the pleasing fight.
Yet this tall elm, but for his vine (he faid)
Had stood neglected, and a barren shade;
And this fair vine, but that her arms furround
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 ev'ry heart fubdue!
What nymph could e'er attract fuch crouds as you? Not fhe whose beauty urg'd the Centaur's arms, Ulyffes' Queen, nor Helen's fatal charms.
when filent Scorn is all thy gain,
A thousand court you, tho' they court in vain,
A thousand fylvans, demigods, and gods,
That haunt our mountains and our Alban woods.
But if you'll profper, mark what I advise,
Whom age and long experience render wife,
|