GEORGICS. BOOK IV. Now while th' aerial honey's nectar der. Crown the long labours of thy votive bart Their chiefs illustrious, and fremuarter is First, seek a station where no ruttes gout The wanton kids that bound from fowe: 1 kome Heifers whose roving steps the meadow bruise, Thyme breathe her soul of fragrance on the gale, Alike, if hollow cork their fabric form, Or flexile twigs enclose the settled swarm, With narrow entrance guard the shelter'd cell, Thou aid their toil! with mud their walls o'erlay, Nor crabs on glowing embers taint the blast; Now when the sun beneath the realms of night Dark winter drives, and robes the heavens with light, The bees o'er hill and dale, from flower to flower, In grove and lawn the purple spring devour, Sip on the wing, and lightly brushing lave Their airy plumage in th' undimpled wave. Hence with unusual joy in fondling mood Cling to their nests, and rear their cherish'd brood, And thicken, as they hive, the honied dew. Lo! from their cells when swarms through æther stream, And float at noon along the liquid beam, And on the breeze that rings beneath their flight Observe them as they wind aloft their way, Where groves o'ershade, and crystal fountains play : There strow each rifled herb that breathes of spring, There the bruis'd baum and honey-suckle fling; And tinklings raise, while echo rings around, And Cybele's tost cymbals shrilly sound. Provoke the foe, and loud defiance sound. |