EGE fub hoc Pomona fuit: qua nulla Latinas
Inter Hamadryadas coluit folertius hortos,
Nec fuit arborei ftudiofior altera fœtus:
Unde tenet nomen. non fylvas illa, nec amnes;
Rus amat, et ramos felicia poma ferentes.
Nec jaculɔ gravis eft, fed adunca dextera falce :
Qua modo luxuriem premit, et fpatiantia paffim
Brachia compefcit; fiffa modo cortice virgam
Inferit; et fuccos alieno præftat alumno.
Nec patitur fentire fitim; bibulæque recurvas
Radicis fibras labentibus irrigat undis.
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 the bore instead of Cynthia's fpear,
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.
VER. 15. Now fliding freams]" Sliding" is a very happy expreffion. Let me observe in this place, that the watering mea. dows, which is confidered as so great an improvement in modern agriculture, was practifed by the ancients, as appears evidently from the line,
"Claudite jam rivos, Pueri, fat prata biberunt." Virg. Geor. The turning water into orchards, to nourish the roots of the trees, is pointed out by Horace :
“Tiburni lucus, et uda Mobilibus pomaria rivis."
Hic amor, hoc ftudium: Veneris quoque nulla cupido.
Vim tamen agreftûm metuens, pomaria claudit
Intus, et acceffus prohibet refugitque viriles.
Quid non et Satyri, faltatibus apta juventus,
Fecere, et pinu præcincti 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 fæpe gerens fœno religata recenti,
Defectum poterat gramen verfaffe videri.
Sæpe 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 fæpe figuras
Repperit, ut caperet fpectatæ gaudia formæ.
These cares alone her virgin breast employ,
Averse from Venus and the nuptial joy.
Her private orchards, wall'd on ev'ry side,
To lawless fylvans all access deny'd.
How oft the Satyrs and the wanton Fawns,
Who haunt the forefts, or frequent the lawns,
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 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 fhade:
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 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 feaft his longing eyes.
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 laudatæ 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, cœlebs, fine palmite truncus,
Nil præter frondes, quare peteretur, haberet.
Hæc quoque, quæ juncta vitis requiefcit in ulmo,
Si non nupta foret, terræ 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 quæ Lapitheïa movit
Prœlia, nec conjux timidis audacis Ulyssei.
Nunc quoque, cum fugias averferifque petentes,
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