From OVID'S METAMORPHOSIS, Book XIV.
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 flowery field,
The streams and fountains, no delights could yield;
'Twas all her joy thè ripening fruits to tend,
And fee the boughs with happy burthens bend.
The hook the bore inftead of Cynthia's fpear,
To lop the growth of the luxuriant year,
To decent form the lawless fhoots to bring,
And teach th' obedient branches where to fpring.
EGE fub hoc Pomona fuit: qua nulla Latinas
Inter Hamadryadas coluit folertius hortos,
Nec fuit arborei ftudiofior altera foetus:
Unde tenet nomen. non fylvas illa, nec amnes;
Rus amat, et ramos felicia poma ferentes.
Nec jaculo gravis eft, fed adunca dextera falce:
Qua modo luxuriem premit, et spatiantia passim
Brachia compefcit; fiffa modo cortice virgam
Inferit; et fuccos alieno praeftat alumno,
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,
Averfe from Venus and the nuptial joy.
Her private orchards, wall'd on every fide,
To lawless fylvans all accefs deny'd.
How oft the Satyrs and the wanton Fawns,
Who haunt the forests, 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 thefe, rejected by the fcornful dame.
Nec patitur fentire fitim; bibulaeque recurvas
Radicis fibras labentibus irrigat undis.
Hic amor, hoc ftudium: Veneris quoque
Vim tamen agreftûm metuens, pomaria claudit
Intus, et acceffus prohibet refugitque viriles.
Quid non et Satyri, faltatibus apta juventus,
Fecere, et pinu praecincti cornua Panes,
Sylvanufque fuis femper juvenilior annis,
Quique Deus fures, vel falce, vel inguine terret,
Ut potirentur ea? fed enim fuperabat amando
Hos quoque Vertumnus: neque erat felicior illis.
O quoties habitu duri mefforis ariftas
Corbe tulit, verique fuit mefforis imago!
To gain her fight a thousand forms he wears:
And firft 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 fcythe 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 unyoak'd the sweating steers.
Sometimes his pruning-hook corrects the vines,
And the loofe ftragglers to their ranks confines.
Now gathering 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.
A female form at laft Vertumnus wears,
With all the marks of reverend age appears,
His temples thinly fpread with filver hairs;
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, vitisque putator :
Induerat scalas, lecturum poma putares :
Miles erat gladio, pifcator arundine fumta.
Denique per multas aditum fibi faepe figuras
Repperit, ut caperet spectatae gaudia formae.
Ille etiam picta redimitus tempora mitra,
Prop'd on his staff, and stooping as he goes,
A painted mitre fhades his furrow'd brows.
The God in this decrepit form array'd,
The gardens enter'd, and the fruit furvey'd;
And "Happy you! (he thus addrefs'd the maid)
"Whofe charms as far all other nymphs out-fhine,
"As other gardens are excell'd by thine!"
Then kifs'd the fair; (his kiffes warmer grow
Than fuch as women on their fex bestow.)
Then plac'd befide her on the flowery 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;
Innitens baculo, pofitis ad tempora canis,
Adfimulavit anum : cultofque intravit in hortos;
Pomaque mirata eft: Tantoque potentior, inquit.
Paucaque laudatae dedit ofcula: qualia nunquam
Vera dediffet anus glebaque incurva resedit,
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 peterctur, haberet.
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 every heart fubdue!
What nymph could e'er attract fuch crouds as you? 70
Not fhe whofe beauty urg'd the Centaur's arms,
Ulyffes' Queen, nor Helen's fatal charms.
Ev'n now,
A thousand court you, though they court in vain,
A thoufand 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,
And one whofe tender care is far above
All that thefe lovers ever felt of love,
when filent fcorn is all they gain,
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 Ulyssei.
Nunc quoque. cum fugias averserifque petentes,
Mille proci cupiunt; et femideique deique,
Et quaecunque tenent Albanos numina montes.
Sed tu, fi fapies, fi te bene jungere, anumque
Hanc audire voles, (quae te plus omnibus illis
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