MARIA ftill our rifing mirth deftroys,
Darkens our triumphs, and forbids our joys.
But fee, at length, the British ships appear!
Our NASSAU comes! and as his fleet draws near,
The rifing mafts advance, the fails
grow white,
And all his pompous navy floats in fight.
Come, mighty Prince, defir'd of Britain, come!
May heav'n's propitious gales attend thee home!
Come, and let longing crowds behold that look,
Which fuch confufion and amazement ftrook
Through Gallic hosts: but, oh! let us defcry
Mirth in thy brow, and pleasure in thy eye;
Let nothing dreadful in thy face be found,
But for a-while forget the trumpet's found;
Well pleas'd, thy people's loyalty approve,
Accept their duty, and enjoy their love.
For as when lately mov'd with fierce delight,
You plung'd amidst the tumult of the fight,
Whole heaps of death encompass'd you around,
And fteeds o'er-turn'd lay foaming on the ground;
So crown'd with laurels now, where-e'er you go,
Around you blooming joys, and peaceful bleffings flow.
Except the Story of ARISTAUS.
Thereal fweets fhall next my Muse
And this, Mecenas, claims your patronage,
Of little creatures wondrous acts I treat,
The ranks and mighty leaders of their state,
Their laws, employments, and their wars relate.
A trifling theme provokes my humble lays,
Trifling the theme, not fo the Poet's praife,
If great Apollo and the tuneful Nine
Join in the piece, and make the work divine.
First, for your bees a proper ftation find,
That's fenc'd about, and shelter'd from the wind;
For winds divert them in their flight, and drive
The fwarms, when loaden homeward, from their hive.
Nor fheep, nor goats, must pasture near their ftores,
To trample under foot the fpringing flowers 3
Nor frifking heifers bound about the place,
To fpurn the dew-drops off, and bruife the rifing grass:
Nor muft the lizard's painted brood appear,
Nor wood pecks, nor the swallow harbour near.
They waste the fwarms, and as they fly along
Convey the tender morfels to their young.
Let purling freams, and fountains edg'd with mofs,
And fhallow rills run trickling through the graft;
Let branching olives.o'er the fountain grow,
Or palms fhoot up, and fhade the ftreams below;
That when the youth, led by their princes, fhun
The crowded hive, and fport it in the fun,
Refreshing springs may tempt 'em from the heat,.
And fhady coverts yield a cool retreat.
Whether the neighb'ring water ftands or runs,
Lay twigs across and bridge it o'er with ftones;
That if rough forms, or fudden blafts of wind
Should dip, or scatter those that lag behind,.
Here they may fettle on the friendly stone,
And dry their reeking pinions at the fun.
Plant all the flow'ry banks with Lavender,
With store of Sav'ry feent the fragrant air,
Let running Betony the field o'erspread,
And fountains foke the Violet's dewy bed.
Tho' barks and plaited willows make your hive,
A narrow inlet to their cells contrive;
For colds congele and freeze the liquors up,
And, melted down with heat, the waxen buildings drop,
The Bees, of both extremes alike afraid,
Their wax around the whistling crannies fpread,
And fuck out clammy dews from herbs and flow'rs,
To fmear the chinks, and plaifter up the pores:
For this they hoard up glew, whofe clinging drops,
Like pitch, or birdlime, hang in ftringy ropes."
They oft, 'tis faid, in dark retirements dwell,
And work in fubterraneous caves their cell; -
At other times th' induftrious infects-live
In hollow rocks, or make a tree their hive.
Point all their chinky lodgings round with mud,
And leaves must thinly on your work be ftrow'd ;-
. But let no baleful yew-tree flourish near,
Nor rotten marshes fend out fteams of mire ;
Nor burning crabs grow red, and crackle in the fire.
Nor neighb'ring caves return the dying found,
Nor echoing rocks the doubled voice rebound.
Things thus prepar'd
When th' under-world is feiz'd with cold and night,
And fummer here descends in ftreams of light,
The bees thro' woods and forefts take their flight,
They rifle ev'ry flow'r, and lightly skim
The crystal brook, and fip the running stream:
And thus they feed their young with strange delight,
And knead the yielding wax, and work the flimy sweet. But when on high you see the Bees repair,
Borne on the wind, thro' distant tracts of air,
And view the winged cloud all blackning from afar ;
While fhady coverts, and fresh steams they chufe,
Milfoil and common honey fuckles bruife,
And fprinkle on their hives the fragrant juice.
On brazen veffels beat a tinkling found,
And shake the cymbals of the goddess round;
Then all will haftily retreat, and fill
The warm refounding hollow of their cell.
If once two rival kings their right debate,
And factions and cabals embroil the state,
The people's actions will their thoughts declare;
All their hearts tremble, and beat thick with war;
Hoarfe broken founds, like trumpets' harth alarms,
Run thro' the hive, and call 'em to their arms;
All in a hurry fpread their shiv'ring wings,
And fit their claws, and point their angry ftings:
In crowds before the king's pavilion meet,
And boldly challenge out the foe to fight;
At laft, when all the heav'ns are warm and fair,
They rush together out, and join; the air
Swarms thick, and echoes with the humming war.
All in a firm round cluster mix, and strow
With heaps of little corps the earth below;
As thick as hail-ftones from the floor rebound,
Or fhaken acorns rattle on the ground.
No fenfe of danger can their king's control,
Their little bodies lodge a mighty foul:
Each obftinate in arms pursues his blow,
'Till fhameful flight fecures the routed foe,
This hot difpute and all this mighty fray
A little duft flung upward will allay.
|