FROM THE

FOURTEENTH BOOK

OF

OVID'S METAMORPHOSES.

THE 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 ftreams and fountains, no delights could yield;
'Twas all her joy the rip'ning 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 forms the lawless fhoots to bring,
And teach th' obedient branches where to spring.
Now the cleft rind inferted graffs receives,
And yields an offspring more than Nature gives;
Now fliding ftreams the thirsty plants renew,
And feed their fibres with reviving dew.

These cares alone her virgin breaft employ,
Averfe from Venus and the nuptial joy.

REGE fub hoc Pomona fuit: quâ nulla Latinas
Inter Hamadryadas coluit folertiùs hortos,
Nec fuit arborei ftudiofior altera foetûs:
Undè tenet nomen. Non Sylvas-illa, nec amnes;
Rus amat, et ramos felicia poma ferentes.
Nec jaculo gravis eft, fed aduncâ dextera falce :
Quâ modò luxuriem premit, et fpatiantia paffim
Brachia compefcit; fiffà modò cortice virgam
Inferit; et fuccos alieno præftat alumno.
Nec patitur fentire fitim: bibulæque recurvas
Radicis fibras labentibus irrigat undis.

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Hic amor, hoc ftudium; Veneris quoque nulla cupido. Vim tamen agreftum metuens, pomaria claudit

VOL. II.

B

Her private orchards, wall'd on ev'ry fide,
To lawless fylvans all accefs 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 país the fences, and furprife 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 feeming fwain.
Oft' o'er his back a crooked scythe is laid,
And wreaths of hay his funburnt temples fhade:
Oft' in his harden'd hand a goad he bears,
Like one who late unyok'd the fweating fteers.
Sometimes his pruning-hook corrects the vines,
And the loose ftragglers to their ranks confines.
Now gath'ring what the bounteous year allows,
Here pulls ripe apples from the bending boughs.
A foldier now, he with his fword appears;
A fisher next, his trembling angle bears:

Intus: et acceffus prohibet refugitque viriles.
Quid non et fatyri faltatibus apta juventus,
Fecêre, et pinu præcincti cornua panes,
Sylvanufque fuis semper juvenilior annis;
Quique Deus fures, vel falce, vel inguine terret,
Ut potirentur eâ? 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 verfâffe videri.
Sæpe manu ftimulos rigidâ portabat; ut illum
Jurares feffos modò disjunxiffe juvencos.
Falce datâ frondator erat, vitifque putator:
Induerat fcalas, lecturum poma putares :
Miles erat gladio, pifcator arundine fumptâ.

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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 :
Propp'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 survey'd ;
And, " Happy you!" he thus addrefs'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 fex bestow ;)
Then, plac'd beside her on the flow'ry ground,
Beheld the trees with autumn's bounty crown'd.
An elin 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 pleafing fight.

"Yet this tall elm, but for this vine," he faid,
"Had ftood neglected, and a barren shade;
And this fair vine, but that her arms furround
Her marry'd elm, had crept along the ground.

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Denique per multas aditum fibi sæpe figuras
Repperit, ut caperet fpectatæ gaudia formæ.
Ille etiam pictâ redimitus tempora mitrâ,
Innitens baculo, pofitis ad tempora canis,
Affimulavit anum: cultosque intravit in hortos ;
Pomaque mirata eft: Tantoque potentior, inquit,
Paucaque laudatæ dedit ofcula; qualia nunquam
Vera dediffet anus: glebâque incurva resedit,
Sufpiciens pandos autumni pondere ramos.
Ulmus erat contrà fpatiofa tumentibus uvis :
Quam fociâ poftquam pariter cum vite probavit ;
At fi ftaret, ait, cælebs, finè palmite truncus,
Nil præter frondes, quare peteretur, haberet.
Hæc quoque, quæ junctâ vitis requiefcit in ulmo, 65
Si non nupta foret, terræ acclinata jaceret.

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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 crowds as you?
Not the whofe beauty urg'd the Centaur's arms,
Ulyffes' queen, nor Helen's fatal charms.
E'en now, when filent fcorn is all they gain,
A thousand court you, tho' they court in vain,
A thousand sylvans, demi-gods, and gods,

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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,
(Far more than e'er can by yourself be guess'd;)
Fix on Vertumnus, and reject the reft:
For his firm faith I dare engage my own;
Scarce to himself himfelf is better known.
To diftant lands Vertumnus never roves;
Like you, contented with his native groves;
Nor at first fight, like moft, admires the fair;
For you he lives; and you alone shall share
His laft affection as his early care.

Tu tamen exemplo non tangeris arboris hujus;
Concubitûfque fugis; nec te conjungere curas.
Atque utinam velles! Helene non pluribus effet
Sollicitata procis: nec quæ Lapitheïa movit
Prælia, nec conjux timidis audacis Ulyffei.
Nunc quoque, cùm fugias averferifque, petentes,
Mille proci cupiunt; et femideique deique,
Et quæcunque tenent Albanos numina montes.
Sed tu, fi fapies, fi te bene jungere, anumque
Hanc audire voles, (quæ te plùs omnibus illis,
Plùs quàm credis, amo) vulgares rejice tædas:
Vertumnumque tori focium tibi felige: pro quo

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quoque pignus habe. Neque enim fibi notior ille eft Quam mihi. Nec toto paffim vagus errat in orbe. 85 Hæc loca fola colit. Nec uti pars magna procorum, Quam modò vidit, amat. Tu primus et ultimus illi