Th' inspected entrails could no fates foretel ;
Nor, laid on altars, did pore flames arise ;
But clouds of smouldering smoke forbade tbe sacri-
Scarcely the knifo was redden*d with his gore, [fice.
Or the black poison stain'd the sandy floor.
The thriven calves in meads their food forsake,
And render their sweet soaU before tbe plenteous
rack.
The fawning dog runs mad, tfce weasing swine
With cougtM M choked, and labours from the
ebine:
The victor horse, forgetfol of his food,
The palm renounces, and abhors the flood.
He paws the ground, and, on his hanging ears,
A doubtful sweat in clammy drops appears:
Parch'd is his hide, and rugged are his hairs.
Such are tbe symptoms of the young disease;
But in time's process, when his pains increase,
Be rolls his mournful eyes, be deeply groans
With patient sobbing, and with manly moans.
He heaves for breath : which from his longs
supply'd,
And fetohM from fbr, distends his labouring side.
To his rough palate, his dry tongue succeeds;
And ropy gore he from his nostrils bleeds.
A drench of wine has with success been us'd ;
And through a bom the generous juice infos'd i
Which timely taken op'cThis closing jaws ;
But, if too late, the patients death did cause.
For the too vigorous dose too fiercely wrought.
And added fin^r to the strength it brought.
Recruited into rage, he grinds his teeth
In his own flesh, and feeds approaching death.
Ye gods, to better fiite good men dispose,
And turn that impious errour on our foes !
The stetr, who to the yoke was bred to bow,
(Studious of tillage, and the crooked plough)
Falls down and dies, and dsring spews a flood
Of foamy madness, mix'd with clotted blood.
The clown, who, cursing Providence, rqpines.
His moumiFbl fellow from the team dit^oms :
With many a groan forsakes bis fruitless care.
And in th' nn&ish'd farrow leaves the share*
The pining steer no shades of lofty wobds.
Nor flowery meads, can ease ; nor crystal fleod^
Rotrd from the rock: his flabby flanks decrease;
His eyes are settled in a stupid peace.
His bulk too weighty for his thighs is grown ;
And his unwieldy neck hangs drooping down.
Now what avails his well-deserving toil.
To turn the glebe, or smooth the nigged soU f
And yet he never supp'd in solemn state,
Nor undigested feasts did urge bis fote ;
N6r day to night luxuriously did join ;
Nor surfeited on rich Campanian wine.
Simple his beverage, homely was his food ;
Tlie wholesome herbegp, and the runnmg fined.
No dreadftil dreams awaked him with affright ;
His pains by day secur'd his rest by night.
'Twas then that buffaloes, ill peirM, were seen
To draw the car of Jove*s imperial queen.
For want of oxen ; and the labouring swain
SciatchM with a rake a furrow for his grsin :
And cover'd with his hand the shallow seed again.
He yokes himself, and op tbe hilly height.
With his own shoulders draws the waggou's weight.
The nightly wolf, that round th» enclosure prowPd
To leap the fence, now plots not on the fold :
Tam'd with a sharper pain, the fearful doe
And flying flag, amidst the greyhounds go;
And round the dwellings roam of man, their fiercer
The scaly nations of tbe sea profound, [ibe.
Like shipwreckM carcases are driven aground:
And mighty phocss, never seen before
Id shallow streams, are stranded on the shore.
Tbe viper dead within her hole b found ;
Defenceless was the shelter of the ground.
The watersnake, whom fish and paddocks fod.
With staring scales lies poisoned in his bed :
To birds their native Heavens contagious prove.
From doods they foil, and leave thdr sonls
above.
Besides, to change their pasture His in vaisf
Of trust to physic : physic is their bane.
The learned leaches in despair depart :
And shake their heads, desponding of their art
Tisiphone, let loose from under ground.
Majestically pale, now treads the round ;
Before her drives diseases and affright ;
And every moment rises to the sight :
Aspiring to the skies, encroaching on the light;
The rivers and their banks, and hills around, -
With lowings and with dying bleats resound.
At length, she strikes an universal blow :
To death at once whole herds of cattle go :
Sheep, oxen, horses foil ; and, heap'd on high.
The differing species in confusion He.
Till, wam'd by frequent ills, the way they fovnd.
To (odge their loathsome carrion under ground,^
For, useless to the currier were their hides ;
Nor could thrir tainted flesh with ocean tides
Be freed from filth : nor amid Vulcanian flame
Tbe stench abolish, or the savour tame.
Nor safely could they shear their fleecy store
(Made drunk with poisonous juice, and stiff* wMi
gore);
Or touch the web ; but if the vest they wear.
Red blisters rising on their paps appear,
And flammg carbuncles and noisome sweat.
And clammy dews, *lbat loathsome lice beget :
Till the slow creeping evil eats his way,
CoDsomes the parching limbs, and makes tiif
lifo his prey.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
VlRGlL^S GEORGlCa BOOK tV.
*u
TUB f091TH BOOB OF
THE GEORGIC&
THE AAGUMBM-r.
Viloa bas taken care to raise the sobjcct of the
geor^c. In the first he has only dead matter
on which to work. In the second he jnst strps
on the world of life, and describes that degree of
it which is to be found in vegetables. In the j
third he advances to animals : and in the last
singles out the bee, which may be reckoned
the most sagacious of them, for his subjf>ct
Id this georgic he shows us what station is most
proper for the bees, and when they begin to
gather honey ; how to call them home when
they swarm ; and how to part them when they
are engaged in battle. From hence be takes
occasion ^o discover their different kind ; and,
after an excursion, relates their prudent and
politic administration of af&irs, and the several
diseases that often rage in their hives, with the
proper symptoms and remedies of each disease.
In the last place he lays down a method of
repairing their kind, supposing their whole
I breed lost, and gives at large the history of its
inTentioQ.
J RB gifts of Heaven my following song'pursues,
Aerial honey, and ambrosial dews.
MflBcenas, read this other part, that sings
Embattled squadrons and adventurous kings ;
A mif hty pomp, though made of little things.
Their arms, their arts, their manners I disclose,
And how they war, and whence the people rose :
Slight is the subject, but the praise not 8mall>
If Heaven assist, and Phcebus bear my calL .
First, for thy bees a quiet sution find.
And lodge them under covert of the wind :
Por winds, when homeward they return, will drive
The loadt^ carriers from their evening hive.
Far from the cows' and goats' insulting crew.
That trample down the Aowers, and bru^h the dew :
The painted li;zard, and the birds of prey,
Foes of the frugal kind , be far away.
The titmouse, and the pecker's hungry brood.
And Progne, with her bosom stain'd in blood :
These rob the trading citizens, and bear
The tremblint? captives through the liquid air ;
And for their eallow young a cruel feast prepare.
But near a liviug stream their mansion place,
Edg'd ixKind with moss, and tufts of matted grass :
And plant (the wind*s impetuous rage to stop)
Mild olive-trees, or palms, before the -busy shop.
That when the 3routhful prince, with ptood alarm.
Calls out the venturous colony to swarm ; [wing,
'U'ben first their way through yielding air they
Kcw to the pleasures of their native spring ;
Th^ banks of brooks may make a cool retreat
For tha raw soldiers from the scalding beat :
And neighbouring trees, with friendly shade, invite
The titx»ps, unus'd to long laborious flight. *
Then oVo" the running stream, or standing lake,
A paasffge for tby weary people make ;
With osier-floats the standhig water strow;
Of massy stones make bridges, if it flow :
VOLXiX
That basking in the Sun thy bees may li«i
And resting there, their flaggy pinions dry.
When, late returning home, the laden host
By raging winds is wreck'd upon the coast
Wild thyme and savory set around their cell ;
Sweet to the taste, and fragrant to the smell )
Set rows of rosemary with flowering stem.
And let the purple violets drink the stream.
Whether thou build the palace of thy beet
With twilled osiers, or with barks of trees ;
Make but a narrow mouth : for as the cold
Congeals into a lump the liquid gold ;
So 'tis again dissolv'd by summer's heat,
And the sweet la|K)urs both extremes defeat
And therefore, not in vain, th' industrious kind
With dawby wax and flowers the chinks have lin'd*
And with their stores of gathered glue, contrive
To stop the vents and crannies of their hive.
Not birdlime, or Idean pitch, produce
A more tenadoos mass of clammy juice.
Nor bees are lodg'd in hives alone, but folmd
In chambers of their own, beneath the ground :
Their vanhed roofs are hung in pumices,
And in the rotten trunks of hollow trees.
But plaster thou the chinky hives with clay.
And leafy branches o'er their lodging lay.
Nor place them where too deep a water flows.
Or where the yew, their poisonous neigbbotir,
grows: ' [nw;
Nor roast red crabs t' offend the nioeness of their
Nor near the steaming stench of muddy ground:
Nor hollow rocks that render back the sound,
And doubled images of voice rebound.
For what remains, when golden suns appear.
And" under earth have driven the winter year ;
The winged nation wanders through the skies.
And o'er the plains and shady forest flies :
Then, stoopmg on the meads and ledfy bowers,
They skim the floods, and sip the purple floweni
Exalted hence, and drunk with secret joy.
The young succession all their cares employ : ^
They breed, they brood, instruct, and educate.
And make provision for the future state :
They work their waxen lodgings in their hives.
And labour honey to sustain their lives.
But when thou seest a swarming cloud arise, - '
That sweeps aloft, and darkens all the skies.
The motions of their hasty flight attend ;
And kuow to floods, or woods, their airy, march
they bend.
Then milfoil beat, and honeysuckles pound,
With these alluring savours strew the ground.
And mix with tinkling brass, the cymbal's droning
sound.
Straight to their ancient cells, recall'd ftom air
The reconciled deserters will repair.
But if intestine broils alarm the hive, /
(For two pretenders oft for empire strive)
The vulgar in divided factions jar ;
And murmuring sounds proclaim the civil war.
Inflam'd with ire, and trembling with disdain.
Scarce can their limbs their mighty souls contain.
With shouU the coward's courage they excite.
And martial clangors call them out to fight:
With hoarse alarms the hollow camp rebounds.
That imitetes the trumpet's angry sounds :
Then to their common sUndard they repair ;
The nimble horsemen scour the fields of air.
In form of battle drawn, they issue forth.
And every knight is proud to prove hit wortk
^ Digitized by Google
323
PRYDEN'S TRANSLATIONS.
Press'd fih* their cotmtry^s honour, aad their
king's.
On their sharp beaks they whet theirpointed stings;
And exercise their arms, and tremble with their
wings. ^
Full in the midst the haughty monarchs ride,
iThe trusty guards come up, and close the side ;
With shouts the daring foe to battle is defy'd.
Thus in the season of unclouded spring,
To war they follow their undaunted king:
Crowd through their gates, and in the fields of
light,
The shocking squadrons meet in mortal 6ght :
Headlong they fell from high, and pounded wound.
And heaps of slaughtered soldiers bite the ground.
Hard hailstones lie nor thicker on the plain,
Nor shaken oaks such showers of aooniMrain.
With gorgeous wings, the marks of soTeretgu
sway.
The two contending princes make their way ;
Intrepid through the midst of danger go ;
Their friends encourage, and amaze the foe.
With mighty souls in narrow bodies prest.
They ch^lenge, and encounter breast to breast;
So fix'd on fame, unknowing how to fly,
â– And obstinately bent to win or die;
That long the dohbtful combat they mahitain,'
Till one prevails (for one can only reign).
Yet all those dreadful deeds, this deadly fray,
A cast of scattered dust will soon allay ;
And undecided leave the fortune of the day.
When both the chiefs are sunder*d froip the fight.
Then to the lawful kmg restore his right.
And let the wasteful prodigal be slain,
That he, who best deserves, alone may reign.
With ease diatingubh'd is the regal Hice :
One monarch wears an honest open face :
ShapM to his size, and godlike to behoM, .
His royal body shines with specks of gold,
And ruddy scales ; for empire he designed.
Is better bom, and of a nobler kind. ,
That other lo^s like nature in disgrace.
Gaunt are his sides, and sullen is bis fisce:
And' like their grizzly prince appean his gloomy
race:
Grim, ghastly, rugged, like a thirsty train
That long have travelVd through a desert plain.
And spit from their dry chaps the gather'd dust
again.
The better brood, unlike the bastard crew.
Are maxk*d with royal streaks of shining hne ;
Glittering and ardent, though in body less :
Prom these, at 'pointed seasons, hope to preit
Huge heavy honeycombs, of golden juice,
- Not only sweet, but pure, and fit for use :
T' allay the strength and hardness of the wine,
And with old Bacchus, new metheglin join.
Sut when the swarms are eager of their play.
And loath their empty hives, and idly stray,
Restrain the wanton fugitives, and take
A timely care to bring the truants back.
TTie task is easy, but to clip the wiiigs
Of their bigh-iying arbitrary kings :
At their command, the people swarm away ;
Confine the tyrant, and the slaves will stay.
Sweet gardens, full of safiron flowers, invite
The wandering gluttons, and retard their flight
Besides the god obscene, who fVights away.
With his lath sword, the thieves and birds "
of prey.
With his own hand, the guardian of the beet,
For slips of pinei, may search the mountain trea:
And with wild thyme and savory plant the plain.
Till his hard* homy fingers ache with pain :
And deck with firuitful trees the fields around.
And with refreshing waters drench the gronnd*
Now, did I not so near my labours end.
Strike sail, and hastening to the harbour tandy
My song to flowery gardens might esjbokd.
To teach the vegetable arts to sing
The Prsstan roses, and their double spring :
How succory drinks the runf&ing stream, and how
Green beds of parsley near the river grow ;
How cucumbers along the surfkce creep.
With crooked bodies, and with bellies deqp.
The late narcissus, and the wmding trail
Of bears-foot, myrtles green, and ivy pale.
For where with stately towers Tarentum stands.
And deep Galesus soaks the yellow sands,
I chancM an old Conrcian awain to know,
Loid of few acres, and those barren too ;
Unfit for sheep or vmes, and more unfit to sow :
Yet, labouring well bis little spot of ground,
Some scattering pot-herbs' here and there be found :
Which, cultivated with his daily care.
And bruis'd with vervain, were his frugal fare. ,
Sometimes white lilies did theJr leaves afford.
With wholesome poppy-fiowers to mend his homely
board:
For late returning home he supp*d at ease.
And wisely deemed the werith of monarchs less:
The little of his own, because his own, did pleaseb
To quit his care, he gather^ first of all
In spring the roses, apples in the fkll :
And when cold winter split the rocks in twsun,
And ice the mnning rivers did restrain,
He stripped the bean-foot of its leafy growth.
And, calling western winds, accu|*d the spring of
sloth ;
He therefore first among the swains was fonnd,
To reap the product of his laboufd ground.
And squeeze the combs with golden uquor crownM.
His limes were first in flowers ; his Umy pinei.
With friendly shade, secured his tender vines.
For every bloom his trees in q>ring afford.
An autumn apple was by tale restored.
He knew to rank his elms in even rows :
For fruit the grafted pear-tree tb dispose :
And tame to plums, the sonmess of the sloes.
With spreading planes he made a cool retreat.
To shade good fellows from the summer's heat.
But, straitened in my space, t must forsake
This task ; for others afterwards to take.
Describe we next the nature of the bees,
Bestow'd by Jove for secret services ;
When, by the tinkling sound of timbrels led.
The king of Heaven in Cretan caves they fed.
Of all the ^ce of animals, alone
The bees have common cities of their own,
And common sons, beneath one law they liw.
And with one common stock their traflftc drivt.
Each has a certain home, a several stall :
All is the state's, the state provides for all.
Mmdfbl of coming cold, they share the pain:^
And hoard, for winter's use, the summer^ gain*
Some o'er the public magazines preside, '
And some are sent new forage to provide :
These dradge in fields abroad, and those at hotae
Lay deep fio^ndations for the laboured comb.
With dew, oaroissiia' leaves, and clammy fmn. '
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VIRGIL'S GEORGIC& BOOK IV.
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To pitch Qm wueu floonn^ tonid oontrivo }
Some none the liitare natiOD of the hive :
Sweet hooey- tome condense, lome parge the groat;
The lett, in celb apart, the liquid nectar shut.
All, with nnited force, combine to drive
The hay drooeafrom the laborioot hive.
With envy stung, they view each other's deeds : '
With diligence the fragrant work proceeds.
As when the Cyclops, at th' almighty nod,
Kew thunder hasten for their aogrv god ;
Sobdoed in lire the stubborn metal lies,
Ooe brawny smith the puffing bellows plies ;
And draws, and blows, reciprocating air :
Others to quench the hissing mass prepare :
Widi lilted arms they order every blow.
And chime their sounding hammers in a row :
With labour'd anvils JEtna groans below.
Strongly they strike, huge fMtes of flames expire^
With tongs they turn the steel, and vex it in the fire.
If little things with great we may compare,
Soch are the bees, and such their busy care :
Studious of honey, each in his degree.
The youthful swain, the grave experienced bee :
That in the field ; this in afiairs of state,
Brnployed at home, abides within the gate :
To fortiiy the combs, to build the wall,
To prop the ruins, lest the fiibric fall :
Bnt late at night, with weary phiions, come
The labouring youth, and heavy laden home.
Plains, meads, and orchards, all the day he plies;
The gleans of yellow thjrme distend his thighs^
He ^ils the saffron flowers, he sips the blues
Of violets, wilding blooms, and willow dews.
Their toil is common, common is their sleep ;
They shake their wings when mom begins to peep ;
Rash through the city-^tes without delay,
Vor ends their work but with declining day :
ITien, having spent the last remains of light.
They give tl^ir bodies due repose at night :
When hollow murmurs of their evenmg balls
Dismils the sleepy swains, and toll them to their
cells.
When once in beds their weary limbs they steep,
Ko buzzing sounds disturb their golden sleep,
*Tm sacred silence all. Nor dare they stray.
When rain is promis'd, or a stormy day :
But near the city-walb their watering take»
Kor forage for, but short excursions make.
And as when empty barks on billows float.
With sandy ballast sailors trim the boat,
So bees bear gravel-stones, whose poising weight
Steers thro* the whistling winds their steady flight
But, what^s more strange, th^ir ihodest sppetites.
Averse from Venus, fly the nuptial rites.
Ko hist enervates their heroic mind,
Kor wastes their strength on wantoi^ womankind,
But in their mouths reside their genial powers,
They gather children from the leaves and flowers.
ThoB make they kings to fill the regal seat :
' And thns their little citizetis create :
And waxen cities build, the palaces of state.
And oft on rocks their tender wings they tear.
And sink beneath the burthens which they bear.
Soch rage of honey in their bosom beats :
And such a zeal they have for flowery sweets.
Thns through the race of lifo they quickly run ;
Which in the space of seven short years is done ;
Th' immortal Kne in sore succession reigns,
The fortune of the fomily remains :
Aad gFaodnres' grandsons the lopg list ooutains.
Besidea, not Egypt, India, Media, more
With servile awe, their idol-king adore :
While he survives, in concord and content,
The commons live, by no divisions rent; [ment.
But the great monarch's death dissolves the govern*
All goes to ruin, they themselves contrive
To rob the honey, and subvert the hive.
The king presides, his subjects' toil survejrs ;
The servile rout their careful Caesar praise :
Him they extol, they worship him alone :
They crowd his levees, and support his throne:
They raise him on their shoulders with a' shout:
And, when their soTereign's quarrel calb them outy
His foes to mortal combat they defy.
And think it honour,at his feet to die.
Induc'd by such examples, some have taught
Hiat bees have portions of etherial thought:
Endu'd with particles of heavenly fires :
For God the whole created mass inspires ; [throws
Through Heaven, and Earth, and Ocean's depth he
His influence round, and kindles as he goes, [fowls.
Hence flocks, and herds, and men, and beasts, and
With breath are quicken'd, and attract their souls.
Hence take the forms his prescience didordain.
And into him at length resolve again.
No room is left for death, they mount the sky.
And to their own congenial planets fly.
Now when thou hast decreed to seize their stores^
And by prerogative to break their doors i
With sprinkled water first the city choke.
And then pursue the citizens with smoke.
Two honey-harvests fall in every year :
First, when the pleasing Pleiades appear.
And, sprrogiog upward, spurn the briny seas :
Again, when their affrighted quire surveys
The watery Scoipion mend his pace behind.
With a black train of storms, and winter wind.
They plunge into the deep, and safe protection find*
Prone to revenge, the beies, a wrathful race.
When once provok'd, assault th' aggressor*s faoe i
And through the purple veins a passage ^nd ;
There fix their stings, and leave their souls behind*
But if a pinching winter thou foresee.
And wouldst preserve thy famish'd family;
With fragrant thyme the city fumigate.
And break the waxen walls to save l^e states
For lurking lizards often lodge, by stealth.
Within the suburbs, and purk>in their wealth :
And lizards, shunning light, a dark retreat
Have found in combs, and underminM the seat.
Or lazy drones, without their share of pain.
In winter-quarters free, devour the grain :
Or wasps hifest the camp with loud adarms^
And mix in battle with unequal arms :
Or secret meths are there in silence fed ;
Or spiders in the vault their snary webs have spread.
The more oppress'd by foes, or famme pin'd.
The more increase thy care to sive the sinking kind.
With greens and flowers recruit their empty hives.
And seek fresh forage to sustain their lives.
But since they share with man one common fate^
In health and sickness, and in turns of state ;
Observe the sjrmptoms when they fall away.
And languish with insensible decay. [star^
They change their hue, with haggard eyes they
Lean are their looks, and shagged is their hairs
And crowds of dead, that never must return
To their lov'd hives, in decent pomp are borne :
Their friends attend the hearse, the next relatiov
rBQuau
Digitized by VjOOQIC
S24
DRYDEN-S TRANSLATIONS.
The sick, for air, before the portal gasp.
Their feeble legs within each other clasp.
Or idle in their empty hives remain,
BenumbM with cold, or listless of their gain.
Soft whispers thenland broken founds are beard.
As when the woods by gentle winds are sUrrM,
Such stifled noise as the close furnace hides,
Or dyii^ murmurs of departing tides.
This when thou seest, Galbaiiean ^odours use.
And hooey in the sickly hive infuse.
Through reeden pipes convey the golden flood,
T* invite the people to their wonted food :
Mix it with thickened juice of sodden wines.
And raisins from tlie grapes of Psjrthian vines :
To these add pounded galls, and rooes dry,
And with Cecropian thyme, strong -scented cen-
taury.
A flower there is that grows in meadow ground,
Ameilus callM, and easy to be found :
For from one root the rising stem bestows
A wood of leaves, and violet-purple boughs.
The flower itself is tilorious to behold.
And bhincs on altars like refulgent gold :
Hharp to the taste^ by shepherds near the stream
Of Mella found, and thence they pave the name.
Boil this restoring root in generous wine.
And set beside the door the sickly stock to dine.
But if the labourinj: kind be wholly last,
And not to be cctriev'd with care or cost,