VERTUMNUS

A N D

PO MO NA:

From the FOURTEENTH BOOK of

OVID's METAMORPHOSE S.

VERTUMNUS

E T

Ρ Ο Μ Ο Ν Α.

RE

EGE sub hoc Pomona fuit: qua nulla La

tinas Inter Hamadryadas coluit solertius hortos, Nec fuit arborei ftudiofior altera foetus ; Unde tenet nomen. non fylvas illa, nec amnes; 5 Rus amat, et ramos felicia

ferentes. Nec jaculo gravis est, sed adunca dextera falce: 10 Qua modo luxuriem premit, et spatiantia passim Brachia compescit ; fiffa modo cortice virgam Inserit; et succos alieno praestat alumno.

VERTUMNUS

A N D

Ρ Ο Μ Ο Ν Α.

TH

HE fair Pomona flourish'd in his reign;

Of all the Virgins of the sylvan train,
None taught the trees a nobler race to bear,
Or more improv'd the vegetable care.
To her the shady grove, the flow'ry field,

5
The streams and fountains, no delights could yield;
'Twas all her joy the ripening fruits to tend,
And see the boughs with happy burthens bend.
The hook she bore instead of Cynthia's spear,
To lop the growth of the luxuriant year,
To decent form the lawless shoots to bring,
And teach th' obedient branches where to spring.
Now the cleft rind inserted graffs receives,
And yields an offspring more than nature gives ;

IO 20

Nec patitur sentire fitim : bibulaeque recurvas 15
Radicis fibras labentibus irrigat undis.
Hic amor, học ftudium: Veneris quoque nulla cu-

pido.
Vim tamen agrestům metuens, pomaria claudit
Intus, et accessus prohibet refugitque viriles.
Quid non et Satyri, faltatibus apta juventus,
Fecere, et pinu praecincti cornua Panes,
Sylvanusque suis semper juvenilior annis,
Quique Deus fures, vel falce, vel inguine terret,
Ut poterentur ea? sed enim superabat amando 25
Hos quoque Vertumnus : neque erat felicior illis.
O quoties habitu duri mefforis aristas
Corbe tulit, verique fuit mefforis imago !
Tempora saepe gerens foeno religata recenti,
Defectum poterat gramen verfasse videri.

30 Saepe manu stimulos rigida portabat ; ut illum Jurares feffos modo disjunxisse juvencos.

20

Now sliding streams the thirsty plants renew, 15 And feed their fibres with reviving dew.

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 forests, or frequent the lawns, The God whose ensign scares the birds of prey, And old Silenus, youthful in decay, Employ'd their wiles, and unavailing care, 25 To pass the fences, and surprize the fair ? Like these, Vertumnus own'd his faithful flame, Like these, rejected by the scornful dame. To gain her sight 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 sun-burnt temples shade: 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 straglers to their ranks confines.

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