"In gloomy vaults and nooks of palaces,

"May th' unmolested lionefs

"Her brinded whelps fecurely lay,

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"Or, couch'd, in dreadful slumbers waste the day. "While Troy in heaps of ruins lies,

"Rome and the Roman Capitol shall rise;

"Th' illuftrious exiles unconfin'd

"Shall triumph far and near, and rule mankind.

"In vain the fea's intruding tide

"Europe from Afric fhall divide,

"And part the fever'd world in two:

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"Thro' Afric's fands their triumphs they shall spread, "And the long train of victories purfue

"To Nile's yet undiscover'd head.

"Riches the hardy foldiers fhall defpife, "And look on gold with undefiring eyes, "Nor the difbowell'd earth explore

"In fearch of the forbidden ore;

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Thofe glitt ring ills conceal'd within the mine, "Shall lie untouch'd,' and innocently shine. K "To the last bounds that Nature fets, Li

"The piercing colds and fultry heats,
"The godlike race shall spread their arms,

"Now fill the Pollar Circle with alarms,

"Till ftorms and tempefts their purfuits confine, "Now sweat for conqueft underneath the Line. IC5 "This only law the victor fhall restrain,

"On thefe conditions fhall he reign;

"If none his guilty hand employ

"To build again a second Troy,

"If none the rash design pursue,

"Nor tempt the vengeance of the gods anew.
"A curfe there cleaves to the devoted place,
"That shall the new foundations rafe;
"Greece fhall in mutual leagues conspire
"To ftorm the rifing town with fire,

"And at their army's head myself will show "What Juno, urg'd to all her rage, can do. "Thrice fhould Apollo's felf the city raise "And line it round with walls of brafs, "Thrice should my fav'rite Greeks his works con"found,

X 120

"And hew the fhining fabric to the ground;

"Thrice fhould her captive dames to Greece return, "And their dead fons and flaughter'd husbands'

"mourn."

But hold, my Mufe, forbear thy towiring flight,

Nor bring the fecrets of the gods to light;
In vain would thy presumptuous verfe

Th' immortal rhetoric rehearseg

The mighty trains, In lyric numbers bound,
Forget their majefly, and lose their found.

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A TRANSLATION OF ALL

VIRGIL'S FOURTH GEORGIC,

EXCEPT THE STORY OF ARISTÆUS.

ETHEREAL fweets shall next my Muse engage,
And this, Mecænas, 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: 5
A trifling theme provokes my humble lays,
Trifling the theme, not fo the poet's praise,
If great Apollo and the tuneful Nine

ΤΟ

Join in the piece, and make the work divine.
First, for your bees a proper station 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 sheep, nor goats, must pasture near their stores,
To trample under foot the fpringing flowers;

Nor frisking heifers bound about the place,

15

To fpurn the dew-drops off, and bruise the rising grafs:
Nor must the lizard's painted brood appear,
Nor woodpecks, nor the swallow, harbour near;
They waste the swarms, and as they fly along
Convey the tender morfels to their young.

20

Let purling ftreams, and fountains edg'd with mofs, And fhallow rills run trickling thro' the grafs;

Let branching olives o'er the fountain grow,

Or palms fhoot up, and fhade the streams below, 25 That when the youth, led by their princes, fhun The crowded hive, and sport it in the fun, Refreshing springs may tempt 'em from the heat, And fhady coverts yield a cool retreat.

35

Whether the neighb'ring water stands or runs, 30 Lay twigs across, and bridge it o'er with stones, That if rough ftorms or sudden blasts of wind Should dip, or fcatter 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 fav'ry scent the fragrant air, Let running betony the field o'erspread, And fountains foke the violet's dewy bed. Tho' barks or plaited willows make your hive, 40 A narrow inlet to their cells contrive,

For colds congeal 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, 45
And fuck out clammy dews from herbs and flow'rs
To fmear the chinks, and plaster up the pores:
For this they hoard up glew, whofe clinging drops
Like pitch or birdlime hang in stringy ropes.
They oft, 'tis faid, in dark retirements dwell, 50
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 strow'd ;ss But let no baleful yew-tree flourish near,

Nor rotten marshes fend out steams 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-

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When th' under world is feiz'd with cold and night,"
And fummer here defcends in streams of light,
The bees thro' woods and forests take their flight;
They rifle ev'ry flow'r, and lightly skim
The crystal brook, and fip the running ftream;
And thus they feed their young with ftrange 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, 70'
Andview the winged cloud all black'ning from afar,
While fhady coverts and fresh steams they chufe,
Milfoil and common honeyfuckles bruise,
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,

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