Large expectation, he disposes neat At measur'd distances, that air and fun, Admitted freely, may afford their aid, And ventilate and warm the swelling buds. Hence fummer has her riches, autumn hence, And hence ev'n winter fills his wither'd hand With blushing fruits, and plenty, not his own*. Fair recompense of labour well bestow'd, And wife precaution; which a clime so rude Makes needful still, whose spring is but the child Of churlish winter, in her froward moods Discov'ring much the temper of her fire. For oft, as if in her the stream of mild Maternal nature had revers'd its course, She brings her infants forth with many smiles; But, once deliver'd, kills them with a frown. He, therefore, timely warn'd, himself supplies
Her want of care, screening and keeping warm
The plenteous bloom, that no rough blast may sweep
* Miraturque novos fructus et non sua poma. VIRG.
His garlands from the boughs. Again, as oft As the fun peeps and vernal airs breathe mild, The fence withdrawn, he gives them ev'ry beam, And fpreads his hopes before the blaze of day.
To raise the prickly and green-coated gourd, So grateful to the palate, and when rare So coveted, else base and disesteem'dFood for the vulgar merely is an art That toiling ages have but just matur'd, And at this moment unassay'd in song. Yet gnats have had, and frogs and mice, long fince,
Their eulogy; those fang the Mantuan bard,
And these the Grecian, in ennobling strains;
And in thy numbers, Phillips, shines for aye
The folitary shilling. Pardon then,
Ye fage difpenfers of poetic fame,
Th' ambition of one, meaner far, whose pow'rs,
Presuming an attempt not less sublime,
Pant for the praise of dreffing to the tafte
Of critic appetite, no fordid fare,
A cucumber, while costly yet and scarce.
The stable yields a stercoraceous heap, Impregnated with quick fermenting salts, And potent to refift the freezing blast: For, ere the beech and elm have caft their leaf Deciduous, when now November dark Checks vegetation in the torpid plant Expos'd to his cold breath, the task begins. Warily, therefore, and with prudent heed, He seeks a favour'd spot; that where he builds Th' agglomerated pile his frame may front The fun's meridian disk, and at the back Enjoy close shelter, wall, or reeds, or hedge Impervious to the wind. First he bids spread Dry fern or litter'd hay, that may imbibe Th' afcending damps; then leifurely impose, And lightly, shaking it with agile hand From the full fork, the faturated straw,
What longest binds the clofest forms secure The shapely side, that as it rises takes, By just degrees, an overhanging breadth, Shelt'ring the base with its projected eaves: Th' uplifted frame, compact at ev'ry joint, And overlaid with clear translucent glass, He fettles next upon the floping mount, Whose sharp declivity shoots off fecure From the dafh'd pane the deluge as it falls. He shuts it close, and the first labour ends. Thrice must the voluble and restless earth Spin round upon her axle, ere the warmth, Slow gathering in the midst, through the square mafs Diffus'd, attain the surface: when, behold! A peftilent and most corrofive steam, Like a gross fog Boeotian, rising faft, And fast condens'd upon the dewy sash, Asks egrefs; which obtain'd, the overcharg'd And drench'd confervatory breathes abroad, In volumes wheeling flow, the vapour dank;
And, purified, rejoices to have loft Its foul inhabitant. But to afsuage Th' impatient fervour which it first conceives Within its reeking bofom, threat'ning death To his young hopes, requires difcreet delay. Experience, flow preceptress, teaching oft The way to glory by miscarriage foul, Must prompt him, and admonish how to catch Th' aufpicious moment, when the temper'd heat, Friendly to vital motion, may afford
Soft fomentation, and invite the feed. The feed, felected wisely, plump, and smooth, And gloffy, he commits to pots of fize Diminutive, well fill'd with well-prepar'd And fruitful foil, that has been treafur'd long, And drank no moisture from the dripping clouds: These on the warm and genial earth, that hides The smoking manure and o'erspreads it all, He places lightly, and, as time subdues The rage of fermentation, plunges-deep
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