Page:Virgil's Pastorals, Georgics and Aeneis - Dryden (1709) - volume 1.pdf/291

Geor. II. So strong is Custom; such Effects can Use In tender Souls of pliant Plants produce. Chuse next a Province, for thy Vineyards Reign, On Hills above, or in the lowly Plain: If fertile Fields or Valleys be thy Choice, Plant thick, for bounteous Bacchus will rejoice In close Plantations there: But if the Vine On rising Ground be plac'd, or Hills supine, Extend thy loose Battalions largely wide, Opening thy Ranks and Files on either Side: But marshall'd all in order as they Stand, And let no Soldier straggle from his Band. As Legions in the Field their Front display, To try the Fortune of some doubtful Day, And move to meet their Foes with sober Pace, Strict to their Figure, tho' in wider Space; Before the Battel joins, while from afar The Field yet glitters with the Pomp of War, And equal Mars, like an impartial Lord, Leaves all to Fortune, and the dint of Sword; So let thy Vines in Intervals be set, But not their Rural Discipline forget: Indulge their Width, and add a roomy Space, That their extreamest Lines may scarce embrace: Nor this alone t'indulge a vain Delight, And make a pleasing Prospect for the Sight: But, for the Ground it self this only Way, Can equal Vigour to the Plants convey; Which crowded, want the room, their Branches to display.