Page:Virgil's Pastorals, Georgics and Aeneis - Dryden (1709) - volume 1.pdf/293

Geor. II. But most, when driv'n by Winds, the flaming Storm, Of the long Files destroys the beauteous Form. In Ashes then th' unhappy Vineyard lies, Nor will the blasted Plants from Ruin rise: Nor will the wither'd Stock be green again, But the wild Olive shoots, and shades th' ungrateful Plain. Be not seduc'd with Wisdom's empty Shows, To stir the peaceful Ground when Boreas blows. When Winter Frosts constrain the Field with Cold, The fainty Root can take no steady hold. But when the Golden Spring reveals the Year, And the white Bird returns, whom Serpents fear: That Season deem the best to plant thy Vines. Next that, is when Autumnal Warmth declines: E'er Heat is quite decay'd, or Cold begun, Or Capricorn admits the Winter Sun. The Spring adorns the Woods, renews the Leaves; The Womb of Earth the genial Seed receives. For then Almighty Jove descends, and pours Into his buxom Bride his fruitful Show'rs. And mixing his large Limbs with hers, he feeds Her Births with kindly Juice, and fosters teeming Seeds. Then joyous Birds frequent the lonely Grove, And Beasts, by Nature stung, renew their Love. Then Fields the Blades of bury'd Corn disclose, And while the balmy Western Spirit blows, Earth to the Breath her Bosom dares expose.