Page:Virgil - The Georgics, Thomas Nevile, 1767.djvu/53

 Book II. Is best for corn: (returning from no plains

The slow-pac'd oxen drag more loaden wains;)

Or whence th' indignant hind has fetch'd the wood,

And fell'd the groves, that useless long have stood;

And grub'd the birds' old mansions: in affright

Quitting their nests they wing'd their airy flight.

Torn by the share soon brightens the rough land:

For of the steepy country the lean sand,

And toph, and chalk gnawn by the snaky brood,

Scarce to the bees lend dew, and meanest food:

For sweet repast, and winding ways, no place

Is half so grateful to the serpent-race.

Lands, that exhale light vapours, and receive

Moisture at pleasure, and at pleasure give,

Their own green liv'ry that perennial wear,

Nor foul with scurf and rust the shining share,

Will teach the Vine her elm to curl around

With wanton tend'rils; these with oil abound,

The freshest grass for cattle these allow,

And bear the labours of the crooked plough.

Such are the fields rich Capua's peasants till,

And such the region round Vesevus' hill,

And meads, that Clanius laves, whose fury falls

Oft on Acerra's desolated walls.

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