Page:Virgil's Pastorals, Georgics and Aeneis - Dryden (1709) - volume 1.pdf/341

And their cold Stomachs with crown'd Goblets cheer,
Of windy Cider, and of barmy Beer.585
Such are the cold Ryphean Race; and such
The savage Scythian, and unwarlike Dutch.
Where Skins of Beasts, the rude Barbarians wear;
The spoils of Foxes, and the furry Bear.
Is Wool thy care? Let not thy Cattle go590
Where Bushes are, where Burs and Thistles grow;
Nor in too rank a Pasture let 'em feed:
Then of the purest white select thy Breed.
Ev'n though a snowy Ram thou shalt behold,
Prefer him not in haste, for Husband to thy Fold.595
But search his Mouth; and if a swarthy Tongue
Is underneath his humid Pallat hung;
Reject him, lest he darken all the Flock;
And substitute another from thy Stock.
Twas thus with Fleeces milky white (if we600
May trust report,) Pan God of Arcady
Did bribe thee Cynthia; nor didst thou disdain
When call'd in woody shades, to cure a Lover's pain.
If Milk be thy design; with plenteous hand
Bring Clover-grass; and from the marshy Land605
Salt Herbage for the fodd'ring Rack provide;
To fill their Bags, and swell the milky Tide:
These raise their Thirst, and to the Taste restore
The savour of the Salt, on which they fed before.
Some, when the Kids their Dams too deeply drain,
With gags and muzzles their soft Mouths restrain.611