Page:Virgil's Pastorals, Georgics and Aeneis - Dryden (1709) - volume 1.pdf/358

Their vaulted Roofs are hung in Pumices,
And in the rotten Trunks of hollow Trees.
But plaister thou the chinky Hives with Clay,
And leafy Branches o'er their Lodgings lay.
Nor place them where too deep a Water flows,$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$65
Or where the Yeugh their pois'nous Neighbour grows:
Nor rost red Crabs t'offend the niceness of their Nose.
Nor near the steaming Stench of muddy Ground;$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
Nor hollow Rocks that render back the Sound,
And doubled Images of Voice rebound.70
For what remains, when Golden Suns appear,
And under Earth have driv'n the Winter Year:
The winged Nation wanders thro' the Skies,
And o'er the Plains, and shady Forrest flies:
Then stooping on the Meads and leafy Bow'rs;75
They skim the Floods, and sip the purple Flow'rs.
Exhalted hence, and drunk with secret Joy,
Their young Succession all their Cares employ:
They breed, they brood, instruct and educate,
And make Provision for the future State:80
They work their waxen Lodgings in their Hives,
And labour Honey to sustain their Lives.
But when thou seest a swarming Cloud arise,
That sweeps aloft, and darkens all the Skies:84
The Motions of their hasty Flight attend;
And know to Floods, or Woods, their airy march they bend.