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

 

Is best for corn: (returning from no plains
The slow-pac'd oxen drag more loaden wains;) 230
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, 236
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. 240
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 245
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, 250
And meads, that Clanius laves, whose fury falls
Oft on Acerra's desolated walls.

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