That meet (no barren interval between)
With pleasure more than ev❜n their fruits afford, Which, fave himself who trains them, none can
Those therefore are his own peculiar charge,
No meaner hand may difcipline the shoots,
None but his steel approach them.
Distemper'd, or has loft prolific pow'rs,
Impair'd by age, his unrelenting hand
Dooms to the knife: nor does he fpare the foft
And fucculent that feeds its giant growth,
But barren, at th' expence of neighb'ring twigs
Lefs oftentatious, and yet ftudded thick
With hopeful gems. The reft, no portion left
That may difgrace his art, or disappoint
Large expe&ation, he difpofes neat
At measur'd distances, that air and fun,
Admitted freely, may afford their aid,
And ventilate and warm the fwelling buds.
Hence fummer has her riches, autumn hence,
And hence ev'n winter fills his wither'd hand
With blushing fruits, and plenty not his own.*
Fair recompenfe of labour well bestow'd,
Miraturque novos fructus et non fua
And wife precaution, which a clime fo rude
Makes needful still, whofe fpring is but the child
Of churlish winter, in her froward moods
Discov❜ring much the temper of her fire.
For oft, as if in her the stream of mild
Maternal nature had revers'd its courfe,
She brings her infants forth with many fmiles,
But once deliver'd, kills them with a frown.
He therefore, timely warn'd, himself supplies
Her want of care, fcreening and keeping warm
The plenteous bloom, that no rough blast may
sweep
His garlands from the boughs. Again, as oft
As the fun peeps and vernal airs breathe mild,
The fence withdrawn, he gives them ev'ry beam,
And spreads his hopes before the blaze of day.
To raise the prickly and green coated gourd,
So grateful to the palate, and when rare
So coveted, elfe base and disesteem'd-
Food for the vulgar merely—is an art
That toiling ages have but just matur'd,
And at this moment unaffay'd in song.
Yet gnats have had, and frogs and mice, long
Their eulogy; those fang the Mantuan bard,
And these the Grecian, in ennobling strains;
And in thy numbers, Phillips, shines for aye
The folitary fhilling. Pardon then,
Ye fage difpenfers of poetic fame!
Th' ambition of one meaner far, whose pow'rs,
Prefuming an attempt not less sublime,
Pant for the praise of dreffing to the taste
Of critic appetite, no fordid fare,
A cucumber, while coftly yet and scarce.
The stable yields a ftercoraceous heap,
Impregnated with quick fermenting falts,
And potent to refift the freezing blast:
For ere the beech and elm have cast their leaf
Deciduous, when now November dark
Checks vegetation in the torpid plant
Expos'd to his cold breath, the task begins.
Warily therefore, and with prudent heed,
He feeks a favor'd spot; that where he builds
Th' agglomerated pile, his frame may front
The fun's meridian disk, and at the back
Enjoy close shelter, wall, or reeds, or hedge
Impervious to the wind. First he bids spread
Dry fern or litter'd hay, that may imbibe
Th' afcending damps; then leifurely impose,
And lightly, fhaking it with agile hand
From the full fork, the faturated straw.
What longest binds the clofeft, forms fecure
The shapely fide, that as it rises takes,
By just degrees, an overhanging breadth,
Shelt'ring the base with its projected eaves.
Th' uplifted frame, compact at ev'ry joint,
And overlaid with clear translucent glass,
He fettles next upon the floping mount,
Whose sharp declivity fhoots off secure
From the dash'd pane the deluge as it falls.
He shuts it close, and the first labor ends.
Thrice muft the voluble and reftlefs earth
Spin round upon her axle, ere the warmth,
Slow gathering in the midst, through the square
Diffus'd, attain the furface: when, behold!
A peftilent and most corrofive fteam,
Like a grofs fog Baotian, rifing fast,
And faft condens'd upon the dewry sash,
Afks egrefs; which obtain'd, the overcharg'd
And drench'd confervatory breathes abroad,
In volumes wheeling flow, the vapor dank,
And purified, rejoices to have loft
Its foul inhabitant. But to affuage
Th' impatient fervor which it first conceives
Within its reeking bofom, threat'ning death
To his young hopes, requires discreet delay.
Experience, flow preceptress, teaching oft
The way to glory by miscarriage foul,
Muft prompt him, and admonish how to catch
Th' aufpicious moment, when the temper'd heat,
Friendly to vital motion, may afford
Soft fomentation, and invite the feed.
The feed, felected wifely, plump, and smooth,
And gloffy, he commits to pots of fize
Diminutive, well fill'd with well-prepar'd
And fruitful foil, that has been treasur'd long,
And drank no moisture from the dripping clouds:
Thefe, on the warm and genial earth that hides
The smoking manure, and o'erspreads it all,
He places lightly, and as time fubdues
The rage of fermentation, plunges deep
In the foft medium, till they stand immers❜d.
Then rife the tender germs, upstarting quick,
And spreading wide their spongy lobes, at first
Pale, wan, and livid, but affuming soon,
If fann'd by balmy and nutritious air,
Strain'd through the friendly mats, a vivid green.
Two leaves produc'd, two rough indented leaves,
Cautious,
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