Th' amomum there with intermingling flow'rs And cherries hangs her twigs. Geranium boasts Her crimson honours, and the fpangled beau, Ficoides, glitters bright the winter long.
All plants, of ev'ry leaf, that can endure
The winter's frown, if fcreen'd from his fhrewd bite,
Live there, and profper. Those Aufonia claims,
Levantine regions thefe; th' Azores fend
Their jeffamine, her jeffamine remote
Caffraia foreigners from many lands,
They form one focial fhade, as if conven'd
By magic fummons of th' Orphean lyre.
Yet juft arrangement, rarely brought to pafs
But by a master's hand, difpofing well
diverfities of leaf and flow'r,
Muft lend its aid t'illuftrate all their charm,
And drefs the regular yet various scene.
Plant behind plant afpiring, in the van
The dwarfish, in the rear retir'd, but still
Sublime above the reft, the statelier ftand.
So once were rang'd the fons of ancient Rome,
A noble show! while Rofcius trod the stage;
And fo, while Garrick, as renown'd as he,
The fons of Albion; fearing each to lose
Some note of Nature's mufic from his lips,
And covetous of Shakespeare's beauty, seen
In ev'ry flash of his far-beaming eye.
Nor taste alone and well-contriv'd display
Suffice to give the marshall'd ranks the grace
Of their complete effect. Much yet remains
Unfung, and many cares are yet behind,
And more laborious; cares on which depend
Their vigour, injur'd foon, not foon reftor'd.
The foil must be renew'd, which, often wash'd,
Lofes its treasure of falubrious falts,
And disappoints the roots; the flender roots Close interwoven, where they meet the vase, Muft smooth be fhorn away; the fapless branch Muft fly before the knife; the wither'd leaf Must be detach'd, and where it ftrews the floor Swept with a woman's neatness, breeding else Contagion, and diffeminating death.
Discharge but these kind offices, (and who
Would spare, that loves them, offices like these?)
Well they reward the toil. The fight is pleas'd,
The scent regal'd, each odorif'rous leaf,
Each op'ning bloffom, freely breathes abroad
Its gratitude, and thanks him with its fweets.
So manifold, all pleasing in their kind,
All healthful, are th' employs of rural life,
Reiterated as the wheel of time
Runs round; ftill ending, and beginning still.
Nor are these all. To deck the shapely knoll,
That, foftly fwell'd and gaily dress'd, appears
A flow'ry island, from the dark green lawn
Emerging, muft be deem'd a labour due
To no mean hand, and asks the touch of taste.
Here also grateful mixture of well-match'd
And forted hues (each giving each relief,
And by contrafted beauty fhining more)
Is needful. Strength may wield the pond'rous fpade,
May turn the clod, and wheel the compoft home;
But elegance, chief grace the garden fhows,
And most attractive, is the fair result
Of thought, the creature of a polish'd mind.
Without it all is gothic as the fcene
To which th' infipid citizen resorts
Near yonder heath, where induftry mifpent,
But proud of his uncouth ill-chofen tafk,
Has made a heav'n on earth; with funs and moons
Of close ramm'd ftones has charg'd th' encumber'd
And fairly laid the zodiac in the duft.
He, therefore, who would fee his flow'rs difpos'd
Sightly and in juft order, ere he gives
The beds the trufted treasure of their feeds,
Forecasts the future whole; that, when the scene
Shall break into its preconceiv'd display,
Each for itself, and all as with one voice
Confpiring, may atteft his bright defign.
Nor even then, difmiffing as perform'd
His pleasant work, may he suppose it done.
Few felf-fupported flow'rs endure the wind
Uninjur'd, but expect th' upholding aid
Of the smooth-fhaven prop, and, neatly tied,
Are wedded thus, like beauty to old age,
For int'reft fake, the living to the dead.
Some clothe the foil that feeds them, far diffus'd
And lowly creeping, modeft and yet fair,
Like virtue, thriving most where little feen:
Some, more afpiring, catch the neighbour fhrub
With clasping tendrils, and invest his branch,
Elfe unadorn'd, with many a gay feftoon
And fragrant chaplet, recompenfing well
The strength they borrow with the grace they lend.
All hate the rank fociety of weeds,
Noisome, and ever greedy to exhauft
Th' impoverish'd earth; an overbearing race,
That, like the multitude made faction-mad,
Disturb good order, and degrade true worth.
Oh, bleft feclufion from a jarring world,
Which he, thus occupied, enjoys! Retreat
Cannot indeed to guilty man restore
Loft innocence, or cancel follies past;
But it has peace, and much fecures the mind
From all affaults of evil; proving ftill
A faithful barrier, not o'erleap'd with ease
By vicious custom, raging uncontroll'd
Abroad, and defolating public life.
When fierce temptation, feconded within
By traitor appetite, and arm'd with darts
Temper'd in hell, invades the throbbing breast,
To combat may be glorious, and fuccefs
Perhaps may crown us; but to fly is fafe.
Had I the choice of fublunary good,
What could I wish that I poffefs not here?
Health, leifure, means t' improve it, friendship,
No loofe or wanton, though a wand'ring, mufe,
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