Page:Virgil - The Georgics, Thomas Nevile, 1767.djvu/111

 

They for the winter toil, while summer reigns,
And hoard for all the produce of their pains.
By pact these watch for food, a busy crew,
And range the circuit; those bark's viscous glue,
Steept in Narcissus' tear, arrange at home, 185
The first foundation of the future comb;
This done, the ductile wax they next suspend:
Hope of the state the rising youth part tend;
Others the purest honey knead, and swell
With juice nectareous each distended cell: 190
Others by lot the portals guard, espy
By turns the clouds and vapours of the sky,
Or from the comers take the loads, or drive,
In firm array embody'd, from the hive
The lazy drone: the waxen labours glow; 195
The breathing sweets around rich odours throw.
As when in haste the black Cyclopean band
Forge from the molten mass the forky brand;
With bull-hide bellows these receive the blast,
And forceful send it; those in water cast 200
The metal hissing; Ætna gives a groan,
As the vast anvils on her back are thrown:
With mighty sway their arms in time they raise,
And turn with tongs the red ore various ways.

Thus