4
THE FARM AND
That corn-land best shall pay the farmer's cost,
Which twice hath felt the sun, and twice the frost, 55
His wildest vows with double answer meet,
And burst his garners with a world of wheat.
But ere we plough a stranger farm, 'tis good
To learn the winds, and heaven's uncertain mood,
The ancient tilth, and how the country lies, 60
And what each quarter yields, and what denies.
Here corn exults, and there the grape is glad,
Here trees and grass, unbidden verdure add.
So mark how Tmolus yields his saffron store,
But ivory is the gift of Indian shore; 65
With incense soft the softer Shebans deal,
The stark Chalybian's element is steel;
With acrid castor reek the Pontic wares,
Epirus wins the palm of Elian mares.
So Nature framed these laws, for good or ill,
And stamp'd on each the fiat of her will, 71
When first Deucalion, through a world forlorn,
Cast stones, and man, a flinty race, was born.
Then come, forthwith, before the year grow old,
Let sturdy bulls turn up the buxom mould, 75
Which twice hath felt the sun, and twice the frost, 55
His wildest vows with double answer meet,
And burst his garners with a world of wheat.
But ere we plough a stranger farm, 'tis good
To learn the winds, and heaven's uncertain mood,
The ancient tilth, and how the country lies, 60
And what each quarter yields, and what denies.
Here corn exults, and there the grape is glad,
Here trees and grass, unbidden verdure add.
So mark how Tmolus yields his saffron store,
But ivory is the gift of Indian shore; 65
With incense soft the softer Shebans deal,
The stark Chalybian's element is steel;
With acrid castor reek the Pontic wares,
Epirus wins the palm of Elian mares.
So Nature framed these laws, for good or ill,
And stamp'd on each the fiat of her will, 71
When first Deucalion, through a world forlorn,
Cast stones, and man, a flinty race, was born.
Then come, forthwith, before the year grow old,
Let sturdy bulls turn up the buxom mould, 75
