44
THE FARM AND
Deploys its cohorts on the open plain,
The marching column dresses into line, 335
And all the country waves with weapon shine,
Nor yet they mingle in the bickering close,
But Mars uncertain stalks between the foes.
So dress thy vistas, and array them true,
To feed the sauntering fancy with the view, 340
And, more than this, that all have equal share
Of vital earth, and equal reach of air.
But, an thou ask, how deep the trench must be—
The vine set shallow is enough for me.
More deeply delve and fix in solid earth 345
The bay-oak first, and all the sylvan birth;
That tree, howe'er his head usurps the gale,
So far his roots the nether world assail.
Therefore no fury of the winter cold,
No blast, no storm, can tear him from his hold;
Unmoved he stands, and, through a thousand years,
Unfolds and conquers many an age of man,
And, spreading wide his arms a glorious span,
Resides within the giant shade he rears.
Let not your vineyards to the west incline, 355
Nor mix the planted hazel with the vine;
The marching column dresses into line, 335
And all the country waves with weapon shine,
Nor yet they mingle in the bickering close,
But Mars uncertain stalks between the foes.
So dress thy vistas, and array them true,
To feed the sauntering fancy with the view, 340
And, more than this, that all have equal share
Of vital earth, and equal reach of air.
But, an thou ask, how deep the trench must be—
The vine set shallow is enough for me.
More deeply delve and fix in solid earth 345
The bay-oak first, and all the sylvan birth;
That tree, howe'er his head usurps the gale,
So far his roots the nether world assail.
Therefore no fury of the winter cold,
No blast, no storm, can tear him from his hold;
Unmoved he stands, and, through a thousand years,
Unfolds and conquers many an age of man,
And, spreading wide his arms a glorious span,
Resides within the giant shade he rears.
Let not your vineyards to the west incline, 355
Nor mix the planted hazel with the vine;
