Page:Virgil's Pastorals, Georgics and Aeneis - Dryden (1709) - volume 1.pdf/337

Whole Months they wander, grazing as they go;
Nor Folds, nor hospitable Harbour know.530
Such an extent of Plains, so vast a space
Of Wilds unknown, and of untasted Grass
Allures their Eyes: The Shepherd last appears,
And with him all his Patrimony bears:
His House and household Gods! his trade of War,535
His Bow and Quiver; and his trusty Cur.
Thus, under heavy Arms, the Youth of Rome
Their long laborious Marches overcome;
Chearly their tedious Travels undergo:
And pitch their sudden Camp before the Foe.540
Not so the Scythian Shepherd tends his Fold;
Nor he who bears in Thrace the bitter cold:
Nor he, who treads the bleak Meotian Strand;
Or where proud Ister rouls his yellow Sand.
Early they stall their Flocks and Herds; for there545
No Grass the Fields, no Leaves the Forests wear.
The frozen Earth lies buried there, below$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
A hilly heap, sev'n Cubits deep in Snow:
And all the Weste Allies of stormy Boreas blow.
The Sun from far, peeps with a sickly face;550
Too weak the Clouds, and mighty Fogs to chace;
When up the Skies, he shoots his rosie Head;
Or in the ruddy Ocean seeks his Bed.
Swift Rivers, are with sudden Ice constrain'd;
And studded Wheels are on its back sustain'd.555