Her ports, and moles to Lucrine join'd, explain,
Or tell the roarings of th' indignant main,
The refluent floods where Julius' water braves,
And in Avernus rush the Tyrrhene waves?
Copper and silver ore her veins have shown, 185
And gold in copious tides has been her own.
She a rough race of men the Marsi boasts,
The painful Ligures, the Sabine hosts,
The dart-fam'd Volsci: she the Decii gave,
The great Camilli, Marii bold and brave, 190
The Scipio-line, invincible in fight;
Thee, mightiest Cæsar! she brought forth to light;
Who, of all Asia victor, from the pow'rs
Of humbled India screen'st the Roman tow'rs.
Prolific Parent, hail! for thee I raise, 195
Saturnian Land! themes full of art and praise,
And, daring to disclose the sacred spring,
Ascræan strains through Roman cities sing.
Of soils the genius we must next declare;
The strength, the colour; what each best will bear.
First stubborn soils, and churlish hilly grounds, 201
Where gravel in the shrubby lands abounds
Mixt with a meager clay, rejoice to raise
An olive-grove, that lives a length of days:
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