SING, mufes, fing, from the Pierian grove; Begin the fong, and let the theme be Jove; From him ye fprung,and him ye first should praise; From your immortal fire deduce your lays;

* The foboliaft Tzetzes tells us, this poem was firft called the Works and Days of Hefiod, to diftinguifb it from another on the fame fubject, and of the fame title, wrote by Orpheus. How much this may be depended en I cannot fay; but Fabricius affures us from Pliny, book 18. shap. 25. that Hefiod was the first who laid down rules for agriculture. It is certain, that of all the pieces of this nature which were before Virgil, and extant in bis days, this was moft efteemed by him, otherwife be would not have fbowed that refpect to our author which be does quite through bis Georgic. In one place be proposes him as a pattern in that great work, bere, addreffing to his country, be fays,

-tibi res antiquæ laudis et artis Ingredior, fan&os aufus recludere fontes ; Afcræumque cano, Romano per oppida, carmen. Lib. 2.

For thee my tuneful accents will I raise,
And treat of arts difclos'd in ancient days,
Once more unlock for thee the facred spring,
And old Afcræan verfe in Roman cities fing.
DRYDEN.
He begins the Georgie with an explanation of the
title of the Works and Days.

Quid faciat lætas fegetes, quo fidere terram
Vertere, &c.

What makes a plenteous harvest, when to turn The fruitly foil, and when to fow the corn. DRYDEN. for by Worksis meant the art of agriculture, and by Days the proper feafons for works. See farther in

To him alone, to his great will we owe,
That we exift, and what we are below.
Whether we blaze among the fons of fame,
Or live obfcurely, and without a name,
Or noble or ignoble, still we prove
Our lot determin'd by the will of Jove.
With eafe he lifts the peafant to a crown,
With the fame eafe he cafts the monarch down;
With eafe he clouds the brightest name in night,
And calls the meaneft to the fairest light;
At will he varies life through ev'ry state,
Unnerves the ftrong, and makes the crooked
ftrait.

Such Jove, who thunders terrible from high,
Who dwells in manfions far above the sky.
Look down, thou pow'r fupreme, vouchfafe thine
aid,

And let my judgment be by juftice fway'd; 21
O hear my vows, and thine affiftance bring,
While truths undoubted I to Perfes fing.

As here on earth we tread the maze of life,
The minds divided in a double ftrife;
One by the wife is thought deferving fame,
And this attended by the greatest thame,
The difmal fource whence fpring pernicions jars,
The baneful fountain of deftructive wars,
Which, by the laws of arbitrary fate,
Who follow, though by nature taught to hate;
From night's black realms this took its odious
birth
35

And one Jove planted in the womb of earth,
The better ftrife; by this the foul is fir'd
To arduous toils, nor with thofe toils is tir'd;
One fees his neighbour with laborious hand,
Planting his orchard, or manuring land;
He fees another with induftrious care,

The fields, as yet untill'd, their fruits afford,
And fill a fumptuous, and unenvy'd board:
Thus, crown'd with happiness their ev'ry day, 170
Serene and joyful, pafs'd their lives away.

When in the grave this race of men was laid,
Soon was a world of holy demons made,
Aerial fpirits, by great Jove defign'd,.
To be on earth the guard ans of mankind;
Invisible to mortal eyes they go,

And mark our actions, good, or bad, below;
Th' immortal spies with watchful care prefide,
And thrice ten thousand round their charges
glide:

They can reward with glory, or with geld; 180
A pow'r they by divine permiffion hold.

Worfe than the firft, a fecond age appears, Which the celeftials call the filver years. The golden age's virtues are no more; Nature grows weaker than fhe was before; In ftrength of body mortals much decay; And human wisdom feems to fade away. An hundred years the careful dames employ, Before they form'd to man th' unpolish'd boy; Who when he reach'd his bloom, his age's prime, Found, meafur'd by his joys, but short his time. 191 Men, prone to ill, deny'd the gods their due, And by their follies, made their days but few. The altars of the blefs'd neglected stand, Without the off'rings which the laws demand; But angry Jove in duft this people laid, Because no honours to the gods they paid. This fecond race, when clos'd their life's fhort fpan, Was happy deem'd beyond the state of man; 199 Their names were grateful to their children made; Each paid a rev'rence to his father's fhade.

And now a third, a brazen people rife, Unlike the former, men of monftrous size: Strong arms extenfive from their shoulders grow, Their limbs of equal magnitude below; Potent in arms, and dreadful at the spear, They live injurious, and devoid of fear: On the crude flesh of beasts they feed alone, Savage their nature, and their hearts of ftone; Their houses brafs, of brafs the warlike blade, 210 Iron was yet unknown, in brass they trade: Furious, robuft, impatient for the fight, War is their only care, and fole delight, To the dark fhades of death this race defcend, By civil difcords, an ignoble end! [ed might, Strong though they were, death quell'd their boaftAnd forc'd their ftubborn fouls to leave the light. To these a fourth, a better race fucceeds, Of godlike heroes, fam'd for martial, deeds; Them demigods, at first, their matchless worth 220 Proclaim aloud all through the boundless earth, Thefe, horrid wars, their love of arms destroy, Some at the gates of Thebes, and fome at Troy. Thefe, for the brothers fell, detefted ftrife! For beauty thofe, the lovely Grecian wife! To thefe does Jove a fecond life ordain, Some happy foil far in the diftant main, Where live the hero-fhades in rich repast, Remote from mortals of a vulgar cast": There in the island of the bless'd they find, Where Saturn reigns, an endless calm of mind;

230

And there the choiceft fruits adorn the fields, And thrice the fertile year a harvest yields.

250

O! would I had my hours of life began Before this fifth, this finful race of man; Or had I not been call'd to breathe the day, Till the rough iron age had pafs'd away: For now, the times are fuch, the gods ordain, That every moment fhall be wing'd with pain; Condemn'd to forrows, and to toil we live; 240 Reft to our labour death alone can give; And yet, amid the cares our lives annoy, The gods will grant fome intervals of joy : But how degen'rate is the human state! Virtue no more diftinguishes the great; No fafe reception fhall the stranger find; Nor fhall the ties of blood or friendship bind; Nor fhall the parent, when his fons are nigh, Look with the fondness of a parent's eye, Nor to the fire the fon obedience pay, Nor look with rev'rence on the locks of gray, But O regardless of the pow'rs divine, With bitter taunts fhall load his life's decline. Revenge and rapine fhall refpect command, The pious, juft, and good, neglected stand. The wicked fhall the better man distress, The righteous fuffer, and without redress; Strict honefty, and naked truth, shall fail, The perjur'd villain in his arts prevail. Hoarfe envy fhall, unfeen, exert her voice, Attend the wretched, and in ill rejoice. At laft fair modesty and justice fly, Rob'd their pure limbs in white, and gain the sky, From the wide earth they reach the bleft abodes, And join the grand affembly of the gods, While mortal men, abandon'd to their grief, Sink in their forrows, hopeless of relief.

260

While now my fable from the birds I bring,
To the great rulers of the earth I fing.
High in the clouds a mighty bird of prey 270
Bore a melodious nightingale away;
And to the captive, fhiv'ring in defpair,
Thus, cruel, fpoke the tyrant of the air.
Why mourns the wretch in my fuperior power?
Thy voice avails not in the ravish'd hour;
Vain are thy cries; as my defpotic will,
Or I can fet thee free, or I can kill.
Unwifely who provokes his abler foe,
Conqueft ftill flies him, and he strives for woe.
Thus fpoke th' enflaver with infulting pride. 280
O! Perfes, juftice ever be thy guide:
May malice never gain upon thy will,
Malice that makes the wretch more wretched
ftill.

The good man, injur'd, to revenge is flow,
To him the vengeance is the greater woe.
Ever will all injurious courfes fail,
And justice ever over wrongs prevail;
Right will take place at laft, by fit degrees;
This truth the fool by fad experience fees.
When fuits commence, difhoneft ftrife the cause,
Faith violated, and the breach of laws,
Enfue; the cries of justice haunt the judge,
Of bribes the glutton, and of fin the drudge.
Through cities then the holy demon runs,
Unften, and mourns the manners of their fons,

295

Difperfing evils, to reward the crimes

300

Of those who banish justice from the times. Is there a man whom incorrupt we call, Who fits alike unprejudic'd to all, By him the city flourishes in peace, Her borders lengthen and her fons increase; From him far-feeing Jove will drive afar All civil difcord, and the rage of war. No days of famine to the righteous fall, But all is plenty, and delightful all; Nature indulgent o'er their land is feen, With oakshigh tow'ring are their mountains green, With heavy maft their arms diffusive bow, While from their trunks rich freams of honey flow; Of flocks untainted are their pastures full, 310 Which flowly ftrut beneath their weight of wool; And fons are born the likenefs of their fire, The fruits of virtue, and a chafte defire : O'er the wide feas for wealth they need not roam, Many and lafting are their joys at home. Not thus the wicked, who in ill delight, Whofe daily acts pervert the rules of right, To these the wife difpofer, Jove, ordains, Repeated loffes, and a world of pains: Famines and plagues are, unexpected, nigh: 320 Their wives are barren, and their kindred die; Numbers of thefe at once are fweep'd away; And fhips of wealth become the ocean's prey. One finner oft provokes th' avenger's hand; And often one man's crimes destroy a land. Exactly mark, ye rulers of mankind, The ways of truth, nor be to justice blind; Confider all ye do, and all ye fay, The holy demons to their god convey, Aerial fpirits, by great Jove defign'd, To be on earth the guardians of mankind; Invifible to mortal eyes they go,

330

Think, O ye judges! and reform betimes,
Forget the paft, nor more falfe judgments give,
Turn from your ways betimes, O turn and live!
Who, full of wiles, his neighbour's harm contrives,
Falfe to himfelf, against himself he ftrives;
For he that harbours evil in his mind,
Will from his evil thoughts but evil find;
And lo! the eye of Jove, that all things knows,
Can, when he will, the heart of man diclofe;
Open the guilty bofom all within,

And trace the infant thoughts of future fin.

O! when I hear the upright man complain.
And, by his injuries, the judge arraign,
If to be wicked is to find fuccefs,

I cry, and to be just to meet diftrefs.
May I nor mine the righteous path purfue,
ut int'reft only ever keep in view:

349

460

But by reflection better taught, I find
We fee the present, to the future blind.
Truft to the will of Jove, and wait the end,
And good fhall always your good acts attend.
Thefe doctrines, Perfes, treasure in thy heart,
And never from the paths of juftice part:
Never by brutal violence be fway'd;
But be the will of Jove in thefe obey'd.

371

350

In these the brute creation men exceed, They, void of reafon, by each other bleed, While man by juftice fhould be keep'd in awe, Juftice of nature, well ordain'd, the law. Who right efpoufes through a righteous love, Shall meet the bounty of the hands of Jove; But he that will not be by laws confin'd, Whom not the facrament of oaths can bind, Who, with a willing foul, can juftice leave, A wound immortal fhall that man receive; His houfe's honour daily fhall decline: Fair flourish fhall the juft from line to line. O! Perfes, foolish Perfes, bow thine ear To the good counfels of a foul fincere. To wickedness the road is quickly found, Short is the way, and on au easy ground. The paths of virtue must be reach'd by toil, Arduous and long, and on a rugged foil, Thorny the gate, but when the top you gain, Fair is the future, and the profpect plain, Far does the man all other men excel, Who, from his wifdom, thinks in all things well, Wifely confid'ring, to himself a friend, 399 All for the prefent beft, and for the end: Nor is the man without his fhare of praise, Who well the dictates of the wife obeys; But he that is not wife himfelf, nor can Harken to wifdom, is a useiefs man.

Ever obferve, Perfes, of birth divine, My precepts, and the profit shall be thine; Then famine always thall avoid thy door, And Ceres, fair-wreath'd goddess, blefs thy

ftore.

The flothful wretch, who lives from labour free,
Like drones, the robbers of the painful bee, 401
Has always men, and gods, alike his foes;
Him famine follows with her train of woes.
With cheerful zeal your mod'rate toils purfue,
That your full barns you may in feafon view.
The man induftrious ftranger is to need,
A thousand flocks his fertile paftures feed;
As with the drone with him it would not prove,
Him men and gods behold with eyes of love.
To care and labour think it no difgrace,
Falte pride! the portion of the fluggard race:
The flothful man, who never work'd before,
Shail gaze with envy on thy growing store,
Like thee to flourish, he will fpare no pains;
For lo! the rich virtue and glory gains.

410

Strictly obferve the wholefome rules I give, And, blefs'd in all, thou like a god thalt live. Ne'er to thy neighbour's goods extend thy cares, Nor be negle&ful of thine own affairs. Let no degen'rate shame debafe thy mind, Shame that is never to the needy kind; The man that has it will continue poor; He must be bold that would enlarge his flore.

420

But ravish not, depending on thy might,
Injurious to thyfelf, another's right.
Who, or by open force, or fecret stealth,
Or perjur'd wiles, amaffes heaps of wealth,
Such many are, whom thirft of gain betrays,
The gods, all feeing, fhall o'ercloud his days;
His wife, his children, and his friends, fhall die, 430
And, like a dream, his ill-got riches fly :
Nor lefs, or to infult the fuppliant's cries,
The guilt, or break through hofpitable ties.
Is there who, by incestuous paffion led,
Pollutes with joys unclean his brother's bed;
Or who, regardless of his tender trust,
To the poor helpless orphan proves unjust;
Or, when the father's fatal day appears,
His body bending through the weight of years,
A fon who views him with unduteous eyes,
And words of comfort to his age denies,
Great Jove vindictive fees the impious train,
And, equal to their crimes, inflicts a pain.

440

Thefe precepts be thy guide thro' life to steer:" Next learn the gods immortal to revere : With unpolluted hands, and heart fincere, Let from your herd, or flock, an off'ring rife; Of the pure victim burn the white fat thighs; And to your wealth confine the facrifice. Let the rich fumes of od'rous incense fly, A grateful favour, to the pow'rs on high; The due libation nor neglect to pay, When ev'ning clofes, or when dawns the day: Then fhall thy work, the gods thy friends, fucceed;

Then may you purchase farms, nor fell through need.

Enjoy thy riches with a lib'ral foul, Plenteous the feat, and fmiling be the bowl; No friend forget, nor entertain thy foe, Nor let thy neighbour uninvited go. Happy the man with peace his days are crown'd, 460 Whole house an honeft neighbourhood furround; Of foreign harms he never fleeps afraid, They, always ready, bring their willing aid; Cheerful, fhould he fome bufy preffure feel, They lend an aid beyond a kindred's zeal; They never will confpire to blast his fame: Secure he walks, unfully'd his good name: Unhappy man, whom neighbours ill surround, His oxen die oft' by a treach'rous wound, Whate'er you borrow of your neighbour's ftore, Return the fame in weight, if able, more;

471

So to yourself will you fecure a friend; He never after will refufe to lend. Whatever by difhoneft means you gain, You purchase an equivalent of pain.

480

To all a love for love return: contend In virtuous acts to emulate your friend. Be to the good thy favours unconfin'd; Neglect a fordid, and ungrateful mind. From all the gen'rous a refpect command, While none regard the bafe ungiving hand: The man who gives from an unbounded breaft, Though large the bounty, in himself is blefs'd:: Who ravishes another's right fhall find, Though fmall the prey, a deadly fting behind. Content, and honeftly enjoy your lot, And often add to that already got;

greet,

505

Without referve, and lib'ral be the treat:
To ftint the wine a frugal hufband shows,
When from the middle of the cask it flows.
Do not, by mirth betray'd, your brother trust,
Without a witnefs, he may prove unjust :
Alike it is unfafe for men to be,
With fome too diffident, with fome too free.
Let not a woman fteal your heart away,
By tender looks, and her apparel gay;
When your abode fhe languishing inquires,
Command your heart, and quench the kindling
fires;

510

If love the vows, 'tis madness to believe,
Turn from the thief, fhe charms but to deceive:
Who does too rafhly in a woman trust,
Too late will find the wanton proves unjust.
Take a chafte matron, partner of your breast,
Contented live, of her alone poffefs'd;
Then fhall you number many days in peace,
And with your children fee your wealth increase;
Then fhall a duteous careful heir furvive,
To keep the honour of the house alive.

If large poffeffions are in life thy view,
Thefe precepts with affiduous care pursue.

Ver. I. ARISTARCHUS, and fome others, are for having this exordium left out, as not a part of the poem. Praxiphanes, a scholar of Theophraftus, fays, he had a copy which begun from this verfe.

The reafon which Proclus affigns for it not being writ by Hefiod, is, that he who begun his Theogony, with an invocation to the mufes from Helicon, and who was himfelf brought up at the foot of that mountain, would never call on the Pierian mufes. A weak objection, and unworthy a critic!