University of Virginia Library

Learned, and in great fauour with Augustus Cæsar:
Vnto this Mecenas was Virgil and Horace much
Beholden, not only for the familiaritie which he vouch-
Safed them, but also for the manifold good courtesies
And benefites wherewith he releeued them, &c.

O my Mecenas, ile begin heereafter to declare,
What thing may make corne-ground to be [in yeelding] fat and ranke
And vnder what stars [influence] it were conuenient [meete]
To turne [with plow] the land, and ioine the vines to trees of elme,
And what regard were to be had of oxen, and what care
Of cattell, and how great a proofe in [thriftie] sparing bees.
O you the cleerest lights [that he] of all the world [so round,]
Bacchus and Ceres nourishing, which leade about the yeare
Falling from heauen, [which is the cause of seasons in their course,]
Sith that the earth by your [good] gifts hath changed Chaon akorns
For bread-corne ranke and ripe [to reape,] and mingled hath [also]
Achelo pots with grapes, found out [water I meane with wine,]
And O you Fawnes [of Woods, the Gods, and Cattell-keepers too,]
You present Gods of Husband-men, you Fawns, and Driads, you
[The Nymphs of Trees, & chiefly Okes,] set hither-ward your foote,
Your gifts [bestowd] I sing abroade: And thou ô Neptune God,
Of whome the earth smitten with great three-fold mace brought foorth
The first fierce snorting Horsse that was: And ô [Aristey] thou
The louing friend of wods, for whom three hundred snow-white heifers
Do crop the bushie places ranke [with iuice] of Cea ile.
O Pan of Tege [Citie,] though thy welcall mountaines be
A care to thee, thou leauing quite the wood where thou wast borne,
And keeper of the Sheepe vpon Lycean loftie hils,
Assist me: and Minerua th' inuenter of th' Oliue tree,
And ô thou youth [Triptolemus] of crooked Plow deuiser:
And ô Syluanus setting of the tender Cypres tree,
[Springing] out of the roote [assist and present be with me.]
O all you Gods and Goddesses, in whome there is a care
To keepe and saue the fallow feelds, and nourish with some seede
[Of natures secret force] the corne new [sowne] and which send downe
Frō heauen large large showrs of rain vpō the land wt seed-corne sowne.
And thou ô Cæsar, whome it is vncertaine what assemblies
Of Gods shall haue thee them among, or that thou wouldst vuchsafe
To visite cities, and likewise of countries take the charge,
And [so] most [part of all the] world should take and knowledge thee
Of fruits the author, and of stormes [the ruler] strong to be:
Or compassing about thy head with mothers myrtle leaues,
Shouldst come [to be] of seas most huge the God, and sea-men [so]
Might worship all alone thy maiestie most excellent.
The vtmost iland Thule should thee serue, and Thetis boy
Thee for to be her sonne in law with [gift of] waters all.
But mayst thou not much rather ioyne thy selfe a new bright star,
Betweene [the signes] Erigone, and Chelies following next?
Now scortching Scorpius draweth in his armes [or crooked clooches]
And leaueth roome enough in heauen for thee, and some to spare,
Whatsoeuer (Cæsar) thou shalt be for let not [hel-hounds] hope
For thee to be a king to them; ne let so curst a wish
Of reigning happen vnto thee: though Greece [deuising lies]
Doth maruell at the Elysian feelds, [places of ioy belowe,]
Nor yet Proserpina [though she] desired was and praid,
Doth care to follow [vp to heauen] her mother Ceres steps,
Graunt me an easie course, and vnto my beginnings nod,
And pitying the poore countrie folks, vnskilfull of the way
[To practise works of husbandrie,] set in thy foote with me,
And now enure thy selfe to be by rowes called vpon.
In spring time now when as the cold [snowe] water melted is
Upon the hoarie [frostie] hilles, and rotten clod of earth
With westerne wind doth thawe it selfe, euen then let oxe begin
For me to groane at plow borne downe-ward [deep in ground to cut,]
And plowshare worne with furrowes [drawne] brightly begin to shine,
That eared land for seed contents at least the wisht desires
Of husbandmen [most] couetous, which twise hath felt the sunne,
And twise the cold, [which kind of ground we fallow feelds do call,]
Th' unmeasurable haruests breake his barnes [being ouerfull.]
But let our care be first yer we cut th' eeuen and plaine feeld
Unknowne [to vs for lack of proofe] with iron [culters knife]
To learne the windes, and of the heauen the diuers influence,
And countries proper tilth by kind, and qualities of places;
And what each seuerall soyle should beare, and what it should refuse,
Heere corne, there grapes come vp [and do] more plentifully [grow.]
Yong trees else-where, & grasse & bud spring vp [aboue the ground.]
And seest thou not how Timolus Mount, sends sauourie saffron out?
How India yeeldeth iuory, how nice and tender Sabeis
Affoord good frankincense? but yet the naked Chalibeis
Send iron [and steele] and Pontus ile [doth plentifully yeeld]
Good medicines made of beauers stones, most strong and full of force.
Epirus ile [doth yeeld] the palme and floure of Elis mares,
[Best breeders of great horsses which in running woon the game]
Nature hath set immediatly to places euery one.
These lawes and euerlasting leagues, when as, and at what time
Deucalion cast behind him stones into the emptie world;
Whereof sprang men, an offspring hard. Wherefore go to, and let
Strong ox turne vp ranke ground foorthwith, in first months of the yeare,
And dustie summer breake the clods lieng [vnoccupide
And naught for vse vnles prepard] with seasonable sun.
But if the soile vnfrutefull is, it shall sufficient be
To let it lie vnlaboured, vntill the north star [rise]
With little furrowes [once with plow in slender maner made]
There, least the weeds should hurt the corne [in rising growing ranke]
Heere, least the little raine should fall the barren sandie soile,
Thou one and selfe same man shalt suf-fer feelds but newly reapt
To cease [and lie vnv'sd] by course each second yeare that coms,
And slouthfull [fruteles] ground wax hard with mooldie dung & durt,
Or thou shalt there sowe yellow corne, the time of yeare being chang'd
Whence erst thou tookest plentifull [increase of] bull imoong,
[As beanes & pease] with shaking cod; or [whence thou gatheredst erst]
Thy crop of vitches thin and small, of lupins sad also,
[Hauing] but fraile and brittle stalks, and store of sounding straw,
For hempe or flaxseed burns the feeld, the seed of otes doth burne,
And poppie tempered thoroughly with most forgetfull steepe,
Doth drie and burne [the ground as do the named seeds afore]
But yet each second yeare by turns, an easie labour 'tis
Seed corne to sowe [as wheat and rie] only be not ashamed
To season well and thoroughly with doong both fat and ranke
Thy leane and hungrie soile; nor yet to cast foule filthie durt
All ouer barren fruteles feelds. So likewise shall the fallowes
Rest and remaine [vnoccupide] their kind of seed being changd,
No thanks is due vnto the ground, whiles it doth lie vntild,
It hath beene good and profitable oft times to set on fire
The barren feelds, and stubble light with crackling flames to burne,
Either bicause the grounds thereby do [inwardly] receiue
A secret force and [more than that] a fattning nourishment,
Or else bicause each ill default is tride thereout by fire,
And so thunprofitable moi-sture sweateth out of it:
Or that the heate doth looze [and o-pen make] the many waies
And breathing places blind [vnseene] there where the iuice should come
Into the new [sproong] blades; or that it hardens fast and binds
[Or closeth vp] the gaping veins [or holes within the ground]
Least little showrs or fearcer force of swift hot drawing sun,
Or persing cold of northerne wind should burne and blast [the same.]
He which with harrow breaks the clods vnseruiceable yet,
And draggeth hurdels made of wic-ker rods and bending sticks,
Doth helpe the fallows very much, ne looketh yellow Ceres
Upon him vainely [to no end] from heauen [that is so] hie,
And him which breakes againe with plow turnd ouerthwart the ridges
[Of furrows such] as he cast vp before in champion ground
[Or leueld land eeuen and plaine] with plowshare erst cut vp,
And often laboureth his land, and ouerrules his feelds.
O husbandmen wish summers wet, and winters faire [to haue]
Corne is delighted much [and great-ly ioyes] in winters dust,
The field is glad and ioies therein, and Misia countrie soile,
Uaunts not it selfe ne brings in a-ny tillage [toile] so much:
And Gargara mountains maruell not so much at haruest theirs,
[No husbandry makes ground more frutefull than a winter drie.]
What should I say of him which ha-uing cast his seed [and sowne]
Doth follow [with] his fallow field [and trim it] out of hand,
And spreads abrode the lumps of sand but badly fat [or leane]
And after brings vnto his seed [or ground alredie sowne]
A streame of waters following [or draining therevnto]
And when the field being scorcht and burnt is hot and very drie,
The blade [then] dieng, lo [how] he doth fetch from lofty brow
Of steepe and cliftie passages [cleere] water [gliding downe:]
The same [so] falling mooues and makes a hoarse and murmuring noise
By and among the smoothed stones, and with his drains or streams
Doth moisten and giue liquor to the corne fields drie with thirst.
What [should I say of him] who least the stalke should lie along
With ears of corne growne big and large, doth eat away [by beasts]
The ranknes of the corne in ten-der blade [when vp it shoots]
And when the blade is equall with the furrowes [and no higher.]
And what [should I report of him] which voids and takes away
With soking sand the water [flouds] gathered as in a fen
Especially, if so be that the floud [which fell by raine]
Abounding ouerflow his banks in months that doubtfull be,
Possessing places all abrode with mud quite ouerlaid,
Whereby the hollow ditches sweat with lukewarme [wetting] raine.
And albeit these things be worke of oxen and of men
Trained and tride in turning vp the ground [with helpe of plough]
Yet doth the naughty goose, nor yet the cranes of Strymon lake,
Nor intyba with bitter tang-led roots annoy or hurt:
The shadow hurteth not, [but fa-ther Iupiter] himselfe
Would not the way of tilling [land] should easie be [but hard]
And he himselfe stird field vp first [and laboured the land]
Whetting the harts of mortall men with cares, ne suffred he
His realms [and people] stiffe to be with noisome drowsinesse.
No husbandmen did dresse the ground before god Iupiter,
Ne lawfull was it for to marke or part the field with bounds,
But [men] in common liuing sought: the earth it selfe also
Did freely beare all things, no bo-die willing [bidding] it.
He [Iupiter] gaue serpents blacke their venem [vile]
And he commanded woolues also to rauen and to spoile,
The sea by sailing to be stird, and he smit downe from leaues
[Of trees sweet] honie and [from vse of men] put fire away:
And he held in [or bounded vp] wine running euery where
In riuers [for this end] that vse and exercise might wring,
And by deuising beat out arts by little and by little,
[And occupations diuers sorts] and might in furrowes seeke
For blades of corne, and smite out fire hidden in veins of flint.
Then first felt flouds the alnetree wood made hollow [botes and ships]
Then gaue the mariner to stars their numbers and their names,
The Pleiads, Heiads, and the star of Lycaon so cleere,
Then was deuisd wild beasts to take with snares, and to deceiue
[Poore sillie birds] with lime, and to compasse great parks with dogs.
Now one with slingnet beats vpon the riuer brode and large,
Reaching vnto the very depth, another puls and drawes
Out of the water [fishing] lines [all moist and wringing] wet,
Then was [found out] of iron the stif-nesse, and plate of shrill saw,
For men at first did cut their wood, easie to cleaue, with wedges;
Then diuerse occupations and trades came vp in vse,
For ceaslesse labour maistreth and ouercoms all things,
And so doth preasing pouertie and need in cases hard.
Ceres first taught and trained men with iron [tools] to turne
[And plow] the ground, euen then when a-korns and the frutes of trees
Did faile in holy wood, and when Dodona food denide:
And by and by mishap was sent [and casualtie] to corne
[Namely] that blasting mischeefous should eat the stems and stalks,
And idle [frutelesse] thistles should grow stiffe and rough in fields:
The corne decaies and dies, great store of sharpe and pricking weeds,
As burs & brambles come in place, and naughtie darnell with
The barren otes beare sway among the goodly plowed lands.
And sure, vnlesse thou wilt apply and follow well thy ground
With harrowing it continually, and fray away the birds
With [some deuised] noise, and cut or plash away with bill
The shadie boughs of sunlesse soile, and wilt both call and cry
[To god aboue] by praier for raine: alacke thou shalt behold
[But] all in vaine huge heaps of [corne belonging to] another
And shalt asswage thy hunger with the shaken oke in woods.
Now must I also shew what tools hard husbandmen should haue,
Without all which the haruest corne could not be sowne nor rise:
A plowshare first with weighty oke [or wood] of crooked plow,
And waines of mother Eleusine [Ceres of Eleusis]
Going on wheeles [but] slowly, flails, and sleds with harrowes of
Uneuen weight, and furthermore the simple furniture
Of Celeus [king of Eleusis] with rods of wicker wrought,
And hardles made of bending wood, and Bacchus secret fan
All which thou being mindfull of, shalt lay vp [or lay by]
Prouided long before [thou need] if that the worthy praise
And glory of gods [blessed] earth remaine or bide in thee.
Immediatly whiles elme is yoong, 'tis tamed in the woods,
And by maine strength [it being] bowd, a plowtaile it is made,
And takes the shape and fashion of the crooked plow also:
A plowbeame eight foot long from th' end, two ears or handles [fit]
[With] culters double backt are hand-some made and fit hereto:
The light [wood of the] Tilie tree is cut downe for a yoke
So is the beechtree hie and tall: the plow handle also,
The which should turne the cart behind [in following of the plow]
And let the smoke trie well the wood hangd vp in chimney drie.
I could thee many lessons tell of old and aged men,
But that thou doost refuse and shrug to know [such] slender cares.
The ground must first be plaine and leuell laid with roller great,
And to be turnd with hand, and with fast chalke firme to be made,
Least weeds should grow, or ouercome with dust the same should gape:
Then diuers plages [or vermine vile] deceiue [the husbandman]
The little mouse hath plast his house oft vnderneath the ground,
And made his barns [or garners there] or else the moldwarps blind
Haue digd them couches there to lodge, and in the hollow holes
The tode is found, and many mon-sters more the earth brings foorth,
The weuell [a deuouring worme] destroies huge heapes of corne,
So doth the pismere fearing much hir needy helplesse age.
Behold and see likewise when as the tall and long nut tree,
[Or almon] shall shoot out hir flours and blossoms in the woods,
And shall hir smelling branches bow; if [then] the frutes abound,
Corne in like measure follow will, and threshing [worke] great [store]
Will come with great [and feruent] heat [by labour or by time]
But if the shadow do abound by ranknesse of the leaues,
The barne floore shall both bruse and beat the straw of hungrie husks.
I many men haue seene t'amend and help their seed [in] sowing,
As first with saltishpeter and blacke dregs of oile to wet it,
That greater grains might be conteind in the deceitfull husks,
And might be moist, being hastened vnto a fire but small.
I haue seene seeds both chosen long, and with much labour tride,
Grow out of kind neuerthelesse: but that mans will and wit
Did yearely choose the largest [seed] and gather it by hand:
So [haue I seene] all things by dest-nie fall into the woorst,
And fallen downe still backward driuen, none otherwise than he
Which hard and skant doth forward driue his bote with rowing [much]
Against the streame, if he perhaps let go and ease his arms,
[And slacker hold doth take of ores by means his strength decaies]
And so the channell in the floud descending with a fall,
Doth catch and carry him away hedlong into the deepe.
Beside all this, the very stars of Arcture north trulie,
And eke the daies of Hedi, with the bright and glistering snake,
Must marked be no lesse [of vs which plow and till the ground]
Than seas of Pontus, or the swal-lowing gulfe of Abyd towne
Of oisters hauing store, are tride of such as carried be
Through windie waues into the land where they were bred and borne.
[The signe of Libra must likewise obserued be and markt]
Bicause when Libra shall make euen th' hours of day and night,
And now hath parted in the world to light and shade,
[And made the day and night to be of iust and equall length]
Then O good husbands exercise and set your ox to worke:
Sow barlie in your feelds vntill the latter raine [that fals]
Of winter time vnseasonable: now also is the time
To hide in th' earth your seed of hempe, and Ceres poppie white,
[Poppie of Ceres or of corne, bicause it growes with corne]
And painfully to plie the plow, a few daies now together,
Whiles that you may, the ground being drie, & clouds hang [in th' aire]
Seed time for beans in spring of yeare [is fit] and then also
Do rotten furrowes thee, O thou three leau'd Medica,
And then for Millet or for Hirst coms yearly care and paine,
When Taurus white with golden horns doth open you the yeare
And Caius mouing goeth downe with [Argus] offward starre,
With [Sirus] star malicious [and noisome vnto men.]
But if thou wilt labour thy land for haruest wheat [and rie]
And graine both big and strong, and shakt stand vpon corne alone
[And carest for none other crop] then let th' Atlantides
[Those seuen] easterne [stars] be set and hidden from thee quite,
And let the Gnosian star of the bright shining crowne like fire
[Giuen to Ariadne] go backe from the sunnie beames]
Before thou cast in furrowes long thy seedcorne due to thee,
And likewise yer thou makest hast to trust th' unwilling earth
With hope of yeare [increase of corne in haruest to be rept.]
Many before the going downe of Maia haue begun,
But them hath wheat long looked for beguild with vaine otes [wild.]
Now if thou wilt sow vitches and fasels pulse little woorth,
Ne wilt despise the care of len-tils of Pelusian soile,
[A mouth or hauen of Nilus floud] Bootes going downe
Shall giue to thee vndoubted signs [when thou shalt sow thy ground.]
Begin therefore thy sowing time, and still hold on the same,
Till hory frosts be halfe gone [and the spring time forward come.]
[To th' end] therefore [we may discerne the seasons of the yeare]
The golden sun doth rule the world measurd in certeine parts,
By stars [or signs in number] twelue. Fiue zones do hold the heauen,
One of the which is alwaies red with brightly shining sunne
And euer scortching with the fire [aboue and next it selfe]
About the which are drawne two o-ther furthest off [in place]
At the right side and at the left [namely the south and north]
Growne hard with yse so gray, & raine [in clouds most thick and] blacke
Betweene these and the middle [zone] two other [zones] there be
Granted to miserable men by gift of gods [aboue]
And through them both a way is cut, whereby the thwarted course
And order of the signs [or stars] might turne [and moue] it selfe.
Euen as the world [or globe of heauen] at Scythia riseth hie
And at the tops of Riphey hils [which northerly do lie]
So is it pressed downward with a fall at Lybia south:
This mounteine [north in Scythia] is alwaies hie to vs,
[Aboue our heads] but th' other mount that is [in Lybia south]
Under our feet blacke Styx beholds and feends infernall sees.
The [dragon or the] serpent huge with winding bowts and rounds
Slides downe and fals in maner of a riuer or a floud
[At northpole] hereby and about the two [bears] Artos [nam'd]
Fearing with water of the main swift sea for to be wet:
There [at the south pole] as men say, the dead time of the night
Is alwaies still [and void of noise] the darknesse likewise is
[Exceeding thicke] with very night it selfe all ouerspread:
Or else the morning doth returne from vs [to th' Antipods]
And bringeth backe againe [from them to vs] the [lightsome] day
And when the sun vprising first hath breathd vpon vs [heere]
There Uesper or th' euening doth kindle lateward lights.
We herevpon can learne before [all] wethers [faire or fowle,]
The heauen being doubtfull and we can foretell the daies
Of [reaping in the] haruest time, and seasons [too] of sowing,
And when it is conuenient to stir or force with ores
Th' untrustie sea, and to bring downe or launch ships readie rig'd,
And t'ouerthrow [or to cut vp] in woods the timely pine:
Ne do we marke in vaine the ri-sings and the fals of signs,
And [how] the yeare is [parted] euen in sundry seasons foure.
If any time the raine tha'ts cold keeps husbandmen [at home]
It's granted him [for] to dispatch, and to do many things,
Which were with riddance to be done the wether being faire,
The plowman whets the edge so hard of blunted culter knife,
He maketh hollow botes of trees [or woodden bolls and traies]
Or prints a marke vpon his beasts, or counts his heaps of graine;
Others do sharpen stakes, and dou-ble horned forks [likewise]
And redie make for limber vine bindings of Amerie.
One while let wicker maunds or bas-kets [paniers] easly made,
Be wrought and wouen with ozier rods in Bubi towne [which grow:]
Another while drie at the fire your corne, and with a stone
Breake it [and being throughly dride then grind it in a mill.]
For surely both the law of God and man likewise doth suffer
T'exercise and do some things yea euen on holidaies;
No [maner of] religion hath forbidden downe to bring
[Into the fields to water them] riuer or running streams,
To make a fense or plat a hedge about the growing corne,
To practise snares for birds, and thorns or brambles for to burne,
To plunge or wash in wholsome wa-ter flocks of bleating sheepe,
Oft times the driuer lodes the sides [and backe] of asse so slow,
Either with oyle or apples cheape, and he returning home
Brings from the towne a grindstone, or a lumpe of blackish pitch.
The moone hirselfe hath giuen [to men] some luckie daies of worke,
In diuerse order: [wherefore] flie and shift the first [moone] off,
Pale [hell cald] Orcus and likewise [th' infernall furies too
Named] Eumenides were bred and borne at that same time:
And then the earth brought foorth with birth and trauell most accurst
Ceus, Iapetus and cruell Tiphei [giants great]
And brethren sworne and all conspird to rent in peeces heauen:
Thrise did they trie and giue assay vpon mount Pelius,
To lay the mountaine Ossa and forsooth on Ossa mounnt
To roll the hill Olympus full of trees bedeckt with leaues.
Thrise father [Iupiter] with light-nings and with thunderbolts
Cast downe those hils pilde on a heape [and floong them flat to ground.]
The seuenth [moone] next to the tenth is luckie and fortunat.
[Or as some say the seuenteenth] and then it's very good
To set [yoong] vines, and oxen be-ing taken [them] to tame,
And yarne to put vnto the web [or weauers loome for cloth.]
The ninth [moone] better is for flight [or running fast away]
And contrary to thefts [because it maketh theeues be caught.]
Things many offred haue themselues much better [to be doone]
In coldish night, or when Eo-us [earlie morning star]
Bedews the ground with sun new vp [or scarsly being risen]
By night the stubble light, at night drie meads shall best be mowne,
The moisture fresh and coole of night doth not decay or faile:
And some [good husbands] watch all night, and with sharpe knife do cut
In fashion like an eare of wheat drie sticks for lateward fires,
[Or seruing fit for candle light] at night in winter time:
His wife also refreshing hir long labour with a song,
In the meane time runs through hir web with whurling shuttle [swift]
Or else she boils with fire the li-quor of sweet must [new wine]
And skums away with leaues the run-ning ouer of the bra-
sen kettle lukewarme [on the fire seething a gentle pase]
But corne [with ripenesse] red in midst of heat is best cut downe.
The threshing floore also beats out the grains [alredy] dride
In midst of heat [th' easlier out of their husks to fall]
Plow naked then, sow naked [for] the winter slothfull is
Unto the countriman: oft times [good] husbandmen enioy
[Their] gotten [goods] in [time of] cold, and being merie men
They make good cheere among themselues [for] gluttonous winter doth
Entise [thereto] and cares consumes: euen as the mariners
When as their ships [with merchandize] full fraught haue toucht the port,
[Or bruzd and crusht with tempests haue arriued in the hauen,]
Being ioyfull put vpon their poops garlands [of victorie.]
Howbeit now it's time to shake off akorns from th' oketree
Berries of baies, and oliues, and [the frutes] of bloudie myrts.
Then [time] to set [your] snares for cranes, and nets for harts [or stags]
To follow long-eard hares, to strike and sticke the fallow deere,
And hempen strings of Spanish sling are twisted they [and vs'de]
When snow lies deepe, & when as flouds thrust [forward flakes of] yse,
[That is, when yse doth flote and swim aloft on waters rough.]
What should I speake of haruest storms, and tempests of the stars,
And [of that time] when as the day is short, and gentle heat,
Which must be watcht of men, or when the rainie springtime fals,
When as the haruest in the eare is rough become in fields,
And corne with milkie iuice fulfild doth swell in greenish stalke,
Oft haue I seene the battels all of winds to run together,
When as the husbandman should bring a reaper to the yel-
low fields [in haruest when the winds annoy the ripened corne]
And when from brittle stem he should his barley pull or cut:
Which [battels of the winds] could teare the corne being full and big
Quite from the very roots [the same] being tossed vp aloft:
So [haue I seene when] winter [storme] did beare away the light
Straw and the stubble flieng with a whirlewind blacke [and cloudie,]
From heauen oft times hath falne and come vnmeasurable raine,
And clouds together gathered do hurle in rounded heaps
Fowle tempests mixt and tempered with blacke and mistie shoures.
The highest aire doth tumble downe, and wets with mighty raine
The seedcorne ranke, and labours great of oxen [at the plow]
Ditches are filled vp, and hol-low flouds increase with noise:
The sea also doth rage and boile with blustring storms and waues.
The father of tempests himselfe doth mainly moue and raise
With his right hand bright lightenings at midnight, by which force
The greatest [part of all the] earth doth tremble, beasts so wild
Do run away, and lowly feare hath daunted hearts of men
Through nations [far and neere:] for he with flaming thunderbolt
Throwes downe mount Athon, Rhodope, or else hie Ceraun hils,
The southerne winds double themselues, so doth the thickest raine,
Now with the mightie wind the woods and seashores make a noise.
Thou fearing this marke well the months of heauen and the stars,
And whether Saturns star so cold betakes it selfe [or goes,]
And in what circles of the heauen Cyllenius star doth wander.
First [and before all other things] worship the gods aboue,
And offer thou againe to Ce-res great hir yerely sa-
crifices, hauing wrought among thy rankish bladed corne,
Euen at the fall or going out of winters latter end,
And spring time faire now [being come] then lambs are fat, and wines
Are passing pleasant, then are sleeps delightsome too and sweet,
And shadowes thicke on hils. Let all thy countrie youth adore
And worship Ceres, vnto whom temper and mingle thou
Honie with milke and daintie wine [or wine not hard in tast]
And let a sacrifice [that is, a hog, a sheepe, or cow]
Fat and well liking go about the new corne [on the ground]
Which [sacrifice] let all the rowt with their companions too
Follow reioising, and with out-cries let them call into
Their houses [ladie] Ceres [or the corne into their barns:]
Ne let there any bodie put sickle to ripened corne,
Before his head being compast round with writhen [garland] oke,
He giue disordred danses, and sing songs to Ceres [praise]
But that we might by certeine signs these matters vnderstand,
Heat, raine, and winds inforcing cold, the father [Iupiter]
Appointed hath what thing ech month-ly moone should tell vs of,
Under what signe the southerne winds should fall [and blowing cease:]
Which husbandmen perceiuing oft might keepe their heards of neat
Nerer vnto their houels, or the neerer to their stals,
Immediatly the winds ari-sing, or the waues of sea
Being tost begin to swell, and noise of dried leaues on trees
[Begin for] to be heard vpon the mounteins hie, or shores
Of seas sounding far off. [Begin] troubled to be right sore,
And murmuring noise of woods [begin] to grow yet more and more,
The water of the sea doth bad-ly stay or spare it selfe
From crooked keels of ships euen then, when as the [water foules
Cald] diuers swiftly flie out of the middle of the sea,
And carrie to the shore their noise [and crieng flie to shore.]
And when the seamews play vpon the drie land [or the sand]
And when the bittour doth forsake and leaue the well knowne fens,
And flies aboue the clouds so hie [of tempests these are signs]
Thou likewise oftentimes shalt see stars headlong fall from heauen,
The wind them forward driuing, and long strakes of flaming fire
To be come white behind thy backe with shadowes of the night:
Light chaffe also and leaues [from trees] falne downe to flie about
Or fethers swimming on the water top to play together.
But when it lightens from the part of boisterous northerne wind,
And when the house of Easterne wind, and westerne wind doth thunder,
[All] countrie grounds do swim [in wet] their ditches being full,
And euery mariner on sea doth gather vp his sailes
Wet with the raine [that fell.] Raine to the wise did neuer hurt,
[Raine neuer hath done harme to them that would forewarned be]
[For] cranes flieng aloft in th' aire, or cranes skie coloured
Haue shund a shoure comming or rising vp in vallies low:
Or else a cow looking to heauen hath often taken aire
In at hir nosetrils open wide, or else the chatting swallow
[Or flickering round about a lake or pond hath often flowne;
And frogs haue soong their old complaint or note in [slimie] mud,
The ant or pismere fretting out a narrow way or passage,
Hath often carried out hir egs from secret closet [hole]
The [raine] bow big hath droonke [and sok't vp stuffe enough for raine]
And eke an armie huge of crowes departing from their food,
By great troups with their wings so thick haue made a flickering noise.
Thou maist behold the fouls of sea, and those that [keepe in holes
Or seeke in holes for meat] about the meads of Asia land,
Within the standing waters [or the fens] of Caister [floud]
To dash or poure vpon their shoul-ders, pinions, or their wings
Large dews [or watery sprinklings] and sometime ducke their head
Against the sea, and other whiles to run into the streame,
And with desire to make a shew of washing all in vaine.
Then cals the ceaslesse dew for raine with full voice [open throte]
And ietteth by himselfe alone vpon the drie sand [shore]
And his complaining head he diues in waters comming neere.
And surely wenches toosing wooll [or spinning flax] by night
Haue not beene ignorant of raine [but knowne before it came]
When as they saw their oile to spar-kle in hot burning shell
And rotten mushroms [as it were] t'arise and grow withall.
No lesse maist thou foresee and know by raine and certaine signs,
Trim sunnie daies and open we-ther, lightsome faire and cleere:
For then it seemes no blunt aspect or sight is in the stars,
Nor yet the moone beholden to hir brothers beams to rise,
Nor slender fleeses thin of wooll [as thistle downe and such]
By th' aire for to be carried. Th' halcyons [birds] belou'd
Of Thetis [and cald kings fishers] their feathers open not
Upon the shore in lukewarme sun: and the vncleanly swine
Remember not to turne and tosse with wide and open mouth
Bundels of straw [trusses vnbound and loose by mouth of swine]
But dews fall more in vallies low, and lie vpon the feelds:
The owle likewise marking the fall or setting of the sun
His euening songs he vseth not from highest top of house,
And Nisus [of Megera king and turned to a falcon]
Capers aloft in skie so cleere, and Scylla [Nisus daughter
Changed into a larke] doth smart for [his faire] purple haire,
Which way soeuer flieng [from hir father] light and swift
She cutteth with hir wings the aire, lo Nisus cruell fo
Doth follow fast with great [adoo and] flickering noise of wings,
[And looke] which way as Nisus bears himselfe vp in the skie,
She shifting him so swift cuts with hir wings th' aire by and by.
Then crowes do double twise or thrise out of [their] strained throte
Cleere cals [or noises shrill] and glad in nestling places hie
Do make a chattering oft betweene themselues among the leaues,
With what sweetnesse I cannot tell contrary to their want:
It doth delight them when the raine is ouerpast and gone.
To looke vnto their little brood, and see their nests so sweet.
I do not thinke that in them is wit heauenly from God,
Or greater wisdome [and more skill] of things than nature would
[I thinke not that their wit is more diuine than mens, nor that
Their insight of things greater is than fate or natures saw.]
But when the tempest and the wet of variable aire
Haue changed their waies [be gone] and that moist [wether] Iupiter
Doth thicken with the southerne winds those things that late were thin,
And maketh loose or thin those things that earst were close and thicke,
Then are their qualities of mind turned [as times doth change]
[Then creatures reasonlesse are turnd in sundrie sorts of minds]
And now their brests [or harts] conceiue affections other [wise]
And other [wise] whiles winds did chase and driue away the clouds.
Hereof [doth come] those songs and tunes of birds [abrode] in feelds,
And cheerefull beasts, and also crowes reioising in their throte.
But if thou wilt behold and looke vpon the sun so swift,
And moons succeeding orderly, the houre or morrow next
Shall neuer thee deceiue, ne shalt thou taken be with snares
Of euening cleere or night so faire [and yet the next day fowle.]
If when the moone doth gather first hir light returning backe,
[That is, if when the moone is changd and in hir quarter first]
She hold in duskish horne blacke aire, [lo then] raine very great
Shalbe prepard for husbandmen [on land] and for the sea,
But if she ouercast vpon hir face a virgins rednesse
[Or blushing maidenlike] it will be wind: the golden moone
Phebe is red alwaies with wind. But if she shall go cleere
And [shining] bright through heauen, and not with blun-ted hornes [but sharpe]
In hir fourth rising (for that quar-ter is the surest signe
Of wether faire) then sure with all that whole day and [the rest]
Which shall proceed and spring from it, vntill the month be out,
Shall want both raine & winds, and sea-men sau'd [from being drownd]
Shall pay their vowes vpon the shore to Glaucus [god of sea]
To Panope [a seanymph] and to Melicert Inous
[A god of sea and sonne vnto the whitish goddesse Ino.]
The son also shall tokens giue both rising, and likewise
When he shall hide himselfe in wa-ters [at his setting too]
Undoubted signs follow the sun: those things which he doth shew
At mornings and which [he doth shew at night] at stars arising.
When he [the sun] shall staine with spots his easterne rising vp,
And hidden in a cloud shall shine with halfe his compasse round,
Let raine suspected be to thee; for south vnlucky wind
To trees and corne and cattell for-ceth [raine] from aire aloft.
But when as sunbeames diuers [and discoloured] shall breake
Themselues among thicke clouds a little while before day light;
Or when Aurora [goddesse of the morning] leauing she
The saffron coloured bed of Ti-tonus [hir husband deere]
Ariseth pale: alacke the ten-der leaues and boughs of vines
Defend the grapes but badly then [the boughs and leaues of vines
Defend not then the grapes so soft, in clusters hanging ripe]
So much haile ratling horribly doth leape on houses tops.
It shall thee profit much also for to remember this,
When he [the sun] shall set, the heauen [by him] being measured out
[Hauing run ouer his hemisphere, or halfe the world by course]
For colours diuers oft we see to wander in his face:
Gray doth betoken raine, and fie-ry red shews easterne winds,
But if the spots with shining fi-rie rednesse shall begin
Mingled to be, then shalt thou see [all] places to be hot
With wind and rainie storms at once [together rushing downe,]
Let no man monish or aduise me in that night to go
Unto the sea, nor pull vp loose the gable rope from ground,
But if the circle of the sun be bright and lightsome, when
He shall bring home the day, and hide the same being brought home.
[If at his rising he be bright and at his setting too]
Then all in vaine thou shalt be skard and fraid with stormy wether;
And thou shalt see the woods with cleere northwinds for to be shaken.
In breefe the sun shall giue thee signs what lateward Uesper brings,
From whense the wind may driue faire clouds, & what moist south may cause.
Who dares say that the sun is false? the same [sun] also warns
[Us] oftentimes [of] blind vprores and busie stirs at hand,
And [deepe] deceipt, and hidden wars [dissembled] for to swell:
He [euen the sun] did pittie Rome, Cæsar then being slaine,
When as he couered his bright head with darksome duskishnesse,
[Put on a mourning hood of blacke for greefe of Cæsars death]
Those wicked worldlings [in whose daies so good a prince was kild]
Haue feard an euerlasting night; and at that time also
The earth and waters of the sea, and filthie howling curs,
And [colping rauens] restlesse birds [vntimely] tokens gaue,
How oft haue we seene Ætna [hill] flashing from out of bro-
ken fornaces to burne amaine as far as Cyclops fields,
And roll or tumble bals of fire, and stones consumde [to ashes:]
Germania heard the sound of rat-ling arms all ouer heauen,
The alps [mountains twixt Italie and France exceeding hie]
Trembled [and shooke with quiuerings and sore] vnwoonted quakes.
A mightie voice was also heard of people [euery where]
Quite through the silent woods, repre-sentations pale also
In manner maruellous were seene a while before darknight,
And beasts spake words not to be spoke [or beasts did speake a thing
Not to be told] riuers stand still grounds open wide and gape:
The iuory [images] also pensiue and very sad
Weepe in the temples, and the bra-sen [idols] sweat [for greefe.]
Eridanus the king of flouds [in Italie well knowne]
Wasted the woods winding the same about with raging rounds,
And bore away beasts with their stalls cleane ouer all the feelds.
Ne ceassed at the selfe same time the strings or little veines
[Of boweld beasts] thretfull t'appeare in entrails sad [to see]
Ne ceassed bloud from springs to flow, and townes high [built] to ring,
And sound by night with howling wolues: more lightenings neuer fell
At any time, the skie or we-ther being passing cleere;
Nor dreadfull blazing stars so oft as then did sorely burne.
Therefore [the feelds of Thessalie] [named] Philippie saw
The Romane armies yet againe among themselues to fight,
And skirmish all with equall we-pons? [as with persing darts
Or iauelins, of the Romans old th' inuading furniture]
Ne was it of the gods vnwor-thie [thought] that Emathie
[Or Macedonie] and the feelds so large of Hyemus [hill]
Should twise wax fat with [Roman bloud], our bloud [in battell shed]
And know you this, the time will come when as the husbandman
Haing turnd vp the ground with croo-ked plow in those same quarters,
Shall find darts eaten [sore and gnawne] with rough and rugged rust,
Or with his heauie harrow he shall emptie helmets hit
And at the bones so great in graues digd vp [found out, or hurt]
He shall much maruell [seeing them so big, and ours so small.]
O natiue countrie gods now dei-fide and made eternall,
And thou O Romulus and thou [his] mother Vesta, which
Doost saue and keepe the Tuscan [floud] Tiber: and doost preserue
The Romane palaces; forbid not [hinder not] at least
This youth to succour and vphold the world turnd vpside downe.
We now a long time with our bloud haue satisfied and paid
Enough for the [fowle] periurie of Troy Laomedont,
[Of Troy whereof Laomedon for sworne was sometime king]
O Cæsar, O the royall court of heauen beare vs grudge.
This many a day for thee, and doth complaine [and plainly say]
That thou regardest triumphs and victorious shewes of men,
Sith lawfull and vnlawfull [both] are turnd [and thought all one]
So many warrs through out the world, so many sorts of sins,
No honor worthie of the plow [the plow in no account]
The fallows they be fowle [vntrimd] the husbandmen [from plow]
Being lead or drawne away perforce [to bloudie ciuill warrs]
And crooked syths or sickles in-to swords so stif be forged.
On this side stirs Euphrates war, and Germanie on that,
The neighbour towns beare armes among themselues, lawes being broken,
Most wicked Mars doth tyrannize and rage in all the world;
As when foure horsses in a coch haue floong themselues from bar,
And gaue themselues into the race, the cochman pulling in
The stayes or holds in vaine, is ca-ried quite away with horsse,
Ne doth the coch giue eare or heare the rains [but set them light.]