The Judgement of the Flood :: :: University of Virginia Library

In regal hall of audience, high enthroned,
Graced with his sister's beauty, and begirt
With warriour, and with noble; whom among
Jabal, and Jubal eminent appeared;
Sate Tubalcain, amidst his counsellours:
And, in the level area of the court,
A Shepherd knelt, in suppliant attitude.
An oaken crook within his hand he bore,
And with a fleecy skin his loins were bound,
Signs of his simple trade; ambassadour
From Abel's children to the sons of Cain.

‘In Adam's, and in God our Father's name,
O king, excuse a shepherd's guileless speech,
If its rude dialect the polished ear
Displease; imploring for a peaceful race,
Whose corn, and oil have failed, that thou their need
Of thine abundance wilt supply, lest them
Famine abolish from the face of earth.’

Thus he. Whereto the crafty Statist crowned:

‘The country where ye sojourn, is it not
Fertile of soil, of so salubrious air,
Nature her part hath done, if man not his?’

‘God,’ said the Shepherd, ‘hath upon the spot
Bestowed his choicest blessings. With small skill
The seed is sown, with little labour reaped:
Whence leisure much have we the flocks to feed
Beside our sacred rivers; while we muse
The stately song, or, under the broad tree,
Or rocky shelter, stories old recount.’

‘Work,’ said the Tetrarch; ‘and ye need not starve:
Or, if your simple hands may not produce
Sufficient store, learn of our skill to make;
Of brass, and iron; harrow, plough, and spade,
Sickle, and scythe: and rear ye food tenfold.
Work; or, if idle, want: strive in your work,
Compete with one another, and surpass.
Know, fond of peace, 'tis Strife divides the earth,
And shall partake its bounties. Now, in war,
Industrious man contends to win the soil;
Now, at the plough, he plants it; then, ordains
Domestic order, and his household keeps;
Running for wealth, and wrestling for command.
One emulation prompts the strong-armed Smith,
The tented Herdsman, and the Harper wise.’

Abashed the Shepherd stood, and groaned in soul.
Then Jabal of his silence vantage seized,
And spake.

‘I know ye will object the name
Of Justice, which forbids extorted wealth:
But can the way ye tread be Virtue's path?
So easy, not the track of vice might be
Or smoother, or her mansion less remote.
Virtue in elevated region dwells,
A steep, and rugged road, moist with the dew
That Labour from his wrinkled forehead sheds,

Scaling the rough ascent. Still hungry want
Must vex the sluggard; him who labour loves
The seasons bless, and in his garner heap
The floor with plenty. To his coffers comes
Gold; and his fields with flocks, and herds abound.
—Attend the times, when ye shall sow, and reap;
Make sharp the sickle; till the glebe with care;
And throw aside your cloak, when at the plough;
Nor let the third sun on your labours rise.
Do thus, and prosper; so the weighty ear
Shall, with majestic bend, nod o'er the plain
On its strong stalk: and, till the spring return,
With its white blossoms; and while heard afar,
A dismal hollow blare, the Bittern fierce
Booms, from the sedgy river's utmost depth;
Ye shall not need to borrow, or to beg.’

He ceased; and, ere the Shepherd could resume,
Jubal took up the taunt.

‘He spake of songs,
And lays ancestral; chaunted on the banks
Of streams, and under shade of tree, and rock;
Songs idle, unelaborate, and mean;
Needing no leisure, yet absorbing it.
Time utterly mis-spent: for diligence
Maketh art perfect; toil completeth skill.
What, though to ditties murmured to your flocks,
Ye have postponed your harvest; yet have ye
Organ, or harp invented; or in song,
Or dance become initiate; such as we,
To ravish sense, have found? Behold, and hear!’