Page:The Works of Alexander Pope (1717).djvu/324

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VERTUMNUS and POMONA.
'Twas all her joy the ripening fruits to tend,And see the boughs with happy burthens bend.The hook she bore, instead of Cynthia's spear,To lop the growth of the luxuriant year,To decent form the lawless shoots to bring,And teach th' obedient branches where to spring.Now the cleft rind inserted graffs receives,And yields an offspring more than nature gives;Now sliding streams the thirsty plants renew,And feed their fibres with reviving dew.These cares alone her virgin breast employ,Averse from Venus and the nuptial joy;Her private orchards, wall'd on ev'ry side,To lawless sylvans all access deny'd.How oft' the satyrs and the wanton fawns,Who haunt the forests, or frequent the lawns,The God whose ensign scares the birds of prey,And old Silenus, youthful in decay,Employ'd their wiles and unavailing care,To pass the fences, and surprize the fair?

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