Classic Poem

OR, THE AGRICULTURISTS .

M AY'S liberal hand her fragrant bloom disclos'd,
And herds and flocks on grassy banks repos'd;
Soft Evening gave to ease the tranquil hour,
And Philomel's wild warblings fill'd the bower.

Where near the village rose the eim-crown'd hill,
And white-leav'd aspins trembled o'er the rill,
Three rural Bards, the village youth among,
The pleasing lore of rural business sung.

FIRST .

The care of farms we sing — attend the strain —
What skill, what toil, shall best procure you gain;
How different culture different ground requires;
While Wealth rewards whom Industry inspires.

SECOND .

When thy light land on scorching gravel lies,
And to the springing blade support denies;
Fix on the wintry tilth the frequent fold,
And mend with cooling marl, or untried mould.

THIRD .

If thy strong loam superfluous wet retain,
Lead through thy fields the subterraneous drain,
And o'er the surface mellowing stores expand
Of fiery lime, or incoherent sand.

FIRST .

In vacant corners, on the hamlet waste,
The ample dunghill's steaming heap be plac'd;
There many a month fermenting to remain,
Ere thy slow team disperse it o'er the plain.

SECOND .

The prudent farmer all manure provides,
The mire of roads, the mould of hedge-row sides;
For him their mud the stagnant ponds supply;
For him their soil, the stable and the sty.

THIRD .

For this the swain, on Kennet's winding shore,
Digs sulphurous peat along the sable moor:
For this, where Ocean bonnos the stormy strand,
They fetch dank sea-weed to the neighbouring land.

FIRST .

Who barren heaths to tillage means to turn,
Must, ere he plough, the greensward pare and burn;
Where rise the smoking hillocks o'er the field,
The saline ashes useful compost yield.

SECOND .

Where sedge or rushes rise on spongy soils,
Or rampant moss the' impoverish'd herbage spoils,
Corrosive soot with liberal hand bestow;
The' improving pasture soon its use will show.

THIRD .

Hertfordian swains on airy hills explore
The chalk's white vein, a fertilizing store:
This, from deep pits in copious baskets drawn,
Amends alike the arable and lawn.

FIRST .

Who spends too oft in indolence the day,
Soon sees his farm his base neglect betray;
His useless hedge-greens docks and nettles bear,
And the tough cammock clogs his shining share".

SECOND .

Thy weedy fallows let the plough pervade,
Till on the top the' inverted roots are laid:
There left to wither in the noon-tide ray,
Or by the spiky harrow clear'd away.

THIRD .

When wheat's green stem the ridge begins to hide,
Let the sharp weedbook's frequent aid be tried,
Lest thy spoil'd crop at harvest thou bemoan,
With twitch and twining bindweed overgrown.

FIRST .

Much will rank melilot thy grain disgrace,
And darnel, fellest of the weedy race:
To' extirpate these, might care or cost avail,
To' extirpate these, nor care nor cost should fail.

SECOND .

When the foul furrow fetid mayweed fills,
The weary reaper oft complains of ills;
As his keen sickle grides along the lands,
The acrid herbage oft corrodes his hands.

THIRD .

Wield oft thy scythe along the grassy layes,
Ere the rude thistle its light down displays;
Else that light down upon the breeze will fly,
And a new store of noxious plants supply.

FIRST .

Would ye from tillage ample gains receive,
With change of crops the' exhausted soil relieve;
Next purple clover let brown wheat be seen,
And bearded barley after turnips green.

SECOND .

Bid here dark peas or tangled vetches spread,
There buckwheat's white flower faintly ting'd with red;
Bid here potatoes' deep green stems be born,
And yellow cole the' inclosure there adorn.

THIRD .

Here let tall rye or fragrant beans ascend,
Or oats their ample panicles extend;
There rest thy glebe, left fallow not in vain,
To feel the summer's sun and winter's rain.

FIRST .

The skill'd in culture oft repay their toil
By choice of plants adapted to their soil;
The spiky saintfoin best on chalk succeeds,
The lucern hates cold clays and moory meads.

SECOND .

Best on loose sands, where brakes and briars once rose,
Its deep-fring'd leaves the yellow carrot shows;
Best on stiff loam rough teasets rear their heads,
And brown coriander's odorous umbel spreads.

THIRD .

On barren mountains, bleak with chilly air,
Forbidding pasturage or the ploughman's care,
Laburnum's boughs a beauteous bloom disclose,
Or spiry pines a gloomy grove compose.

FIRST .

On rushy marshes, rank with watry weeds,
Clothe the clear'd soil with groves of waving reeds;
Of them the gardner annual fences forms,
To shield his tender plants from vernal storms.

SECOND .

Cantabrian hills the purple saffron show;
Blue fields of flax in Lincoln's fenland blow;
On Kent's rich plains green hop-grounds scent the gales,
And apple-groves deck Hereford's golden vales.

THIRD .

Shelter'd by woods the weald of Sussex lies;
Her smooth green downs sublime from Ocean rise:
That, fittest soil supplies for growth of grain;
These, yield best pasture for the fleecy train.

FIRST .

Say, friends! whoe'er his residence might choose,
Would these sweet scenes of silvan shade refuse,
And seek the black waste of the barren wold,
That yields no shelter from the heat or cold?

SECOND .

Dull are slow Ousa s mist-exhaling plains,
Where long rank grass the morning dew retains:
Who pastures there in Autumn's humid reign,
His flock from sickness hopes to save in vain.

THIRD .

The bleak, flat, sedgy shores of Essex shun,
Where fog perpetual veils the winter sun;
Though flattering Fortune there invite thy stay,
Thy health the purchase of her smiles must pay.

FIRST .

When, harvest past, thy ricks of yellow corn
Rise round the yard, and scent the breeze of morn,
Rude Winter's rage with timely care to' avert,
Let the skill'd thatcher ply his useful art.
SECOND .

When thy ripe walnuts deck the glossy spray,
Ere pilfering rooks purloin them fast away,
Wield thy tough pole, and lash the trees amain,
Till leaves and husks the lawn beneath distain.

THIRD .

When thy green orchards fraught with fruit appear,
Thy lofty ladder midst the boughs uprear;
Thy basket's hook upon the branch suspend,
And with the fragrant burden oft descend.

FIRST .

Spread on the grass, or pil'd in heaps, behold
The pearmain's red, the pippin's speckled gold;
There shall the russet's auburn rind be seen,
The redstreak's stripes, and nonpareil's bright green.

SECOND .

These on dry straw, in airy chambers, lay,
Where windows clear admit the noon-tide ray;
They, safe from frosts, thy table shall supply,
Fresh to the taste, and pleasing to the eye.

THIRD .

When favouring seasons yield thee store to spare,
The circling mill and cumbrous press prepare;
From copious vats, the well-fermented juice
Will sparkling beverage for thy board produce.

FIRST .

From red to black when bramble-berries change,
And boys for nuts the hazel copses range,
On new-reap'd fields the thick strong stubble mow,
And safe in stacks about thy homestead stow.

SECOND .

With purple fruit when elder-branches bend,
And their bright hues the hips and cornels blend,
Ere yet chill hoar-frost comes, or sleety rain,
Sow with choice wheat the neatly furrow'd plain.

THIRD .

When clamorous fieldfares seek the frozen mead,
And lurking snipes by gurgling runnets feed;
Then midst dry fodder let thy herds be found,
Where sheltering sheds the well-stor'd crib surround.

FIRST .

Though Winter reigns, our labours never fail:
Then all day long we hear the sounding flail;
And oft the beetle's strenuous stroke descends,
That knotty block-wood into billets rends.

SECOND .

Then in the barns in motion oft are seen
The rustling corn-fan, and the wiry screen:
In sacks the tasker measures up his grain,
And loads for market on the spacious wain.

THIRD .

The' inclosure fence then claims our timely care,
The ditch to deepen, and the bank repair;
The well-plash'd hedge with frequent stakes confine,
And o'er its top tough wyths of hazel twine.

FIRST .

Where in the croft the russet hayrick stands,
The dextrous binder twists his sedgy bands,
Across the stack his sharp-edg'd engine guides,
And the hard mass in many a truss divides.

SECOND .

When frost thy turnips fixes in the ground,
And hungry flocks for food stand bleating round,
Let sturdy youths their pointed peckers ply,
Till the rais'd roots loose on the surface lie.

THIRD .

When stormy days constrain to quit the field,
The house or barn may useful business yield;
There crooked snaths' of flexile sallow make,
Or of tough ash the fork-stale and the rake.

FIRST .

Full many a chance defeats the farmer's pains,
Full many a loss diminishes his gains;
Wet spoils the seed, or frosts its growth o'erpow'r,
Beasts break the stalk, and birds the grain devour.

SECOND .

While plenteous crops reward thy toil and care,
Thy liberal aid may Age and Sickness share!
Nor let the widow'd cottager deplore
Her fireless hearth, her cupboard's scanty store.

THIRD .

The haughty lord, whom lust of gain inspires,
From man and beast excessive toil requires:
The generous master views with pitying eyes
Their lot severe, and food and rest supplies.

FIRST .

Amid Achaia's streamy vales of old,
Of works and days the' Ascrean Pastor told:
Around him, curious, came the rustic throng,
And wondering listen'd to the' informing song.

SECOND .

Where fam'd Anapus' limpid waters stray,
Sicilia's poet tun'd his doric lay:
While o'er his head the pine's dark foliage hung,
And at his feet the bubbling fountain sprung.

THIRD .

The Latian Maro sung, where Mincio's stream
Through groves of ilex cast a silvery gleam;
While down green vallies stray'd his fleecy flocks,
Or slept in shadow of the mossy rocks.

FIRST .

Fair fame to him, the bard whose song displays
Of rural arts the knowledge and the praise!
Rich as the field with ripen'd harvest white —
A scene of profit mingled with delight!


SECOND .

As dewy cherries to the taste in June,
As shady lanes to travellers at noon,
To me so welcome is the Shepherd's strain;
To kindred spirits never sung in vain:

THIRD .

While lindens sweet and spiky chesnuts blow,
While beech bears mast, on oaks while acorns grow;
So long shall last the Shepherd's tuneful rhyme,
And please in every age and every clime!