under a black shade Or in strip'd strakes with py'd Achates vies The Tulip from the rest still bears the prize Though now a flow'r yet Dalmatis before Hard by Timavus Sping a blew Nymph bore This was her mother changing Proteus Her Father was whose fickle Genius She follows when Vertumnus had searcht o're The world at last near to Timavus shore In the Illyrian bounds the Maid he sees And while with flatt'ring words he strives to please His Mistress she from his addresses flies Though in her colours he diversifies Himself yet still she frustrate his desires And would not nourish his unlawful fires At last in hopes this would all doubts remove He tells her he 's a God a God in love Yet she persists which causes him to try By force to make the tender Maid comply Now she implores the Gods and by their pow'r T' avoid the ravisher becomes a flow'r The ornaments and fillets which adorn'd Her head and golden hair to leaves were turn'd Where her breast was a slender stalk do's grow ' Girt with a tuft of spreading leaves below In an orbic'lar figure like a Cup Upon this stalk a slower rises up Consisting of six leaves which proudly show The diff'rent colours Nature can bestow This Nymph though now a Flower cannot yet Her fancy for strange colour'd clothes forget In the worst mold this flower better thrives And barren earth miraculously gives More beauty to it then a fertile ground And when least strong it is most comely found If to your Tulips you will adde more grace 'T is best to set them in a fainter place For if you put them in a richer bed The goodness of the soyl will make them red Wen out of ev'ry bed the flow'rs disclose Themselves if that the humid South-wind blows Or from the drier North if Boreas move Bring Garlands to the Altars for they love With these to be adorn'd Thus Glycera Appeas'd great Iove and did the storms allay A flow'ry Wreath was then the ornament With which the modest temples were content Profuseness had not on the vulgar gain'd And Vows to lesser bounds were then restrain'd I by my own experience do find That a wet April with a Southern wind Destroys the horrour of the Spring again And makes our early expectations vain Throughout the Sabine Valleys heretosore Bath'd all in Wine the Shepherds us'd t' adore Celestial Pales Hay was th' Ossering Which for their Seed Cattle they did bring The Chaff consum'd th' Infernals to appease Them with their Februan Rites they strove to please That Moneth o're which the Ram is president Brings forth the Bellides the ornament Of Virgins now though heretofore they were Nymphs of the Meads themselves among them are Those of the Woods whose stalks discriminate Their Species from them which propagate Themselves in Gardens made of finer threads On lesser stalks these shew their painted heads The white Etrurian Iris now appears But those are yellow Lusitania bears One for its figure is by some desir'd The other for its colour more admir'd With leaves condens't on the Iberian hills Exalted high now springs the Daffodills And Water-mint in moister vales we find For Garlands fit when 't is with Myrtle joyn'd With its three colours too the flow'r of Iove We see which had it Smell would equal prove To th' Violets Adonis also flow'rs Whose loss Idalian Venus so deplores And thou Ranunculus whose fame resounds Among the Nymphs that dwell in Lybian bounds Thou through the fields in parti-colour'd dress Aspir'st thy paleness do's thy thoughts confess The love-sick youth once with the same desire Inflam'd himself and set the Nymphs on fire These flow'rs with easie culture are content The Mattock Rake or other Instrument They trouble not for if with fast'ned root Into the air they once but dare to shoot The bed once made by wat'ring them you gain So much of pleasure for so little pain Nor yellow Calthae with their paler light Would I forget shew'd first to Acis sight On the Sicilian shore which from the Sun Towards which they look draw their complexion With curled threads and top divided now Along the margin of your borders grow Stock-Gilly-flow'rs whose blushing leaf may fear And justly too the sharpness of the air Therefore because they cannot well preserve Themselves against ill weather they deserve A place in earthen pots the best defence Against the North and Winters violence Then if November with its horrid show'rs Should rage it cannot prejudice your flow'rs For thus dispos'd when danger menaces To warmer sheds they are remov'd with ease Our fields may now of that Sambucus boast Which first was borrow'd from the Geldrian Coast It s candid flow'rs when they themselves dilate Do most the swelling Roses imitate To make the year prove kind Postumius I' th' Mayan Calends fiâ—st did introduce The Rites of Flora for the Husbandman In Rural matters newly then began T' employ himself his hair with Privet bound About the place the Floral Rites resound Swains to their Temples pleited Garlands joyn Then new-blown flow'rs they offer'd at the Shrine O' th' Goddess for such Off ' rings as these Did best the Mother of the flow'rs appease But when the Ram who boldly heretofore Upon his back essay'd to carry o're His Helle disappears from other seed Another race of flow'rs will succeed If with kind aspects gentle Mercury Favour his mother Maia from the Sky If the Olenian Goat no storms portend And no black showers from the clouds descend Now more then ever will the wanton ground With all the Species of Herbs abound The prickly Hedges now their Odours give And Tam'risks with their precious leaves revive Soft Cicer too will flourish and green Broom With Colocasia which from Egypt come Acanthus girt with knots and thorns we see And bright Parthenium with Rosemary Triorchis Sage and Parsley once the Meed Which to the Istmian Victor was decreed Dames Violets appear with Meadow-Rue Among the Alps Phalangium we pursue Through Allobrogian Vales Isopyrum Time Rhamnus Housleek and Antirrhinum With woody Nard Arcadian Moly that Which Homers Poems so much celebrate By the same culture these we raise from Seed With them invest your fields let ev'ry bed Be then replenisht for a naked space The honour of your Garden would disgrace The Seasons known next learn how deep in mold You ought the seeds of flowers to infold Among high branches lofty Piony Proudly aspires stain'd with a Crimson-dye A colour as it guilty odours show Its crimes and not its blushes did bestow A happy Nymph if her more peaceful hours Had not been troubled by divine amours Mortal addresses she resus'd as vain Guarding Alcinous sheep upon the Plain And nothing yet perhaps had made her yield Till an immortal Lover won the field Convolvulus disdaining to be bound With divers flow'rs dilated now is found In the moist Vales then mighty Nature wrought While Lillies once employ'd her busie thought A little work if with
yellow Aconites on th' Alps appear Others at other seasons of the year Now Persian Cyclamine and Lawrel blows Which on the bank of winding Mosa grows Broad-leav'd Merascus and green Sonchus live With Crocus which from Iura we derive The late Narcissus in these Months we find And Winter Hyacinths but from the wind And killing frost to save your flowers draw Over your beds a covering of warm straw Thus they avoid the Winters violence Till the kind Spring renews its insluence What angry Deity did first expose To the rough tempests and more rigid snows The soft Antmony whose comely grace A gentler season and a better place Deservesâ— For when with native purple bright It shews its leaves to the propitious light With diff'rent colours strip't and curled flames Encompast it out love and wonder claims There is not any other that out-vies This flowers curled leaves or num'rous dyes Nor the Sidonian art could e're compose So sweet a blush as this by nature shows Flora inrag'd because she was so fair Banish't this Nymph into the open air She was the boast and ornament of Greece But beauty seldom meets with happiness So 't prov'd to her for whilst the careless Maicl To take the air about the fresh fields stray'd Straight jealous thoughts the angry Goddess move Angry her Husband Zephyrus should love Ought but her self th' effects of her disdain On Anemona light her form in vain Adorns her now to that she ow'd her fate Less beauty might have made her fortunate Thus she who once among the Nymphs exceld Transform'd is now the best of flowers held While Venus for her lov'd Adonis griev'd After he had his mortal wound receiv'd Her onely comfort in this flow'r remain'd For from his streaming bloud when she had drain'd All that was humane and had sprinkled o're The corps with sacred juyce from the thick gore Immediately a purple flow'r arose Which did a little recompence her loss This flowers form and colours so invite That some whole cases full of turf delight To sow with seed which when they first arise With colours pleasingly confus'd surprise Victorious Gastâ— so this flower did grace That in his Luxemburgh he gave it place Call'd for the Pots nor could at meals refrain With it himself and Court to entertain These in the Winter you should cultivate That so upon the beds they may dilate Their percious flow'rs which only can restore Your Gardens life for when the frost before Destroy'd without repulse these triumph still And conquer that which all the rest do's kill When others with dejected leaves do mourn And wet Aquarius do's discharge his urne This with illustrious purple decks the fields But if her Zephyrus kind breezes yields She 'l flourish more by which we well may find That to each other they are yet inclin'd While with succeeding flow'rs the year is crown'd Whose painted leaves enamel all the ground Admire not them but with more grateful eyes To Heaven look and their great Maker prize In a calm night the earth and heaven agree There radiant Stars here brighter Flow'rs we see RAPINUS OF GARDENS Book II. Woods LOng rows of Trees and Woods my pen invite With shady Walks a Gardens chief delight For nothing without them it pleasant made They beauty to the ruder Countrey adde Ye Woods and spreading Groves afford my Muse That bough with which the sacred Poets use T' adorn their brows that by their pattern led I with due Laurels may impale my head Methinks the Okes their willing tops incline Their trembling leaves applauding my design With joyful murmurs and unforc't assent The Woods of Gaule accord me their consent Cithaeron I and Menalus despise Oft grac't by the Arcadian Deities I nor Molorchus or Dodona's Grove Or thee crown'd with black Okes Calydne love Cyllene thick with Cypress too I flye To France alone my Genius I apply Where noble Woods in ev'ry part abound And pleasant Groves commend the fertile ground If on thy native soyl thou dost prepare T' erect a Villa you must place it there Where a free prospect do's it self extend Into a Garden whence the Sun may lend His influence from the East his radiant heat Should on your house through various windows beat But on that side which chiefly open lies To the North-wind whence storms and show'rs arise There plant a wood for without that defence Nothing resists the Northern violence While with destructive blasts o're cliffs hills Rough Boreas moves all with murmurs fills The Oke with shaken boughs on mountains rends The Valleys rore and great Olympus bends Trees therefore to the winds you must expose Whose branches best their pow'rsul rage oppose Thus woods defend that part of Normandy Which spreads it self upon the Brittish Sea Where trees do all along the Ocean side Great Villages and Meadows too divide But now the means of raising woods I sing Though from the parent Oke young shoots may spring Or may transplanted flourish yet I know No better means then if from seed they grow 'T is true this way a longer time will need And Okes but slowly are produc'd by seed Yet they with far the happier shades are blest For those that rise from Acorns as they best With deep-fixt roots beneath the earth descend So their large boughs into the air ascend Perhaps because when we young Sets translate They lose their virtue and degenerate While Acorns better thrive since from their birth They have been more acquainted with the earth Thus we to Woods by Acorns Being give But yet before the ground your seed receive To dig it first employ your Laborer Then level it and if young shoots appear Above the ground sprung from the cloven bud If th' earth be planted in the Spring 't is good Those weeds by frequent culture to remove Whoseroots would to the blossoms hurtful prove Nor think it labour lost to use the Plow By Dung and Tillage all things fertile grow There are more ways then one to plant a Grove For some do best a rude confusion love Some into even squares dispose their trees Where ev'ry side do's equal bounds possess Thus boxen legions with false arms appear At Chess and represent a face of war Which sport to Schaccia the Italians owe The painted frames alternate colours show So should the field in space and form agree And should in equal bounds divided be Whether you plant yong Sets or Acorns sow Still order keep for so they best will grow Order to ev'ry tree like vigour gives And room for the aspiring branches leaves When with the leaf your hopes begin to bud Banish all wanton Cattle from the wood The browzing Goat the tender blossom kills Let the swift Horse then neigh upon the hills And the free Herds still in large Pastures tread But not upon the new-sprung branches feed For whose defence Inclosures should be made Of twigs or water into rills convai'd When ripening time ha's made your trees dilate And the strong roots
a good understanding whose clearness is the perfect accomplishment of that wisdom which Horace ad Pisones requires as the standard of sound and correct writing Scribendi recte sapere est principium Fons RAPINUS OF GARDENS Book 1. Flowers OF Flowers a Gardens chiefest grace I sing How you may Groves to best perfection bring Of Aquaeducts of Fruit the cure and use This to the world is publish'd by my Muse. Ye Gods that make the earth to fructifie Let no rude tempest now disturb the Skie Through paths by the Poetick Train untrod Apollo calls though first to Maro show'd When in the end of his discourse he writes What most th' Italian fertile Soyl delights To till the field his thrifty Swain he taught Gardens to plant left for some later thought This Poets footsteps I can onely trace Nor dare I think to equalize his pace Whose heav'nly flight by nothing I pursue But my weak eyes and keep him in my view Thou that art mine and learnings greatest light Under whose influence justice shines more bright Lamon if with thy Laws severe defence And State-affairs a while thou canst dispence Afford my Gardens room within thy mind Though to the Laws and Government resign'd While with impartial sentence you decide Causes by int'rest nor affection ty'd While your example is to all a law And your own virtue vice it self do's awe Yet to alleviate this sublimer care Grant to the Muses in your thoughts a share Though I perhaps to lower ends aspire Some kinder God may set my soul on fire Then shall I sing and publish loud your fame And in due numbers celebrate your name The Woods shall you the Fountains you resound Your praise shal eccho from the fruitful ground My Flowers to your Temples shall be joyn'd Which for immortal Garlands are design'd Soyl fit for Gardens first of all prepare To th' East expos'd refresh'd with wholesom air Where no near hill his lofty head presumes T' advance or noisome Fens exhale in fumes Where no dull vapours from the Pools infect Flow'rs most of all the open air affect But before this you ought to know the state And nature of the earth you cultivate 'T is best where fat and clammy ground you see Flow'rs with rich soyl most properly agree This rank with weeds of a luxuriant blade Culture admits and is for flowers made Learn that t' avoid where deep in barren clay The specked Euts their yellow bellies lay Where burning sand the upper-hand obtains Or where with chalk unfruitful gravel reigns And lest th' external redness of the Soyl Deceive your labours and despise your toyl Deeply beneath the furrows thrust your spade Outward appearance many hath betray'd Earth under the green Sward may be inclos'd To a rough sand or burning clay dispos'd Some I 've observ'd who if the ground they find To bring forth stones or Pebbles be inclin'd Sift it lest they the tender blade molest And by their weight the flowers be opprest Now if both earth and air answer your ends For earth upon air's influence depends Inlarge your prospect nor confine your sight To narrow bounds Flow'rs in no shades delight Break with the Rake if stiffer clods abound And with ir'n rollers level well the ground Nor yet make haste your borders to describe But let the earth the Autumn show'rs imbibe That after it hath felt the Winter cold You may next Spring turn up rake the mold This done your Box in various forms dispose Such as were heretofore unknown to those Whose gardens nothing ow'd to modern art Deckt by what kinder Nature did impart Among ignobler Plants you then might view Where blushing Roses intermingled grew No spacious Walks no Alleys were design'd Edg'd by green Box all yet was unrefin'd Flora at first was unadorn'd and rude Happ'ning at Liber's Orgies to intrude The Feast approch'd the neighb'ring Deities Were present thither old Silenus hies Mounted on 's Ass with whom the Satyrs joyn In drunken Bacchanals and sparkling Wine Here Cibele through Phrygia so rever'd And with the rest our Flora too appear'd Her hair upon her shoulders loosely plaid Or pride or beauty this neglect had made How e're it was the other Goddesses Laugh'd and despis'd the rudenss of her dress This pity mov'd in Berecinthia's heart Who griev'd to see her Daughter want that art Which others us'd and therefore to repair Those imperfections she adorn'd her hair With various flow'rs her temples these inclose And Box which Nature on each field bestows Her Mine's now alt'red every charming grace Strives to be most conspicuous in her face As this to Flora greater beauty gives So hence the Gard'ner all his art derives The Romans and the Grecians knew not how To form their Paths and set their Flowers as now Goodness of air and soyl perhaps might be Occasions of our curiosity In Gardens and the Genius too of France With time this blest improvement might advance So that if you a Villa do desire With Gardens for a skilful man enquire Who with his Pensil can on Parchment draw The form of your intended Work No flaw No errour ' scapes you Thus deformity Timely appears to your considerate eye In thousand Figures some their Box infold As was the Cretan Labyrinth of old These artificial Mazes some reject Who more the Phrygian Flourishes affect And these as many various textures taught As uncomb'd wool by Tyrian Virgins wrought Others with Squares less diff'rent strive to please Themselves in which the fragrant flow'rs with ease And pleasure too may stoop to the command Of the spectators eye and gath'rers hand I will not divers knots to you suggest To chuse of them which please your fancy best That is preferable beyond compare Which with the scantling of your ground doth square When all things thus provided are again Level your ground that being smooth plain Garden and borders both may even be Admitting no irregularity As soon as snowy Winter disappears In planting Box employ your Labourers You must not trifle then let no delay Retard when Sun and temp'rate air give way Where smaller limits cannot this afford With brick they must contented be or board For Box would there the flowers over-shade And too much of the narrow spot invade This rule for larger Gardens was not meant Where Box is thought the greatest ornament And howsoe're you cultivate a place If it wants Box you take away its grace In flow'rs so great a difference we find Do we regard their natures or their kind That a good Florist cannot do amiss To learn their natures and their properties Chiefly the seasons when to set and Sow And in what soyl what Plants do use to grow The seeds and sorts of flow'rs no number own Neither is that of Bulbous roots more known The tenderness of some makes them desire Propitious Spring that then they may aspire Into the air while others which are bold Contemn North-winds and flourish through the cold These love the
warmer sun those cooler shade Nor is the vigor equally convai'd To all from th' earth for flowers will abound Sometimes in dry oft in unfruitful ground Earth that is barren and do's stones produce Though often 't is improper is of use Sometimes in raising flow'rs Therefore again I must give warning to the Husbandman That he observe the seasons and with care Read the contents of the Celestial Sphear That he take notice in the monethly state And order how the Stars discrminate What alterations in the calmer air The East and troubled Southern winds prepare That from the Rise and Setting of the Sun And by the aspect of the horned Moon Showers to come and tempests he presage And how to Heav'n we may our faith engage Wherein the greater and the lesser Bear Do's your Plantations infest or spare How far the Hyads with excessive showers And the Atlantick Pleiads hurt your flowers Who th' observation of the stars neglect Too late are sensible of their effect They with our labours correspondence hold And all the secrets of our Art infold To be more sure you ought before to know The Winds and diff'rent Quarters whence they blow Else other Gardens you in vain admire Though Western Breezes with the Spring conspire Yet no appearance of the Winds obey For most of all they now their faith betray If Aries with his golden fleece appear And Zephyrus foretells the Spring is near Yet some unlucky Planet menaces The Fields and Gardens and disturbs the Skies The South-wind now against the Corn and Flowers Rages with frequent and destructive showers Of the remaining cold we should beware And see if ought of Winter hang i' th' air It s cruel footsteps often stay behind Therefore remember still to bear in mind The Seasons that most proper are to sow For thus your seed will prosper best and grow As soon as e're the knots have fill'd their space Lest noxious weeds should over-spread the place Between the Borders and the Beds you may Lay Gravel and so take the weeds away For if you suffer them to get to head Mallows Thistles o're your walks will spread But let not this check your design at all The earth in time will be reciprocal No sooner has the Sun o'recome the cold When with astonishment you will behold Your Gardens riches whither far then snow On a broad leaf the Primrose first will blow It keeps not always constant to a dye But loves its colours to diversifie The Grecian Cyclamine from far they bring The red and white both flourish in the Spring Woody Zacynthus stony Coritus And Corcyraean Mountains these produce I' th' Summer moneths they flourish and though late In Autumn too their flowers propagate Theis Season soft Fumaria too obeys And in Bavarian Rocks it self displays In various colours but is known to die Soon as we hear th' Artill'ry of the Sky Blasted by Sulph'rous vapours as if dead It droops and yields to th' earth its vanquisht head Now Iris springs which from the heav'nly Bow Is nam'd and doth as many colours show Its Species and its Tinctures diff'rent are According to the seasons of the year By th' coming of the Swallows we divine 'T will not be long before that Celandine Which from that bird alone its name derives Favour'd by gentler Western-winds revives Golden Narcissus also now aspires Who looking on himself himself admires He fondly tempting the destructive Pow'r Of Beauty from a Boy became a Flow'r Nor longer can the Violets suppress Their odours clouded in a rustick dress Girt round with Leaves without varieties Of colours from the humble turf they rise If we may credit what the Poets write She was Diana's Nymph her sole delight With her Ianthis follow'd in each chace Next to the Goddess after none in place As she was feeding the Pherean Cows By Phoebus seen in love with her he grows Nor could he long conceal within his breast Loves wound the frighted Maiden straight addrest Her self to th' Goddess Ah! dear sister fly Said she if you 'l preserve Virginity Untouch't you must all open grounds sorbear And lofty hills for he 'l pursue you there To Thickets and for saken Vales she hyes And all alone by shady Fountains lyes Nor did her modesty her form depress But she was valued more for her recess The God perceiving nothing else avail Attempts by theft and cunning to prevail Diana then foreseeing 't was in vain To think with life her honour to maintain Ah! let that beauty perish then she said And soon a duskish colour did invade The changing Nymph who rather chose to be Still virtuous though with deformity The fields and lower valleys these afford And among brambles of their own accord They spring nor should their site at all abate Of their esteem whose value is so great If sharper cold give leave about this time The Hyacinth shoots up from Phoebus crime At Quoits he playing by Eurota's side Chanc'd the boy's tender temples to divide The God and youth at once appalled stood He through his guilt and he through want of bloud From which in pity of his angry fate A flow'r arose which oft do's change its state And colour and to one peculiar kind No more then to one season is confin'd Now Meadow-Saffron divers colours yields And on a slender stalk adorns the fields Th' earth grown by reason of internal heat Patient of Culture let your Gard'ner set In beds prepar'd what Seeds he do's intend For Summer and with care their growth attend As Linum Caltha Lychnis Cyanies Malva Delphinium and Anthemis With fragrant Melilot for seed receiv'd In ground before prepar'd may be reliev'd If th' earth defective be by being drest Or by refreshing streams if drowth molest It were an endless labour to set down The flow'rs which in the Spring are to be sown The moister Spring makes all in time appear And shews the hopes of the succeeding year Then above all the flowers in the bed The Crown Imperial elevates his head Around him all the num'rous vulgar spring As if they humbly would salute their King Beneath the top a golden Crown is plac't This by a verdant tuft of leaves is grac't Four flow'rs with leaves inverted to the earth Do from one stalk alone derive their birth Nor would there any other this excell If to its Beauty were but added smell Let not your Tulips through the vernal show'rs Make too much haste to spread abroad their flow'rs For th' heavy aspects of the Moon would prove With frost pernicious to them which love To flourish most when Winters cold gives way And glad some Sun shine do's serene the day Then on the beds in thicker ranks they stand And in the air their spotted leaves expand Their beauty chiefly from their colour flows For whither on the leaves they do inclose A snowy whiteness intermixt with red Or like the Crimson Bloud a Purple shed Or the deep Murrey into Wan decay'd Like a pale Widow
excellence Can be secure on earth without defence Though Saliunca to the Roses yields Yet it will adde some beauty to our fields These flow'rs are quickly subject to decay And when Orion shines they fade away In Pots the candid Hyacinths remain Intire which from their tub'rous roots obtain Another name our Merchants those of late From the far distant Indies did translate Their station first in Italy they had And then to Rome and Latium were convai'd From whence all Europe ha's been furnish'd where In ev'ry Garden now they domineer Not onely boasting of the native Snow Which decks their front but of their Odours too If ever any flow'rs you admire These above all will greatest care require In earthen Vasa's when they are secure The shocks of wind and rain they best endure And lest the parching rayes of Sirius prove Destructive you must soon your flow'r remove Into your house nor think it labour lost That cannot be unworthy of your cost Which to adorn and to augment our store By Sea we borrow from the farthest shore Nor Cymbalum will long be wanting found With Purple Flow'rs inverted to the ground The onely nat'ral difference we see Of them and Lillies since their smells agree Chrysanthes next with radiant threads appears Its leaf a deep Sidonlan tincture bears And though Amaracus at first may seem Unworthy of a place in your esteem Contemn it not for it will recompence The want of form in pleasing th' other sence Venus with fragrant smell did heretofore Indue this Plant hard by deep Simois shore Yarrow will now a thousand leaves expose And Summer Iris various colours shows With Malva Linum yellow Melilot And red Ononis too whose binding root Do's oft the tardy Husbandman molest And stops the progress of his lab'ring beast The Nymphs may now frequent the verdant Meads And make them pleited Chaplets for their heads Their hands and Ozier baskets may be fill'd With flow'rs which spread themselves o're ev'ry field But let all Nymphs that tragick use avoid By which th' AEgyptian Queen her self destroy'd When vanquish'd Antony from Actium ran Leaving Augustus th' Empire of the Main She fearing to adorn his victory Rather chose death then living in famy But lest her resolutions should be known Beneath the flow'rs the pois'nous Asps were thrown Thus she expir'd in death with pleasure blest Applying fatal Serpents to her breast Flowers in many things convenient are Our Tables and our Cupboards we prepare With them and better to disfuse their scent We place them in our Rooms for ornament By others into Garlands they are wrought And so for off rings to the Altars brought Sometimes to Princes Bankets they ascend And to their Tables fragrant Odours lend As oft they serve to grace a temp'rate Mess Where the content is more the plenty less Nor want there those who with sublime skill In hollow Limbecks flowers can distill Now with a slow now with a quicker fire They work which makes the vapor strait aspire To the cool brass whence heated once anew It gently trickles into Pearly dew The Spirit thus of flowers is convey'd To Water and by trial stronger made Unguents from them are drawn such as of old To rub the hair Capuan Seplasia sold Capua whose soft delights and pleasing charms Prov'd worse then Cannae to the Punick arms Where Hannibal that enemy to peace Indulg'd himself to luxury and ease Painting it self from flow'rs we derive Whose colours did the first examples give By Glycera Pausiades thus taught Painted the diff'rent flowers which she brought From them by the care of those that weave Such great improvements figur'd Silks receive And from that Nectar which the flow'rs contain Industrious Bees their Honey too obtain I should too tedious be if I should sing The mighty aids which herbs and flowers bring To the Diseases men are subject to For these the Gods with virtue did indue Near Paris where the rapid Sein do's glide In a sub urban Villa did reside A single man his Garden was his Wife And his delight a solitary life Few Acres were the limits of his land No costly Tapestry his walls prophan'd And yet he was as satisfi'd as those On whom too partial fortune oft bestows Her greatest favours since'tis not excess But moderation causes happiness From Regions far remote he flowers brought And wholesome herbs on distant Mountains sought Into his Garden these he did translate And to his friends their qualities relate He could not long enjoy his solitude Fame soon attracts the neighb'ring multitude Who importune him that he would impart His skill and not conceal his pow'rful art Those who of shortness in their breath complain'd And in whose bowels scorching Feavers reign'd Some for ill humors joynts ne're standing still And beating at the heart implor'd his skill Those whom Physicians long had given o're He by reviving Med'cines did restore But he that could renew lost health agen Deserves the praises of a better Pen. Peruvian Granadil in Summer blows Which near the Amazonian River grows Nature her self this flowers leaves divides Into three parts and waves them on the sides From a tall stalk sharp prickles it do's send Like those that do the Holy Thorn defend With triple-pointed leaves resembling those Accursed Nails which fix'd Christ to the Cross. Next painted Meleagris Echium shew Themselves with Rumex Adianium too And Hesperis to which the influence Of Phaebus various colours dispence Lovely Carnations then their flow'rs dilate The worth of them is as their beauty great Their Smell is excellent a Cod below Restrains the swelling leaves which curled grow Divided too this flow'r exacts our care For if th' extreams of heat or cold the air Molest too much they 're blasted in their birth Unable to aspire above the earth Morning and evening therefore you must chuse To water them or else their charms they lose Hemerocallis next we see whose name Deservedly from its short duration came Its flowers always do obliquely bend And into purple leaves themselves extend With numbers of them all your Garden store While they are fresh you will admire them more If pois'nous Orobanche should by chance Among the rest its noxious head advance Let not your Cattle eat it lest they find Too late the dire effects it leaves behind Cows set on fire by its pernicious taste Without delay straight to ingender haste Whole flocks besides as if they were untam'd Stray through the Woods with lustful rage inflam'd High Matricaria on long branches shows Her candid flow'rs about them Thlaspis grows Thlaspis was once a Cretan youth he lov'd This Nymph their amours had happy prov'd If fate had crown'd their innocent delights With less unlucky Hymeneal Rites Chamaedris near cold Springs new vigour takes Nature its leaves like saws indented makes Two sorts of the wild Orchis now appear And on their leaves two diff'rent colours bear Within a while your Garden waxes white And snowy flowers will surprize your sight
For if the Summer do's not late arrive On verdant stalks the Lillies will revive France more then any Nation has preferr'd This flow'r some say from Phrygla 't was transferr'd By Francus sprung from Hector full o' th' fame Of his great Aucestours that his own name Might be extoll'd remoter Climes he sought And settling here to us our Lillies brought But our Forefathers by Tradition prove They fell like the Ancile from above Saint Clodovaeus who did first advance The Doctrine and the Faith of Christ in France With his pure hands receiv'd the heav'nly gift And to the care of his Successors left That it should be preserv'd from age to age His Kingdoms Ensign and praedestin'd Badge These Arms shall flourish when propitious fate In lasting peace shall on great Lewis wait When he th' affrighted world shall have compos'd And all the wounds of war and tumult clos'd When fraud and murder he ha's put to flight And with firm Leagues he shall mankind unite Now for past loves unhappy Clytie grieves And paleness from the parching Sun receives Sh' aspires o're other flow'rs in hopes by chance Her former lover might vouchsafe a glance Crosus and Smilax too in Iune appear Which heretofore did humane bodies wear Their tufted heads when Poppies have expos'd And th' earth for new productions is dispos'd To make her riches in more splendour shine In the same flower diff'rent colours joyn To Eleusinian Ceres Poppies owe Their rise with purple leaves some higher grow But the white kind a dye like silver yields Shewing the modest treasures of the fields The Seeds to Med'c'nal uses are applied And often in Diseases have been tried Sometimes short-winded Coughs they moderate And welcome sleep in sickly men create In Greece Eryngus is deserv'dly sought Born in a Womans Breast while green 't is thought An antidote against all lustful fires And to allay a Husband 's wild desires Phaon did thus his Sappho's love obtain If the records of time may credit gain But while the Dog-star rages in the Sky And cruel Clouds their wonted show'rs deny When burning Phoebus lengthens out the days Scatt'ring the dew by his refulgent rays Lest all your Plants should at the root decay And wanting moisture quickly fade away From neighb'ring Fountains flow your Garden o're Such vital drops will life again restore For now Aurora no refreshment gives No humid dew the dying grass relieves Among the flow'rs which late i' th' year arrive Immortal Amaranthus will survive For at that time an unknown multitude Of vulgar flowers will themselves extrude Conyza Horminum Hedysarum Angelica small Henbane Apium Marchmallows woad Armeria Clematis With trembling Coriander Barberis Both the Abrotonums Myrrhe Centory Slender Melissa Sium Cicory Buphthalmum Stoechas Hyosedamus And spotted Calendule their flow'rs produce Mint and Nigella too with these we see The Summer thus and Autumn still agree To fructifie and thus the year goes round While ev'ry season is with flowers crown'd The golden Attick Star in Meadows reigns So term'd by Greece but by the Latine Swains Amellus In wet Vales near Fountain sides It grows or where some crook'd Maeander glides In making nooses it is useful found When the ripe Vintage hangs upon the ground Purple Narcissus of Iapan now flow'rs Its leaves so shine as if with golden showers It had been wet which makes it far out-vy The lustre of Phoenician Tapestry Therefore t' augment the grace of France 't is fit This flow'r into our Gardens we admit 'T is true it hardly answers our desires At first but longer culture still requires Yet let not this occasion our despair When once it blows 't will recompence our care The Box about the borders ev'ry year About the Spring or Autumn always shear It 's best to let the Boughs be mollifi'd By rain which makes them easier to divide But you must know that flowers are not all Deduc'd at first from one original For some alone from tub'rous roots proceed From Bulbous some and others rise from seed The Beds we in October should disclose And on large floors the Bulbous roots expose To th' air that the Suns rays may then attract That moisture which in Summer they contract By lying under ground thus purg'd and clean After some time they may be set agen And better to resist the Winters cold They must be deeply buried in their mold But with less care we set the tub'rous root That of its own accord will downward shoot While others if not deeply plac'd are lost As well by drowth as by the piercing frost Perhaps your stupid lab'rers may not know The Seasons that convenient are to Sow Therefore you must observe if Scorpio meet Erigone and move his lazie feet When the hoarse Crane cuts th' air with tardy wing And makes the Clouds with horrid clangor ring Then 's the best time of all to plant your flow'rs If humid Autumn but with mod'rate show'rs Some days before refresh the parched face Of th' earth which in its bosome will embrace The Bulbous roots and kindly warmth infuse Supplying ev'ry branch with quick'ning juyce But lest the rain should stagnate and be found By its unequal wetting of the ground Hurtful to th' roots by swelling banks you may All the superfluous water drain away Our lab'rers thus the Royal Gard'ner taught From him this way of planting flow'rs they brought In all that could improve or grace the field In all the arts of Culture he excell'd By the Moons face you should the Seasons know O're tempests she the air and earth below An influence ha's if she her Orb displays Piercing the opacous Clouds with silver rays When with soft breezes she inspires the air And makes the winds their wonted rage forbear Till it be Full Moon from her first increase The Season's good but if she once decrease Stir not the earth nor let the Husbandman Sow any seed when Heav'n forbids 't is vain You must obey when th' heav'nly Signs invite Have the Parrhasian Stars still in your sight Which less then any do their lustre hide And best of all the erring Plowman guide Some in preparing of their seed excell Making their flow'rs t' a larger compass swell Thus narrow bolls with curled leaves they fill Helping defective nature by their skill Others are able by their pow rful art New odours and new colours to impart To change their figures to retard their birth Or make them sooner cleave their Mother Earth These pleasures are with small expence and ease Obtain'd if such delights your fancy please Spite of hot Sirius Tanacetum lives And while he burns the fields in Africk thrives It s lovely colours and thick foliage Will allo flourish through the Winters rage This flow'r great Austrian Charls did here to fore Besieging Tunis from the Punick shore Transmit to Spain When frost first binds the ground And sharp December spreads its ice aground I' th' Scythian Clime in the Sarmatian fields Distracting Hellebore black flowers yields And
adorn While round their temples wreaths with it are worn Tudertus when the vanquish'd Sabines fled Plac'd one of these on his triumphant head The trunk is humble and the top as low On which soft leaves and curled branches grow It s grateful smell and beauty so exact Th' admiring Nymphs from ev'ry part attract If too much heat or sudden cold surprize Which are alike the Myrtles enemies You must avoid them both and quickly place The tender Plant within a wooden Case Sheds may protect them if the cold be great Or watring from the Summers scorching heat No impious tool our tenderness allows To fell these groves nor cattel here must browse Oft Oleanders in great Vasd's live With Myrtles mix'd and Oranges and give Some graces to your Garden which arise From the confusion of their diff'rent dies In watry Vales where pleasant Fountains flow Their fragrant berries lovely Bay-trees show With leaves for ever green nor can we guess By their endowments their extraction less The charming Nymph liv'd by clear Peneus side And might to Love himself have been ally'd But that she chose in virtues path to tread And thought a God unworthy of her bed Phaebus whose darts of late successful prov'd In Pythons death expected to be lov'd And had she not withstood blind Cupids pow'r The siery steeds and hea'vn had been her dow'r But she by her refusal more obtain'd And losing him immortal honour gain'd Cherish'd by thee Apollo Temples wear The Bays and ev'ry clam'rous Theater The Capitol it self and the proud gate Of great Tarpeian Love they celebrate Into the Delphick Rites the Stars they dive And all the hidden laws of Fate perceive They in the field where death and danger 's found Where clashing Arms and louder Trumpets sound Incite true courage hence the Bays each Muse Th' inspiring God and all good Poets chuse Persian Ligustrum grows among the rest Whose azure flowers imitate the Crest Of an Exotick Fowl they first appear When the warm Sun and kinder Spring draws near Then the green leaves upon the boughs depend And sweet Perfumes into the air ascend Pomegranates next their glory vindicate Their boughs in gardens pleasing charms create Nothing their flaming Purple can exceed From the green leaf the golden flow'rs proceed Whose splendor and the various curls they yield Add more then usual beauty to the field As soon as e're the flowers fade away Yet to preserve their lustre from decay To them the fruit succeeds which in a round Conforms it self whose top is ever crown'd In seats apart stain'd with the Tyrian dye A thousand seeds within in order lye Thus when industrious Bees do undertake To raise a waxen Empire first they make Rooms for their honey in divided rows And last of all on twigs the Combs dispose So ev'ry seed a narrow cell contains Made of hard skin which all the frame sustains Neither to sharp or sweet the seeds incline Too much but in one mixture both conjoyn From whence this Crown this Tincture is deriv'd We now relate the Nymph in Africk liv'd Descended from the old Numidians Race Beauty enough adorn'd her swarthy face As much as that tann'd Nation can admit Too much unless her stars had equall'd it Mov'd by ambition she desir'd to know What e're the Priests or Oracles could show Of things to come a Kingdom they dispense In words including an ambiguous sense She thought a crown no less had signifi'd But in the Priests she did in vain confide When Bacchus th' Author of the fruitful Vine From India came her for his Concubine He takes and to repair her honour lost Presents her with a Crown by fate thus crost The too ambitious Virgin ceas'd to be Transmitting her own beauty to this Tree Sharp Paliurus Rhamnus which by some Is White-thorn term'd your Garden will become There leavy Caprifoil Alcaea too Th' Idaean Bush and Halimus may grow Woody Acanthus Ruscus there may spring With other Shrubs these skilful Gard'ners bring Into a thousand forms but 't is not fit To tell their Species almost infinite From brighter woods the prospect may descend Into your Garden there it self extend In spacious walks divided equally Where the same angles in all parts agree In oblique windings others plant their Groves For ev'ry man a diff'rent figure loves Thus the same paths respecting still their bound In various tracts diffuse themselves around Whether your walks are strait or crooked made Let gravel or green turf be on them laid The Nymphs and Matrons then in woods may meet There walk and to refresh their weary'd feet Into their Chariots mount though to the young Labour and exercise does more belong If close-shorn Phylliraea you deduce Into a hedge for knots the Carpine use Or into Arbors with a hollow back The pliant twigs of soft Acanthus make With stronger wires the flowing branches bind For if the boughs by nothing are confin'd The Tonsile Hedge no longer will excell But uncontroll'd beyond its limits swell And since the lawless Grass will oft invade The neighb'ring walks repress th' aspiring blade Suffer no grass or rugged dirt t' impair Your smoother paths but to the Gard'ners care These things we leave they are his business With setting flow'rs and planting fruitful trees And with the master let the servants joyn With him their willing hearts and hands combine Some should with rowlers tame the yielding ground Making it plain where ruder clods abound Some may fit moisture to your Meadows give And to the Plants and Garden may derive Refreshing streams let others sweep away The fallen leaves mend hedges that decay Cut off superfluous boughs or with a Spade Find where the Moles their winding nests have made Then close them up Another flow'rs may sow In beds prepar'd on all some task hestow That if the Master happens to come down To fly the smoak and clamour of the Town He in his Villa none may idle find But secret joys may please his wearied mind And blest is he who tir'd with his affairs Far from all noise all vain applause prepares To go and underneath some silent shade Which neither cares nor anxious thoughts invade Do's for a while himselfe alone possess Changing the Town for Rural happiness He when the Suns hot steeds to th' Ocean hast Ere sable night the world ha's over-cast May from the hills the fields below descry At once diverting both his mind and eye Or if he please into the woods may stray Listen to th' Birds which sing at break of day Or when the Cattle come from pasture hear The bellowing Oxe the hollow Valleys tear With his hoarse voice Sometimes his flow'rs invite The Fountains too are worthy of his sight To ev'ry part he may his care extend And these delights all others so transcend That we the City now no more respect Or the vain honours of the Court affect But to cool Streams to aged Groves retire And th' unmix'd pleasures of the fields desire Making our beds upon
Which Figure with a Garden best agrees If on the grassie bank a Grove of Trees With shining Scenes and branches hanging down The seats of stone and verdant shores do's crown But whether they stand still or swiftly glide With their broad leaves let Woods the Rivers hide Bestowing on each place their cooling shade For Springs by that alone are pleasant made Still banish frogs who their old strifes recite And in their murmurs and complaints delight Drive them away for the malicious rout Pollutes the Springs and stirs the mud about Let silver Swans upon your Rivers swim Let painted Barges beautifie the stream And yielding waves with num'rous oars divide But let no Matrons in the shores confide For we too well have known their perfidy Aâ—ter her husbands fate Alcyone And Anna sister to Elisa too The Water-gods displeas'd nor did they go Unpunish'd long swift vengeance did descend On them and all who dare the Gods offend Therefore with care these Deities adore Lest while your servants work along the shore Some swelling tide should snatch them from your sight But on our foes let these misfortunes light Now to proceed to what I have begun That through your fields continued streams may run Let the collected flouds from ev'ry side O th' Garden of themselves extended wide Upon the banks in equal channels beat No water makes a Garden more compleat Then if arising from a copious Source O're all the Meads it freely takes its course If seen all round with sounding waves it flows And as it runs a noble River grows To adde more rules to those already known Were vain for if in Verse I should set down All that this art contains I then should swerve From those strict laws which Poets should observe If you 'l know more then see those vales of late In their successful owner fortunate See there the Springs in order plac'd some bound In pipes of lead and buried under ground There you will find the Grotts with Springs adorn'd And how by art the fountains may be turn'd Nor suffer Liancourt t' escape your sight Whose humid streams and grassie banks invite See how the Nymph the Schomberg-water guides A thousand ways and o're the place presides And thou Bellaquean Naias must be seen Ennobled by a Prince Thou like a Queen Rul'st over all the waves of France none dare Affect such honours or with thee compare The Rivers Fountains and the Lakes of Gaul Broad Sein which washes the Parisian wall Loire and Elaver swallow'd by the Loire Our own and forreign waters thee admire To thee great Rome her Tiber must submit And Greece her self must all her streams forget As other Nations must subscribe to France So o're the rest thy happy waves advance Victorious Lewis having settled peace And by his conduct made all quarrels cease This Garden by additions fairer made And from a Rock contriv'd a new Cascade But what should I these haughty Springs repeat Or the immense Canale with waves repleat How like a River with majestick pride Betwixt steep banks the tardy waters glide These shores have witness'd deep intrigues of State Have seen when Nations have receiv'd their fate When suppliant Princes have our aid implor'd And on their knees our rising Sun ador'd When from all parts Embassadours have come To sue for peace or to expect their doom But here it is impossible to show The riches which adorn thee Fountainbleau Or all the honours which thy Gardens boast Thy Palaces erected by the cost And happy luxury of former Kings My humble Muse of Gardens onely sings How should I think to make thy wonders known When the shrill Trumpets ev'ry where are blown By Fames loud breath how should my feeble voice Be understood amidst so great a noise See how much joy appears in all the Court And what a sacred Pledge fit to support An Empires weight Lucina brings to light You might perceive the world in joy unite As if the Dauphins Birth-day were design'd To settle peace and blessings on mankind While the glad Nymph redoubles her applause And celebrates great Lewis who gives Laws To quiet France and with unshaken reins His glory with a lasting Peace maintains I sing the other Treasures of the Field And all those gifts which fruitful Orchards yield RAPINUS OF GARDENS Book IV. ORCHARDS NOr thee Pomona will my Muse forget Thou flourishest amidst the Summers heat All things are full of thee Autumnus shows Thy honour too adorn'd by verdant boughs To thee Lamon this part of my design Relates let prosp'rous Breezes then combine And suffer thou my voyage to succed That through the main my Bark may cut with speed Though you maintain severe Astraeas right Incourage virtue and from vice affright Yet have we seen you play the Gard'ner too And giving precepts how your trees should grow Their culture and their species too by thee At large describ'd the Husbandman may see And for this benefit so let thy ground Be ever kind be ever grateful found Let thy luxuriant Orchards so be filld That the weak boughs beneath their load may yeild That Bavillaeau barns with store may break And Plenty never may thy house forsake Though to all plants each soil is not dispos'd And on some places nature has impos'd Peculiar laws which she unchang'd preserves Such servile laws France scarce at all observes Shee 's fertile to excess all fruits she bears And willingly repays the Plowmans cares What if Burgundian Hills with vines abound Or if with Orchards Normandy be crown'd Though Beausse her corn Bigorre her metals shows Though Bearn be woody Troys with wine o'reflows If Burdeaux cattel breeds and Auvergne yeilds The best and noblest horses Yet the sields All over France improvement will admit And are for trees or else for tillage fit Chiefly near thee moist Tours where may be seen A lasting spring and meadows ever-green Those fields which the Durance and flower Soane Refresh and the sweet vales which the Garonne With slimy waters gently passes by With those blest meads which near great Paris ly Choose a rich soil when you intend to plant Not that which heavy sand has rendred faint Avoid low vales which lye between close hills Which some thick Pool with noisome vapours fills Where pithy Mists and hurtful steams ascend Least an ill tast they to your fruit may lend Still fly that place where Auster always blows Aud sor your trees that scituation choose Where in the open air on a descent To bless their growth more gentle winds consent And though the field toth ' Sun exposed be Or the hot winds yet this may well agree With flowers but then you must some distance make Between the flow'rs and trees and to keep back People and Cattle which would else offend With Iron-grates the avenues defend How to choose Land I here omit to tell In diffrent grounds what diff'rent habits dwell As also how to plant or when to sow These arts the Husbandmen already know But