GEORGIC II. ARGUMENT. THE poet, after a brief recapitulation of the subject of the former Georgic, and a general notice of that of the present, on Planting, begins with an invocation to Bacchus, the patron of the vine-Then he mentions how trees are originally produced by nature, spontaneously, from seeds and suckers-Then the various methods employed by human art-Suckers, sets, layers, cuttings, pieces of cleft wood, and ingrafting-Having thus generally opened the subject, he invokes the assistance of Mæcenas-He now shows by what culture trees of spontaneous growth may be meliorated-Then the best methods of artificial culture, which he here concludes by a detailed description of inoculating and ingrafting-This leads him to an enumeration of several species of trees, and varieties of vines-He observes that different plants are the natural produce of different soils and situations, and that the world itself may be divided into regions distinguished by their respective vegetable productions-Of these he gives several examples, and concludes the remark by a description of the citron-tree of Media-This account of remarkable plants, the growth of foreign countries, prepares the way for a beautiful digression on the praises of Italy-He now resumes his remarks on soils, and mentions those best suited for olives, vines, pasture, and corn-Then gives instructions by which the several soils may be ascertained-He enters now into a more particular detail of the culture of the vine, and on the different modes of planting a vineyard, either on hill, or plain-Gives instructions relative to the depth of trenches -Farther precepts relative to vineyards, and a particular caution against the intermixture of the wild olive with them, lest its unctuous bárk should accidentally catch fire, and destroy the whole plantation-This calamity most poetically described-He then gives instructions concerning the proper seasons for planting the vines, in autumn and spring; and digresses on the charms and utility of the spring-Farther directions about layers, and of dunging, and placing stones and shells at the roots of the plants, of digging the beds, and of the propping and pruning of the vines-He now mentions the necessity of making hedges to defend the young plants from the cattle, particularly goats-This last circumstance leads to a digression on the sacrifices to Bacchus-He again insists on the ceaseless labor required in digging, dressing, and pruning the vineyard-To these toils he opposes the facility in the culture of the olive, and shows the benefits we derive from various useful plants, the free gifts of Nature-These, in many instances, he prefers to the vine, not unfrequently the cause of crimes and slaughter-Hence, in contrast to a scene of Bacchic tumult, to the unquiet splendors of courts, and the vain pursuits of mankind, he expatiates on the advantages of philosophical studies, and on the innocence, security, and utility of a country life-And with this exquisite digression he concludes the second Georgic. THUS far of heav'nly signs, and cultured plains: Oh come, Lenæan sire! lo! all around, 5 4 The epithet slow grower,' given to the olive by the Greek writers, must have arisen from their cultivating it by seed, and not by truncheons. Mr. Miller has said that the former method is practised to this day in Greece. Pliny quotes Hesiod, where he says that the planter of an olive never lived to gather the fruit; but that in his time they planted the olive in one year, and gathered the fruit in the next. See Martyn, quoted by Stawell. 5 From Anuos, a wine-press:-sire, father, a title peculiar to Bacchus. For thee the field with clustering autumn glows, 10 15 20 10 Bacchus is represented frequently with buskins: thence 'The buskin'd Muse,' to designate Tragedy, which arose from the feasts in honor of Bacchus. Thus we find in Tacitus, that Silius wore buskins in imitation of Bacchus. Velleius Paterculus also tells us that Marc Antony would have himself be called a new Father Bacchus, and was carried at Alexandria in a chariot, like Father Bacchus, crowned with ivy, adorned with a golden crown, holding a thyrsus, and wearing buskins. -Martyn. 19 It is not easy to determine certainly what the poet denominates the æsculus. Martyn affirms that it cannot be our beech. Mr. Stawell assigns many reasons for supposing it to be a species of the oak. 22 Cherries were introduced from Pontus in Asia by Lucullus, and displayed by him with great pomp in his triumph over Mithridates, about the year 680 of the building of Rome. About one hundred and twenty years afterwards, Pliny says, they were introduced into Britain. 23 The finest bay-trees grow on Parnassus. Martyn concludes that the laurus of the ancients is the bay, and not our laurel. 25 31. Thus varying nature first the desert crown'd, In each cleft piece the olive lives again, 35 Puts forth new roots, and clothes the wondering plain; And oft unhurt the trees transform'd assume Leaves not their own, and fruit of alien bloom; On the changed pear ingrafted apples grow, 41 Learn then what arts each varying species suit, 45 And tame by culturing skill the savage fruit : The common laurel was presented, 1576, by David Ungnad, the imperial ambassador in Turkey, to Clusius the botanist. It was sent from Constantinople to him by the name of Trabis-on-curmasi, or the date of Trebisond: but he named it lauro-cerasus. See Mason's English Garden.Stawell. 39 La Cerda assures us, qu'il a été témoin de cette reproduction merveilleuse en Espagne, où il écrivit son commentaire sur Virgile. On a remarqué près d'Ollioula, qui est à une lieue de Toulon, que la plupart des oliviers sont des rejetons des anciennes tiges qui moururent dans l'hiver de 1709.-De Lille. 43 The pear and apple will grow a year or two on each others' stocks, but the graft of both soon dies.-T. A. Knight. 44 If by corna Virgil means what we call the cornelian cherry, I suspect he errs wholly.-T. A. Knight. Bid bloom the waste, o'er Ismarus vineyards spread, Not, though at will, I moved an hundred tongues, 50 55 55 60 65 Trees that spontaneous drink th' ethereal light, Unfruitful spring, yet florish fair to sight; For Nature, working in their vigorous bed, Gives the tall stem to rise, the branch to spread : But these transplanted, or by grafts reclaim'd, By culturing skill their savage nature tamed, Ere long with fair increase thy toil repay, And, train'd at pleasure, every call obey. E'en on low stems each unproductive shoot In freer space transposed shall burst with fruit, Tho' now thick leaves and the maternal gloom Stint its pale growth, and blast its opening bloom. 70 Slow grows from seeds the tree, and long delay'd, For distant times, reserves its sullen shade: Their former flavor lost, the fruits decay, And birds unscared on grapes degenerate prey: 47 Ismarus, a mountain of Thrace famous for vines. Ulysses commends the wine given to him by Maron, the priest of Apollo at Ismarus. 48 Taburnus, a mountain in Campania, famous for olives. 63 Harsh and wild fruit is changed by transplantation; an improved soil and culture operate slowly, and on successive generations only, each becoming a little better than its parent and it is by long culture and selection only that highly improved varieties of fruit can be produced.-T. A. Knight. |