WORKS.
75
When Sirius and Orion the mid-sky
Ascend, and on Arcturus looks from high
The rosy-finger'd morn,[1] the vintage calls:
Then bear the gather'd grapes within thy walls.
Ten days and nights exposed the clusters lay
Bask'd in the lustre of each mellowing day:
Let five their circling round successive run,
Whilst lie thy frails o'ershaded from the sun:
The sixth in vats the gifts of Bacchus press;
Of Bacchus gladdening earth with store of pleasantness.
But when beneath the skies on morning's brink
The Pleiads, Hyads, and Orion sink;[2]
Know then the ploughing and the seed-time near:
Thus well-disposed shall glide thy rustic year.
But if thy breast with nautical desire
The perilous deep's uncertain gains inspire,
When chased by strong Orion down the heaven
Sink the seven stars in gloomy ocean driven;
Ascend, and on Arcturus looks from high
The rosy-finger'd morn,[1] the vintage calls:
Then bear the gather'd grapes within thy walls.
Ten days and nights exposed the clusters lay
Bask'd in the lustre of each mellowing day:
Let five their circling round successive run,
Whilst lie thy frails o'ershaded from the sun:
The sixth in vats the gifts of Bacchus press;
Of Bacchus gladdening earth with store of pleasantness.
But when beneath the skies on morning's brink
The Pleiads, Hyads, and Orion sink;[2]
Know then the ploughing and the seed-time near:
Thus well-disposed shall glide thy rustic year.
But if thy breast with nautical desire
The perilous deep's uncertain gains inspire,
When chased by strong Orion down the heaven
Sink the seven stars in gloomy ocean driven;
- ↑ On Arcturus looks from high
The rosy-finger'd morn.] By this is understood the heliacal rising of Arcturus, which happened in the time of Hesiod about the 21st of September. Le Clerc. - ↑ On morning's brink
The Pleiads, Hyads, and Orion sink.] This is the morning, or cosmical, setting of the Pleiads; which, according to Petavius, happened some time in November. Le Clerc.
