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XXVI.

Now should a failure of the mulberry crop
Send famine to the threshold of thy door,
Do not despair: but, climbing to the top
Of the tall elm, or kindred sycamore,

Young budding germs with searching eye expion
Practise a pious fraud upon thy flock,

With false supplies and counterfeited store; Thus for a while their little stomachs mock, Until thou canst provide of leaves a genuine stock XXVII.

But ne'er a simple village maiden ask

To climb on trees,*-for her was never mear
The rude exposure of such uncouth task;
Lest while she tries the perilous ascent,
On pure and hospitable thoughts intent,
A wicked faun, that lurks behind some bush,
Peep out with upward eye-rude, insolent!
Oh, vile and desperate hardihood! But, hush!
Nor let such matters move the bashful Muse to blush
XXVIII.

The maiden's ministry it is to keep

Incessant vigil o'er the silkworm fold,
Supply fresh fodder to the nibbling sheep,
Cleanse and remove the remnants of the old,
Guard against influence of damp or cold,

And ever and anon collect them all

In close divan: and ere their food is doled, Wash out with wine each stable and each stall, Lest foul disease the flock through feculence befall.

XXIX.

Changes will oft come o'er their outward form,
And each transition needs thy anxious cares :
Four times they cast their skin. The spinner-work
Four soft successive suits of velvet wears;
Nature each pliant envelope prepares.

But how can they, in previous clothing pent,
Get riddance of that shaggy robe of theirs ?

They keep a three-days' fast. When by that Lent Grown lean, they doff with ease their old accoutrement. The good bishop's gallantry is herein displayed to advantage Nec robora dura

Ascendat permitte in sylvis innuba virgo;
Ast operum patiens anus, et cui durior annis
Sit cutis (ingratæ facilis jactura senectæ !),
Munere fungatur tali. Ne fortè quis alta
Egressus sylvâ satyrorum è gente procaci
Suspiciat, teneræque pudor notet ora puella.

XXX.

Now are the last important days at hand-
The liquid gold within its living mine
Brightens. Nor nourishment they now demand.
Nor care for life; impatient to resign

The wealth with which diaphanous they shine!
Eager they look around-imploring look,

For branch or bush, their tissue to entwine; Some rudimental threads they seek to hook, And dearly love to find some hospitable nook. XXXI.

Anticipate their wishes, gentle maid!

Hie to their help; the fleeting moment catch. Quick be the shelves with wicker-work o'er-laid; Let osier, broom, and furze, their workshop thatch, With fond solicitude and blithe despatch. So may they quickly, mid the thicket dense,

Find out a spot their purposes to match; So may they soon their industry commence, And of the round cocoon plan the circumference.

XXXII.

Their hour is come. See how the yellow flood
Swells in yon creeping cylinder! how teems
Exuberant the tide of amber blood!

How the recondite gold transparent gleams,
And how pellucid the bright fluid seems!
Proud of such pregnancy, and duly skill'd
In Dædalean craft, each insect deems
The glorious purposes of life fulfilled,
If into shining silk his substance be distill'd!

XXXIII.

Say, hast thou ever mark'd the clustering grap
Swoll'n to maturity with ripe prodúce,
When the imprison'd pulp pants to escape,
And longs to joy "emancipated" juice
In the full freedom of the bowl profuse?
So doth the silk that swells their skinny coat
Loathe its confinement, panting to get loose:
Such longing for relief their looks denote-

Soon in their web they'll find a "bane and antidote."

XXXIV.

See! round and round, in many a mirthful mazo,
The wily workman weaves his golden gauze ;
And while his throat the twisted thread purveys,
New lines with labyrinthine labour draws,
Plying his pair of operative jaws.

From morn to noon, from noon to silent eve,
He toileth without interval or pause,

His monumental trophy to achieve,

And his sepulchral sheet of silk resplendent weave!

XXXV.

Approach, and view thy artisans at work;
At thy wee spinners take a parting glance;
For soon each puny labourer will lurk
Under his silken canopy's expanse―
Tasteful alcove! boudoir of elegance!
There will the weary worm in peace repose,
And languid lethargy his limbs entrance;
There his career of usefulness will close;

Who would not live the life and die the death of those !+
XXXVI.

Mostly they spin their solitary shroud
Single, apart, like ancient anchoret ;
Yet oft a loving pair will, if allow'd,
In the same sepulchre of silk well met,
Nestle like ROMEO and JULIET.

From such communing be they not debarred,
Mindful of her who hallow'd Paraclet;
Even in their silken cenotaph 'twere hard
To part a HELOISE from her loved ABELARD.

XXXVII.

The task is done, the work is now complete,
A stilly silence reigns throughout the room!
Sleep on, blest beings! be your slumbers sweet.
And calmly rest within your golden tomb-
Rest, till restored to renovated bloom.
Bursting the trammels of that dark sojourn,
Forth ye shall issue, and rejoiced, resume,
A glorified appearance, and return

To life a winged thing from monumental urn.
XXXVIII.

Fain would I pause, and of my tuneful text
Reserve the remnant for a fitter time:
Another song remains. The summit next
Of double-peak'd Parnassus when I climb,
Grant me, ye gods! the radiant wings of rhyme !

Query, without paws?-P. Devil.

+ Mille legunt releguntque vias, atque orbibus orbee
Agglomerant, donec cœco se carcere condant
Sponte suâ. Tanta est edendi gloria fili!
Quin et nonnullæ paribus communia curis
Associant opera, et nebulâ clauduntur eâdem.

Thus may I bear me up th' adventurous road
That winds aloft-an argument sublime!
But of didactic poems 'tis the mode,

No canto should conclude without an episode.
XXXIX.

VENUS it was who first invented SILK-
LINEN had long, by CERES patronised,
Supplied Olympus: ladies of that ilk

No better sort of clothing had devised-
Linen alone their garde de robe comprised.
Hence at her cambric loom the "suitors" found

PENELOPE, whom hath immortalised

The blind man eloquent: nor less renown'd

Were "Troy's proud dames," whose robes of linen "swept the

ground."

XL.

Thus the first female fashion was for flax;
A linen tunic was the garb that graced
Exclusively the primitive " Almack's."

Simplicity's costume! too soon effaced
By vain inventions of more modern taste.
Then was the reign of modesty and sense.

Fair ones were not, I ween, more prude and chaste,
Girt in hoop-petticoats' circumference

Or stays-Honi soi the rogue qui mal y pense.

XLI.

WOOL, by MINERVA manufactured, met

With blithe encouragement and brisk demand;
Her loom by constant buyers was beset,

"Orders from foreign houses" kept her hand
Busy supplying many a distant land.

She was of woollen stuffs the sole provider,
Till some were introduced by contraband:

A female called ARACHNÉ thus defied her,

Pat soon gave up the trade, being turned into a spider.

XLII.

Thus a complete monopoly in wool,

"Almost amounting to a prohibition," Enabled her to satisfy in full

The darling object of her life's ambition,
And gratify her spitefui disposition.
VENUS she had determined should not be
Suffer'd to purchase stuffs on no condition;
While every naked Naiad nymph was free
To buy her serge, moreen, and woollen drapperie.

Tantùm nuda Venus morebat muneris expers
Egregiam ob formam textrici invisa Minerva.

UNIV

OF

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