TRANSLATED BY WILLIAM COWPER, ESQ.
NOT a flower can be found in the fields,
Or the spot that we till for our pleasure,
From the largest to least, but it yields
The bee, never-wearied, a treasure.
Scarce any she quits unexplored,
With a diligence truly exact;
Yet, steal what she may for her hoard,
Leaves evidence none of the fact.
Her lucrative task she pursues,
And pilfers with so much address, That none of their odour they lose, Nor charm by their beauty the less.
Not thus inoffensively preys
The canker-worm, indwelling foe!
His voracity not thus allays
The sparrow, the finch, or the crow.
The worm, more expensively fed,
The pride of the garden devours;
And birds peck the seed from the bed,
Still less to be spared than the flowers.
But she with such delicate skill,
Her pillage so fits for her use,
That the chemist in vain with his still
Would labour the like to produce.
Then grudge not her temperate meals,
Nor a benefit blame as a theft;
Since, stole she not all that she steals,
Neither honey nor wax would be left.
Si discum solis lunæ interceperit orbis,
(Quod rarum non est dicere phænomenon) Vitra statim infuscant alter speculator et alter, Nec possunt prorsus dissimulare metum. At si, quod bino, quod trino haud accidit ævo, Horrendum longo crine cometa rubet; Quod non prodigium cæli hæc denunciat ira! Interitum mundi, judiciique diem!
Continuo platea 'Miserere' auditur in omni;
Quod pueri ingeminant, ingeminantque senes,
Lymphatis similes discurrunt undique nymphæ ;
Occultæ in cella quaque precantur anus.
Interea astronomus, specula observator in alta,
Rerum hæc securo pectore monstra videt:
Scilicet hæc longum præsenserat ille futura:
In tantum distant vulgus et astronomus.
IN curru conduco locum, visurus amicum,
Millia qui decies distat ab urbe novem
Impatiens auriga moræ nos urget, et, hora
Cum nondum sonuit tertia, jungit equos.
Vix experrectus, media inter somnia, surgo,
Per longum misere discutiendus iter.
Ingredior, sedeo; cubitumque coarctor utrumque ;
Atque duas pingues comprimor inter anus.
Cum matre e contra puer est, milesque protervus ;
Distento hos inter corpore caupo sedet.
Nec vix illuxit, quin hinc agitamur et illinc,
Aspera qua ducit, qua salebrosa via.
Altera tussit anus, rixatur et altera; jurat
Miles, poykažε caupo, vomitque puer.
Dulce sodalitium! si sint hæc usque quadrigis
Commoda, maluerim longius ire pedes.
COLL. TRIN. CANT. COMMENSALES.
INCOLA qui nôrit sedes, aut viserit hospes,
Newtoni egregii quas celebravit honos;
Viditque et meminit, lætus fortasse videndo,
Quam multa ad mensas advolitârit avis.
Ille nec ignorat, nidos ut, vere ineunte,
Tecta per et forulos et tabulata struat :
Ut coram educat teneros ad pabula fœtus,
Et pascat micis, quas det amica manus.
Convivas quoties campanæ ad prandia pulsus
Convocat, haud epulis certior hospes adest.
Continuo, jucunda simul vox fertur ad aures,
Vicinos passer quisque relinquit agros.
Hospitium ad notum properatur; et ordine stantes
Expectant panis fragmina quisque sua.
Hos tamen, hos omnes, vix uno largior asse:
Sumptus per totam pascit alitque diem.
Hunc unum, hunc modicum (nec quisquam inviderit)
Indigenæ, hospitii jure, merentur aves.
SPARROWS SELF-DOMESTICATED
IN TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.
TRANSLATED BY WILLIAM COWPER, ESQ.
NONE ever shared the social feast,
Or as an inmate or a guest,
Beneath the celebrated dome,
Where once Sir Isaac had his home,
Who saw not (and with some delight
Perhaps he view'd the novel sight)
How numerous, at the tables there,
The sparrows beg their daily fare.
For there, in every nook and cell,
Where such a family may dwell,
Sure as the vernal season comes
Their nests they weave in hope of crumbs,
Which kindly given, may serve with food
Convenient their unfeather'd brood;
And oft as with its summons clear
The warning bell salutes their ear,
Sagacious listeners to the sound,
They flock from all the fields around,
To reach the hospitable hall,
None more attentive to the call.
Arrived, the pensionary band,
Hopping and chirping, close at hand,
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