a8o S Y L V A BOOK iv 



Than to himself th' afflicted youth affords. 

 Weary of life, and quite opprest with woe, 

 Upon the ground his tears in channels flow : 

 Which having water'd the productive earth, 

 The cypress first from thence deriv'd its birth, 

 With Sylvan's aid ; nor was it only meant 

 T* express our sorrow, but for ornament. 

 Chiefly when growing low your fields they bound, 

 Or when your gardens avenues are crown'd 

 With their long rows ; sometimes it serves to hide 

 Some trench declining on the other side. 

 Th' unequal branches always keep that green, 

 Of which its leaves are ne're divested seen. 

 Tho shook with storms, yet it unmov'd remains, 

 And by its trial greater glory gains. 



Let philyrea on your walls be plac'd, 



Either with wyre, or slender twigs made fast, 



Its brighter leaf with proudest arras vies, 



And lends a pleasing object to our eyes. 



Then let it freely on your walls ascend, 



And there its native tapistry extend. 



Nor knows he well to make his garden shine 



With all delights, who fragrant jassemine 



Neglects to cherish, wherein heretofore 



Industrious bees laid up their precious store. 



Unless with poles you fix it to the wall, 



Its own deceitful trunk will quickly fall. 



These shrubs, like wanton ivy, still mount high. 



But wanting strength on other props relie. 



The pliant branches which they always bear, 



Make them with ease to any thing adhere. 



The pleasing odors which their flow'rs expire, 



Make the young nymphs and matrons them desire, 



Those to adorn themselves withal ; but these 



To grace the altars of the deities. 



With foreign jassemine be also stor'd, 



Such as Iberian valleys do afford : 



Those which we borrow from the Portuguese ; 



With them which from the Indies o're the seas 



We fetch by ship ; in each of which we find 



A difference of colour, and of kind. 



