Ut fugiant Boreæ fera bella, nivefque ruentes:
An fefe in latebris faxorum altifque recondant
Arboribus, fomno per tempora certa fepultæ;
An propiore Malo trepidantes, præpete penna
Mollius ad Cœlum, placidasque ferantur ad oras.
Difcemus Pecorumque Infectorumque vagantûm Mirandum ingenium, variafque ex ordine Gentes; Seu fera, feu tractanda, Homini vel iniqua vel æqua, Quantùm Illa aut Nobis, aut Nos cognofcimur Illis?
Vos docti narrate Senes, quicunque ftudetis
Naturæ arcanos intus penetrare receffus,
Unde docetur Apes fe ferre audacibus alis
Per mille ancipitefque vias, cœlumque profundum.
Unde fugit lentam vifco ftagnante paludem,
Fæcundos vifens Colles, ubi dulcior Herba,
Melliferique expanfa recludunt germina Flores.
Unde indenfatis tenebris & Sole cadenti
Scire poteft operæ finem adventare diurnæ?
Quis docuit ventis pluviifque opponere pectus,
Ferre domum fragrans ad certa Alvearia pondus;
Et pennis iterum Campos tranare liquentes,
Morigeras refonis dantem tinnitibus aures?
Fearful of gathering Winds, and falling Snows:
If into Rocks, or hollow Trees they creep,
In temporary Death confin'd to Sleep;
Or confcious of the coming Evil, fly
To milder Regions, and a Southern Sky.
Of Beafts and creeping Infects shall we trace
The wond'rous Nature, and the various Race;
Or wild or tame, or Friend to Man or Foe,
Of Us what They, or what of Them We know?
Tell me, Ye ftudious, who pretend to fee Far into Nature's Bofom, whence the Bee Was firft inform'd her vent'rous Flight to steer Thro' tractless Paths, and an Abyss of Air. Whence she avoids the flimy Marsh, and knows The fertile Hills, where fweeter Herbage grows, And Hony-making Flow'rs their opening Buds disclose. How from the thicken'd Mift, and fetting Sun Finds She the Labor of her Day is done?
Who taught Her against Winds and Rains to strive,
To bring her Burden to the certain Hive,
And thro' the liquid Fields again to pass
Dutious, and hark'ning to the founding Brass?
Tuque aperi, Ceffator iners, æftate ferena
Cur opibus Formica fluens cavet afpera brumæ:
Ire redire viam repetito fedula curfu,
Exftruat ut cumulos; plenamque ubi carpfit ariftam,
Unde levi granum prærodit provida morfu,
Nè, dum terra tegit, rurfum radicibus actis,
Deceptos ploret conatus irrita Cura?
Confpicienda patent Infecti utriufque Labore
Signa Animi manifesta, Ars provida, Spesque, Timorq;.
Jamq; age, flecte oculos, animumq; advorte, recenti Ex Utero tenerum ad Culicem, Mufcamque renatam; Vermiculumque humilem, hefterno qui repere cæpit Vix fub Sole; tuos, Homo Res viliffima, Fratres. More Tui motufque cient, fpirantque videntque, Atque animi Affectus externa per aca loquuntur: Spicula torquentes tanquam præludia, narrant Collectam rabiem & venturi fulmina belli. Ovaque dum pariunt, fætûs promiffa futuri, Fœcundofque ignes, virefque fatentur Amoris. Cuique fua accedunt, queis digerat, Organa, Victum, Semina quæ generent, & quæ generata recondant; Sunt Membra & Nervi, Cruor, & cum Corde Cerebrum, Officiis fungi, quæ Vitæ poftulat Ufus;
Tota licet parvum non æquet Fabrica granum. Quid
And, O Thou Sluggard, tell me why the Ant
'Midft Summer's Plenty thinks of Winter's Want:
By conftant Journies careful to prepare
Her Stores; and bringing home the Corney Ear,
By what Inftruction does She bite the Grain,
Left hid in Earth, and taking Root again,
It might elude the Forefight of her Care?
Distinct in either Infect's Deed appear
The marks of Thought, Contrivance, Hope, and Fear.
Fix thy corporeal, and internal Eye
On the Young Gnat, or new-engender'd Fiy;
On the vile Worm, that Yefterday began
To crawl; Thy Fellow-Creatures, abject Man!
Like Thee they breath, they move, they tafte, they fee,
They show their Paffions by their Acts like Thee:
Darting their Stings, they previously declare
Defign'd Revenge, and fierce intent of War:
Laying their Eggs, they evidently prove
The Genial Pow'r, and full Effect of Love.
Each then has Organs to digeft his Food,
One to beget, and one receive the Brood:
Has Limbs and Sinews, Blood, and Heart, and Brain,
Life and her proper Functions to sustain ;
Tho' the whole Fabric smaller than a Grain.
Quid noftra exilis Ratio concedere poffit
Plus Cete immenfo, turrito plus Elephanti,
Immodicis Nili undarum terroribus, Hydræ
Criftatæ, caudamque flagellanti Crocodilo,
Quam titulo & forma folum difcrimen haberi,
Ut fua cuique datur major structura minorve?
Namque Opifex vario gaudet Natura labore,
Nunc amat effufum Spatium, nunc arctius optat:
Jamque minuta nimis, nimium jam grandia fingit,
Humani Senfus modulo indignata teneri.
Latius Objectum, feu fe fublimius effert,
Effigiem veram nefcit comprendere Vifus:
Sin minus evadat, perftrictum ludit ocellum;
Confufæ tenebræ, aut lux indivisa videtur.
Disperdunt variatam Æther atque Unda figuram;
Recta gerit curvæ faciem, quadrata rotundæ.
Dum fic delusa spe, protractoque labore
Naturæ fruftra fequimur venerabile numen;
Illa fub obtecto fedet impercepta receffu;
Circiter agglomerans fe plurima fundit Imago,
Formarumque immenfa cohors, quas myftica Diva
Ocyus induit, exuit, immutatque tenetve,
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