IV. The GRASSHOPPER "Parvula progenies &c"
IV.
The GRASSHOPPER
"Parvula progenies &c" [1]
Little progeny of Spring!
To the light-winged Zephyr born,
Thoughtless, idle, chirping thing,
Gayest tenant of the morn!
Cherished still by Ceres' care,5
Dear to Phoebus ever thou!
Truly they have bid thee share,
All that yields the fruitful plough.
While the fragrant turf is green,
While the yellow harvests wave,10
All that culture's eye hath seen
All that earth profusely gave.
All is thine! behold for thee
Their milky arms the lillies spread!
And the dewy nectar see15
O'er thy drunken goblets shed!
Notes
[1] EDITOR'S NOTE: "The Grasshopper" does not appear in Psyche, with Other Poems or Mary (or Collected Poems and Journals) and is undated in Verses. It presents a verse translation of the 14-line Carmina quadragesimalia poem “Parvula progenies” (“Tiny offspring”) under the heading "An Vita consistat in Calore? Affirmatur":
Parvula progenies Veris Zephyrique, Cicada,
Quàm te Phoebus amat! quàm savet alma
Ceres!
Maturae variâ frueris dulcedine messis,
Dum praebet tenerum cespitis herba torum.
Omne tuum est,
quodcunque sinu de divite tellus5
Sponte, vel humano culta labore, parit.
Illic lacteolo surgunt tibi lilia
collo,
Hic calices implet roscida gemma tuos.
Et quando exhaustos inter cadis ebria stores,
En! pro te somnos omne papaver habet. 10
Deliciis tandem variis satiata recedis;
Nec
tibi, quae laedit caetera, tristis hyems.
Sortem ultrà humanam felix, quae frigoris expers
Et fenii, Phoebo
defieiente, peris!
