Partaking of their early breakfast-meal;
Refresh’d they rise and scythe the bearded corn,
And nurse it till ’tis ready for the barn:
From field to field the sickle rushes forth;
The master[241] meditates upon its worth:
He bushels it, and bags it in a cart,
And takes it to a profitable mart;
Receives the coin, and cheers his trusty heart.
But while those peasants laid the hill-side bare,
The mansion inmates had their daily care;