e PASTORAL S. See lofty Lebanon his head advance, IMITATIONS. Mixtaque ridenti colocafia fundet acantho- "For thee, O Child, shall the earth, without being tilled, "produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with Baccar, "and Colocafia with smiling Acanthus, Thy cradle shall pour "forth pleafing flowers about thee. ISAIAH, Ch. xxxv. 1. "The wildernefs and the folitary place fhall be glad, and the defert shall rejoice and bloffom as "the rofe." Ch. lx. 13. "The glory of Lebanon shall come 66 unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, "to beautify the place of thy fanctuary. VER. 29. Hark! a glad Voice, etc.] VIRG. E. iv. ✯ 46. Aggredere ô magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores, Intonfi montes, ipfæ jam carmina rupes, Ipfa fonant arbufta, Deus, deus ille Menalca! E. v. y 62. "Oh come and receive the mighty honours: the time draws nigh, O beloved offspring of the Gods, O great encrease of Jove! The uncultivated mountains fend fhouts of joy to the ftars, the very rocks fing in verfe, the very shrubs cry out, A God, a God! f Ch. xl. 3, 4. e Ch, xxxv. 2. A God, a God! the vocal hills reply, purge In hadamantine chains fhall Death be bound, IMITATIONS. 40 ISAIAH, Ch. xl. ✯ 3, 4. "The voice of him that cryeth in "the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! make ftrait "in the defert a high way for our God! Every valley shall be "exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made strait, and the rough places plain." Ch. iv. 23. "Break forth into finging, ye mountains! O "foreft, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed Ifrael. Ch. xlii. 18. Ch. xxxv. 5, 6. h Ch. xxv. 8. As the good ifhepherds tends his fleecy care, 50 55 60 Feeds from his hand, and in his bofom warms; See lilies fpring, and fudden verdure rife ; IMITATION S. VER. 67. The fwain in barren deferts] Virg. E. iv. 28. Molli paulatim flavefcet campus arifta, Incultifque rubens pendebit fentibus uva, Et duræ quercus fudabunt rofcida mella. "The fields fhall grow yellow with ripen'd ears, and the red grape fhall hang upon the wild brambles, and the hard oaks "fhall diftill honey like dew. i Ch. xl. 21, 22. 11. k Ch. ix. 6. Ch. ii. 4. m Ch. lxv. n Ch. xxxv, 1, 7. And ftarts amidst the thirsty wilds to hear The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods. To leaflefs fhrubs the flow'ry palms fucceed, 70 75 Thep lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead, And boys in flow'ry bands the tiger lead ! IMITATIONS. ISAIAH, CH, Xxxv. † 7. "The parched ground fhall become "a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: In the habita <tions where dragons lay, shall be grafs, and reeds and rushes.” "Instead of the thorn fhall come up the fir tree, "and instead of the briar fhall come up the myrtle-tree. Ch. lv. 13. VER. 77. The lambs with wolves, etc.] Virg. E. iv. 21. Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones- Occidet. "The goats fhall bear to the fold their udders diftended with "milk: nor fhall the herds be afraid of the greateft lions. The "ferpent shall die, and the herb that conceals poifon shall die. ISAIAH, Ch. xi. 16, etc." The wolf fhall dwell with the "lamb, and the leopard fhall lie down with the kid, and the calf " and the young lion and the fatling together: and a little child fhall lead them.- And the lion fhall eat ftraw like the ox. "And the fucking child fhall play on the hole of the afp, and "the weaned child shall put his hand on the den of the cockatrice. • Ch. xli. 19. and Ch. lv. 13. p Ch. xi. * 6, 7, 8. 80 The fteer and lion at one crib fhall meet, f 90 See, a long race thy fpacious courts adorn; 95 IMITATIONS. VER. 85. Rife, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rife!} The thoughts of Ifaiah, which compose the latter part of the poem, are wonderfully elevated, and much above those general exclamations of Virgil, which make the loftiest part of his Pollio. Magnus ab integro fæclorum nafcitur ordo! toto furget gens aurea mundo! - incipient magni procedere menfes ! Afpice, venturo lætentur ut omnia fæclo! etc. |