The fick and weak the healing plant fhall aid,
From ftorms a fhelter, and from heat a fhade.
All crimes fhall cease, and ancient fraud fhall fail;
Returning | Justice lift aloft her scale;

Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,

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And white-rob'd Innocence from heav'n defcend. 20
Swift fly the years, and rise the expected morn!
Oh fpring to light, aufpicious Babe! be born.
See Nature haftes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incenfe of the breathing spring;
See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forefts on the mountains dance;
See fpicy clouds from lowly Saron rise,
And Carmel's flow'ry top perfumes the skies!
Hark! a glad voice the lonely defert cheers;
Prepare the way! a God, a God appears!
A God, a God! the vocal hills reply;
The rocks proclaim th' approaching deity.
Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies!
Sink down, ye Mountains, and ye Vallies rife ;

IMITATIONS.

P.

30

Ifaiah, ch. vii. ver. 14. "Behold, a virgin fhall conceive and bear a fon." Chap. ix. ver. 6, 7. "Unto us a child is born, unto us a fon is given, the Prince "of Peace: of the increase of his government, and of his peace, there shall be "no end upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order and to ef "tablish it, with judgment, and with juftice, for ever and ever." Ver. 23. See Nature haftes, &c.] Virg. Ecl. iv. 18. At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuícula cultu, Errantes hederas paffim cum baccare tellus. Mixtaque ridenti colocafia fundet acantho---Ipfa tibi blandos fundent cunabuia flores.

For thee, O Child, fhall the earth, without being tilled, produce her early "offerings; winding ivy, mixed with baccar, and colocafia with fmiling acanthus. Thy cradie fhall your forth pleafing flowers about thee."

Ifaiah, ch. xxxv. ver 1. "The wilderness and the folitary place fhall be glad, and the defert fhall rejoice and bioflom as the rofe. Ch. Ix. ver. 13. "The glory of Lebanon fhall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of thy fanctuary." P.

Ver. 29. Hark! a glad voice, &c.] Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 46.

Aggredere O magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores,
Cara deum foboles, magnum Jovis incrementum

Ipfi lætitia voces ad fydera jactant

Intonfi montes, ipfæ jam carmina rupes,

Ipfa fonant arbutta, Deus, Deus ille Menalca! Ecl. v. ver. 62.

"Oh come and receive the mighty honours: the time draws nigh, O beloved offspring of the gods, O great increafe of Jove! The uncultivated mountains fend fhouts of joy to the stars, the very rocks fing in verfe, the very shrubs "cry out, A God, a God!"

Ifaiah, chap. xl. ver. 3, 4. "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! make ftraight in the defert a high way for our God! Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill fall b ma e low, and the crooked fhall be made ftraight, and the rough places plain." Chap. iv. ver. 23. "Break forth into finging, ye Mountains! O Forett, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemned Ifrael." P.

Ch, xxv. ver. 4. H Ch. ix. ver. 7, * Chap. xxxv. ver. 2. Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4°

With heads declin'd, ye Cedars, homage pay;
Be fmooth, ye Rocks; ye rapid Floods, give way!
The Saviour comes! by ancient bards foretold:
Heart him, ye Deaf, and all ye Blind behold!
He from thick films fhall purge the visual ray,
And on the fightless eye- ball pour the day:
'Tis he th' obftructed paths of sound shall clear,
And bid new mufic charm th' unfolding ear:
The dumb fhall fing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting like the bounding roe.
No figh, no murmur the wide world shall hear,
From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear.
In adamantine chains fhall Death be bound,
And hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good+fhepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pasture and the pureft air,
Explores the loft, the wand'ring fheep directs,
By day o'erfees them, and by night protects;
The tender lambs he raifes in his arms,

Feeds from his hand, and in his bofom warms;
Thus fhall mankind his guardian care engage,
The promis'd father of the future age.
No more fhall | nation against nation rise,
Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes,
Nor fields with gleaming steel be cover❜d o’er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But ufelefs lances into scythes shall bend,
And the broad falchion in a ploughfhare end.
Then palaces fhall rife; the joyful § fon
Shall finish what his fhort-liv'd fire begun ;
Their vines a fhadow to their race fhall yield,
And the fame hand that fow'd, shall reap the field.
The fwain in barren ** deserts with surprise
Sees lilies fpring, and fudden verdure rife;

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 67. The fwain in barren deferts.] Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 28.

Molli paulatim flavefcet campus arista,
Incultifque rubens pendebit fentibus uva,,
Et dura quercus fudabunt rofcida mella.

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45

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60

65

And

"The

+ Ch. xliii. ver. 18. and Ch. xxxv. ver. 5, 6. * Ch. xxv. ver. 8. + Ch. xi,

Ch. ixv. ver. 21, 22.

And ftarts amidst the thirsty wilds to hear
New falls of water murm'ring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,
The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods.
Wafte† fandy vallies, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry air and fhapely box adorn!

To leaflefs fhrubs the flow'ring palms fucceed,
And od rous myrtle to the noisome weed.

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75

The lambs with wolves fhall graze the verdant mead,
And boys in flow'ry bands the tiger lead;
The fteer and lion at one crib fhall meet,

82

And harmless || ferpents lick the pilgrim's feet;
The fmiling infant in his hand fhall take
The crefted bafilifk and speckled fnake,
Pleas'd, the green luftre of the fcales furvey,
And with their forky tongue fhall innocently play.
Rife, crown'd with light, imperial * Salem, rife! 85
Exalt thy tow'ry head, and lift thy eyes!
See a long race thy fpacious courts adorn ;
See future fons and daughters, yet unborn,
In crouding ranks on every fide arife,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!

IMITATIONS.

90

"The fields fhall grow yellow with ripened ears, and the red grape shall hang "upon the wild brambles, and the hard oaks fhall diftil honey like dew." "Ifaiah, chap. xxxv. ver. 7. "The parched ground fhail become a pool, and the thirty lands fprings of water in the habitation where dragons lay, Ch. lv. ver. 13. "Instead of the fhall be grafs, and recds, and rufhes."

thorn fhall come up the fir-tree, and inttead of the brier fhall come up the myrtle-tree." P.

Ver 77. The lambs with wolves, &c.] Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 21.

Ipfæ lacte domum referent dittenta capelle

Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones--

Occidet et ferpens, et fallax herba veneni

Occidet.

"The goats fhail bear to the fold their udders diftended with milk: nor shall "the herds be afraid of the greatest lions. The ferpent fhall die, and the herb "that conceals poifon fhall die.'

"Ifaiah, chap. xi. ver. 6, &c. "The wolf hall dwell with the lamb, and "the leopard fhall ly down with the kid, and the calf, and the young tion, and "the fatling together; and a little child fhall lead them. And the lion fhall eat 4traw like the ox. And the fucking child thali play on the hole of the af, and , P. "the weaned child fhall put his hand on the den of the cockatrice. he thoughts of Ver. 85. Rife, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rife!] Ifaiah, which compofe the latter part of the Poem, are wonderfully elevated, and much above thofe general exclamations of Virgil, which make the loftient parts of his Pollio.

Magnus ab integro fæclorum nafcitur ordo !
---toto furget gens aurea mundo!

---incipient magni procedere menfes !

Apice, venturo latentar ut omnia fæclo! &c.

The reader needs only to turn to the paffages of Ifaiah here cited. P.

+ Ch. xli. ver. 1. and Ch. iv. ver. 13.

ver. 25

*Ch. ix. ver. 1.

Ch. xi. ver. 6, 7, 8.

Ch. Ix. ver. 4.

Ch..

See barb'rous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend;
See thy bright altars throng'd with proftrate kings,
And heap'd with products of Sabæan || fprings!
For thee Idume's spicy forests blow,

And feeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See heav'n its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day.
No more the rifing § fun fhall gild the morn,
Nor ev'ning Cynthia fill her filver horn;
But loft, diffolv'd in thy fuperior rays,
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze
O'erflow thy courts: the Light himself shall shine
Reveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine!

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100

The feas fhall wafte, the skies in ímoak decay, 105
Rocks fall to duft, and mountains melt away;

But fix'd his word, his faving power remains;
Thy realm for ever lafts, thy own MESSIAH reigns!

Ch. Ix. ver. 3.
Ch. Ix. ver. 6. Ch. Ix. ver. 19, 20.
Ch. li. ver. 6. and Ch. liv. ver. 10.

To the Right Honourable

GEORGE LORD LANSDOWN.

Non injuffa cano: te noftræ, Vare, myricæ,

Te nemus ornne canet: nec Phabo gratior ulla eft,
Quam fibi quæ Vari præfcripfit pagina nomen. Virg.

THY foreft, Windfor! and thy green retreats,

At once the Monarch's and the Mufes' feats,
Invite my lays. Be prefent, fylvan Maids!
Unlock your fprings, and open all your fhades.
Granville commands; your aid, O Mufes, bring: 5
What muse for Granville can refuse to fing?
The groves of Eden, vanifh'd now fo long,
Live in defcription, and look green in fong:
Thefe, were my breast infpir'd with equal flame,
Like them in beauty, fhould be like in fame.
Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain,
Here earth and water seem to strive again;
Not chaos-like, together crush'd and bruis'd,
But, as the world, harmoniously confus'd;
Where order in variety we fee,

And where, tho' all things differ, all agree.
Here waving groves a chequer'd scene display,
And part admit, and part exclude the day;
As fome coy nymph her lover's warm addrefs,
Nor quite indulges, nor can quite reprefs.
There interfpers'd in lawns and op'ning glades,
Thin trees arise that shun each others fhades.
Here in full light the ruffet plains extend;
There wrapt in clouds, the bluish hills afcend.
E'en the wild heath difplays her purple dyes,
And 'midft the defert fruitful fields arife,
That, crown'd with tufted trees and fpringing corn,
Like verdant illes, the fable wafte adorn.
Let India boast her plants, nor envy we
The weeping amber of the balmy tree,

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