Earth's distant ends our glory shall behold,

405

And the new world launch forth to seek the old.
Then ships of uncouth form shall stem the tide,
And feather'd people crowd my wealthy side;
And naked youths and painted chiefs admire
Our speech, our colour, and our strange attire!
Oh, stretch thy reign, fair Peace! from shore to
shore,

Till conquest cease, and slav'ry be no more;
Till the freed Indians in their native groves

415

420

Reap their own fruits, and woo their sable loves; 410
Peru once more a race of kings behold,
Aud other Mexicos be roof'd with gold.
Exil'd by thee, from earth to deepest hell,
In brazen bonds, shall barb'rous Discord dwell:
Gigantic Pride, pale Terror, gloomy Care,
And mad Ambition, shall attend her there:
There purple Vengeance, bath'd in gore, retires,
Her weapons blunted, and extinct her fires:
There hated Envy her own snakes shall feel,
And Persecution mourn her broken wheel:
There Faction roar, Rebellion bite her chain,
And gasping Furies thirst for blood in vain."
Here cease thy flight, nor with unhallow'd lays,
Touch the fair fame of Albion's golden days:
The thoughts of Gods let Granville's verse recite,
And bring the scenes of op'ning fate to light.
My
humble muse, in unambitious strains,
Paints the green forests and the flow'ry plains,
Where Peace descending bids her olives spring,
And scatters blessings from her dove-like wing. 430
Ev'n I more sweetly pass my careless days,
Pleas'd in the silent shade with empty praise;
Enough for me, that to the listening swains
First in these fields I sung the sylvan strains.

426

A SACRED ECLOGUE.

IN IMITATION OF VIRGIL'S POLLIO.

ADVERTISEMENT.

In reading several passages of the Prophet Isaiah, which foretell the coming of Christ, and the felicities attending it, I could not but observe a remarkable parity between many of the thoughts and those in the Pollio of Virgil. This will not seem surprising, when we reflect, that the Eclogue was taken from a Sibylline prophecy on the same subject. One may judge that Virgil did not copy it line by line, but selected such ideas as best agreed with the nature of pastoral poetry, and disposed them in that manner which served most to beautify his piece. I have endeavoured the same in this Imitation of him, though without admitting any thing of my own; since it was written with this particular view, that the reader, by comparing the several thoughts, might see how far the images and descriptions of the Prophet are superior to those of the Poet. But as I fear I have prejudiced them by my management, I shall subjoin the passages of Isaiah, and those of Virgil, under the same disadvantage of a literal translation. P.

YE Nymphs of Solyma! begin the song:

To heav'nly themes sublimer strains belong.
The mossy fountains, and the sylvan shades,
The dreams of Pindus, and th' Aonian maids,
Delight no more---O thou my voice inspire
Who touch'd Isaiah's hallow'd lips with fire!

Rapt into future times, the bard begun :
A Virgin shall conceive, a Virgin bear a Son!
From Jesse's root behold a branch arise,
Whose sacred flow'r with fragrance fills the skies: 10

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 8. A Virgin shall conceive----All crimes shall cease, &oj Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 6.

Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna;
Jam nova progenies cœlo demittitur alto.

Te duce, si qua manent sceleris vestigia nostri,
Irrita perpetua solvent formidine terras------
Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem.

"Now the Virgin returns, now the kingdom of Saturn returns, "now a new progeny is sent down from high heaven. By means "of thee, whatever relics of our crimes remain shall be wiped away, and free the world from perpetual fears. He shall govern "the earth in peace, with the virtues of his father."

Isaiah, ch. vii. ver. 14. "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and "bear a son." Chap. ix. ver. 6, 7. "Unto us a child is born, unto 66 us a son is given, the Prince of Peace: of the increase of his 66 government, and of his peace, there shall be no end: upon the "throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order and to establish "it, with judgment, and with justice, for ever and ever." P.

Isa. xi. ver. 1.

Th' etherial Spirit o'er its leaves shall move,
And on its top descends the mystic dove.
Ye Heav'ns from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in soft silence shed the kindly show'r!
The sick † and weak the healing plant shall aid,
From storms a shelter, and from heat a shade.
All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail;
Returning Justice I lift aloft her scale;

Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,

And white-rob'd Innocence from heav'n descend.
Swift fly the years, and rise th' expected morn!
Oh, spring to light, auspicious Babe! be born.
See Nature hastes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incense of the breathing spring;
See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forests on the mountains dance;
See spicy clouds from lowly Saron rise,
And Carmel's flow'ry top perfumes the skies!
Hark! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers;
Prepare the way§! a God, a God appears!

IMITATIONS.

Ver.23. See Nature hastes, &c.] Virg. Ecl. iv. 18.
At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu,
Errantes hederas passim cum baccare tellus.
Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho----
Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores.

15

20

25

"For thee, O Child, shall the earth, without being tilled, pro"duce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with baccar, and "colocasia with smiling acanthus. Thy cradle shall pour forth "pleasing flowers about thee."

Isaiah, ch. xxxv. ver. 1. "The wilderness and the solitary place "shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the "rese." Ch. Ix. ver. 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 sanctuary."

P.

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

Aggredere O magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores,

Cara deum soboles, magnum Jovis incrementum---

Ipsi lætitia voces ad sydera jactant

Intonsi montes, ipsæ jam carmina rupes,

Ipsa sonant arbusta, Deus, Deus ille Menalca! Ecl.v. ver. (2. "Oh, come and receive the mighty honours: the time draws "nigh, O beloved offspring of the gods, O great increase of Jove! "The uncultivated mountains send shouts of joy to the stars, the

Ch. xlv. ver. 8. + Ch. xxv. ver. 4.

Ch. xxxv. ver. 2.

Ch. ix. ver.7. § Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4.

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 rise;
With heads declin'd, ye Cedars, homage pay;
Be smooth, ye Rocks; ye rapid Floods, give way!
The Saviour comes! by ancient bards foretold:
Hear him, ye Deaf, and all ye Blind behold!
He from thick films shall purge the visual ray,
And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day:
'Tis he th' obstructed paths of sound shall clear,
And bid new music charm th' unfolding ear:
The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting like the bounding roe.

35

40

No sigh, no murmur the wide world shall hear, 45
From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear.

In † adamantine chains shall Death be bound,
And Hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good shepherd ‡ tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pasture and the purest air,
Explores the lost, the wand'ring sheep directs,
By day o'ersees them, and by night protects;
The tender lambs he raises in his arms,
Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms;
Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage,
The promis'd father || of the future age.
No more shall § 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;

IMITATIONS.

50

55

60

very rocks sing in verse, the very shrubs cry out, A God, a "God!"

Isaiah, ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. "The voice of him that crieth in the "wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! make straight in the "desert 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 straight, and the rough places plain." Ch. xliv. ver. 23. "Break forth into singing, ye Mountains! O Forest, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed Israel." P.

66

* Ch. xlii. ver. 18. and Ch. xxxv. ver. 5, 6.
Ch. xl. ver. 11.
Ch. ix. ver. 6.

+ Ch. xxv. ver. 8.

§ Ch. ii. ver. 4.

65

But useless lances into scythes shall bend,
And the broad falchion in a ploughshare end.
Then palaces shall rise; the joyful * son
Shall finish what his short-liv'd sire begun;
Their vines a shadow to their race shall yield,
And the same hand that sow'd, shall reap the field.
The swain in barren + deserts with surprise
Sees lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise;
And starts 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.
Waste sandy vallies once perplex'd with thorn,
The spiry fir and shapely box adorn;

70

To leafless shrubs the flow'ring palms succeed,
And odrous myrtle to the noisome weed.

75

The lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant And boys in flow'ry bands the tiger lead;

IMITATIONS.

[mead,

Ver. 67. The swain in barren deserts.] Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 28.
Molli paulatim flavescet campus arista,
Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva,

Et dura quercus sudabunt roscida mella.

"The fields shall grow yellow with ripened ears, and the red. grape shall hang upon the wild brambles, and the hard oaks shall "distil honey like dew."

Isaiah, ch. xxxv. ver. 7. "The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty lands springs of water: in the habitation "where dragons lay, shall be grass, and reeds, and rushes." Ch.lv. ver. 13. "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree." P. Ver. 77. The lambs with wolves, &c.] Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 21. Ipsa lacte domum referent distenta capellæ

Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones-----
Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni

Occidet.---

"The goats shall bear to the fold their udders distended with "milk: nor shall the herds be afraid of the greatest lions. The ser'pent shall die, and the herb that conceals poison shall die." Isaiah, ch. xi. ver. 16, &c. "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and "the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall "lead them: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox: and the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the den of the cockatrice." P.

Ch. lav. ver. 21, 22. and Ch.k. ver. 13.

Ch. xxxv. ver. 1, 7. Ch. xli. ver. 19, Ch. xi. ver. 6,7,8.