Here shall I try the sweet Alexis' strain, LYCIDAS. So may kind rains their vital moisture yield, And swell the future harvest of the field. Begin; this charge the dying Daphne gave, And said, "Ye shepherds, sing around my grave ! Sing, while beside the shaded tomb I mourn, And with fresh bays her rural shrine adorn. THYRSIS. Ye gentle Muses, leave your crystal spring, Her name with pleasure once she taught the shore, i h "Audiit Eurotas, jussitque ediscere lauros."-VIRG. "Inducite fontibus umbras Et tumulum facite, et tumulo superaddite carmen." The balmy zephyrs, silent since her death, No more the mounting larks, while Daphne sings, Or, hush'd with wonder, hearken from the sprays: Swell'd with new passion, and o'erflows with tears; But see! where Daphne, wondering, mounts on high LYCIDAS. How all things listen, while thy muse complains! Such silence waits on Philomela's strains, In some still evening, when the whispering breeze Pants on the leaves, and dies upon the trees. To thee, bright goddess, oft a lamb shall bleed *, If teeming ewes increase my fleecy breed. While plants their shade, or flowers their odours give, Thy name, thy honour, and thy praise shall live! THYRSIS. But see, Orion sheds unwholesome dews; j k "Miratur limen Olympi, Sub pedibusque videt nubes et sidera Daphnis."-VIRG. "Illius aram Sæpe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus."-VIRG. m Arise! the pines a noxious shade diffuse1; MESSIAH, 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. 1 YE nymphs of Solyma! begin the song: To heavenly themes sublimer strains belong. "Solet esse gravis cantantibus umbra, Juniperi gravis umbra."-VIRG. m "Omnia vincit amor, et nos cedamus amori." Vid. etiam SANNAZARII Ecl. et SPENSER'S Calendar. "These four last lines allude to the several subjects of the four Pastorals, and to the several scenes of them, particularised before in each. Rapt into future times, the bard begun : Whose sacred flower with fragrance fills the skies : S Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, And white-robed Innocence from heaven descend. • "A Virgin shall conceive.-All crimes shall cease," &c. "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 reliques 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." "Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son."-Isaiah, ch. vii. ver. 14. "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son 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 establish it, with judgment, and with justice, for ever and ever.”Ch. ix. ver. 6, 7. P Isa. ch. xi. ver. 1. 9 Ch. xlv. ver. 8. t "At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu, VIRG. Ecl. iv. ver. 18. "For thee, O child, shall the earth, without being tilled, produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with Baccar, and Colocasia, with smiling Acanthus. Thy cradle shall pour forth pleasing flowers about thee." "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose."-Isa. ch. xxxv. ver. 1. "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of thy sanctuary." -Ch. lx. ver. 13. See lofty Lebanon his head advance, W And Carmel's flowery top perfumes the skies! Isaiah, ch. xxxv. ver. 2. "Aggredere ô magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores, "Ipsi lætitiâ voces ad sidera jactant Intonsi montes, ipsæ jam carmina rupes, Ecl. iv. ver. 62. "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 very rocks sing in verse, the very shrubs cry out, A God, a God!" "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." Isaiah, ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. "Break forth into singing, ye mountains! O forest, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed Israel."-Ch. iv. ver. 23. Ch. xliii. ver. 18-ch. xxxv. ver. 5, 6. Ch. xl. ver. 11. W Isaiah, ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. y Isa. ch. xxv. ver. 8. |