A God, a God! the vocal hills reply, IMITATIONS. 35 40 45 50 The "Lord! make ftraight in the defert a high-way for our God! Every valley fhall be exalted, and every moun*tain and hill fhall be made low, and the crooked fhall "be made straight, and the rough places plain." Ch. iv. ver. 23. "Break forth into finging, ye moun tains; O forest, and every tree therein! for the Lord "hath redeemed Ifrael." Ch. xliii. ver. 18. Ch. xxxv. ver. 5, 6. xxv. ver. 8. Ch. xl. ver. 11. § Ch. The tender lambs he raifes in his arms, Sees lilies fpring, and sudden verdure rise; IMITATIONS. And Ver. 67. The fwain in barren deferts]. Virg. E. iv. ver. 28. Molli paulatim flavefcet campus aristâ, "The fields fhall grow yellow with ripened ears, and the red grape fhall hang upon the wild brambles, and "the hard oaks shall distil honey like dew." ISAIAH, Ch. xxxv. ver. 7. The parched ground "fhall become a pool, and the thirsty land fprings of "water: In the habitations where dragons lay, thall "be grafs, and reeds and rushes." Ch. lv. ver. 13. "Instead of the thorn fhall come up the fir-tree, and "inftead of the briar fhall come up the myrtle-tree." *Ch. ix. ver. 6. † Ch. ii. ver. 4. Ch. lxv. ver. 21, 22. § Ch. xxxv. ver. 1.7. And ftarts amidst the thirty wilds to hear 70 To leafless fhrubs the flowery palms fucceed, And odorous myrtle to the noisome weed. 75 The + lambs with wolves fhall graze the verdant mead, IMITATIONS. 80 The Ver. 77. The lambs with wolves, &c.] Virg. E. iv. ver. 21. Ipfæ lacte domum referent diftenta capella "The goats fhall bear to the fold their udders diftended with milk: nor fhall the herds be afraid of "the greatest lions. The ferpent fhall die, and the "herb that conceals poison fhall die.” ISAIAH, Ch. xi. ver. 6, &c. "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 fat ling together; and a little child shall 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 wean"ed child fhall put his hand on the den of the cocka" trice." h. xli. ver. 19. and Ch. lv. ver. 13. + Ch. xi. 8. Ch. lxv. r. 25. ver. The fmiling infant in his hand shall take And with their forky tongue shall innocently play. And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow. IMITATIONS. Ver. 85. Rife, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rife!] The thoughts of Ifaiah, which compofe the latter part of the poem, are wonderfully elevated, and much above thofe general exclamations of Virgil, which make the loftieft part of his Pollio. Magnis ab integro fæclorum nafcitur ordo! -incipient magni procedere menfes ! Afpice, venturo lætentur ut omnia fæclo! &c. The reader needs only to turn to the paffages of Ifaiah, here cited. Ch. Ix. ver. 1. No more the rifing || Sun shall gild the morn, One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze O'erflow thy courts: the Light himself shall shine 100 The feas fhall wafte, the skies in fmoke decay, 105 But fix'd his word, his faving power remains; Ch. lx. ver. 19, 20. Ch. li. ver. 6. and Ch. liv. ver. 10. |