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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;
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 fhall purge the visual ray,
And on the fightlefs eye-ball pour the day:
'Tis he th' obftructed paths of found 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
every face he wipes off every tear.
In § adamantine chains shall Death be bound,
And Hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good | fhepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks fresheft pafture, and the purest air,
Explores the loft, the wandering sheep directs,
By day o'erfees them, and by night protects,

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,
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 useless lances into scythes fhall bend,
And the broad faulchion in a plow-share end.
Then palaces shall rife; the joyful Son
Shall finish what his short-liv'd Sire begun ;
Their vines a fhadow to their race fhall yield,
And the fame hand that fow'd, fhall reap the field.
The fwain in barren § deserts with surprize,

Sees lilies fpring, and sudden verdure rise;

IMITATIONS.

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And

Ver. 67. The fwain in barren deferts]. Virg. E. iv.

ver. 28.

Molli paulatim flavefcet campus aristâ,
Incultifque rubens pendebit fentibus uva:
Et duræ quercus fudabunt rofcida mella.

"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
New falls of water murmuring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,
The green reed trembles, and the bulruth nods.
Wafte fandy* valleys, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry fir and fhapely box adorn :

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,
And boys in flowery bands the tiger lead :
The fteer and lion at one crib fhall meet,
And harmless ferpents lick the pilgrim's feet.

IMITATIONS.

80

The

Ver. 77. The lambs with wolves, &c.] Virg. E. iv.

ver. 21.

Ipfæ lacte domum referent diftenta capella
Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones-
Occidet et ferpens, et fallax herba veneni
Occidet.-

"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.

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The fmiling infant in his hand shall take
The crested basilisk and speckled snake,
Pleas'd the green luftre of the scales furvey,

And with their forky tongue shall innocently play.
Rife, crown'd with light, imperial * Salem rise !
Exalt thy towery head, and lift thy eyes!
See a long † race thy spacious courts adorn;
See future fons, and daughters yet unborn,
In crouding ranks on every fide arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
See barbarous 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 springs!
For thee Idume's spicy forests blow,

And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See heaven its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day!

IMITATIONS.

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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!
-toto furget gens aurea mundo!

-incipient magni procedere menfes !

Afpice, venturo lætentur ut omnia fæclo! &c.

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

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Ch. Ix. ver. 1.
. 3. Ch. lx. ver. 6.

No more the rifing || Sun shall gild the morn,
Nor evening 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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The feas fhall wafte, the skies in fmoke decay, 105
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;

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

Ch. lx. ver. 19, 20.

Ch. li. ver. 6. and Ch. liv. ver. 10.

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