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'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.

No sigh, no murmur the wide world shall hear,
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;
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,

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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;

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

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

IMITATIONS.

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

Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva,

Et durae quercus sudabunt roscida melia.

"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, chap. xxxv. yer. 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, Ech iv. ver. 21.

Ipsae lacte domum referent distenta capellae

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 serpent shall die, and "the herb that conceals poison shall die."

Isaiah, chap. xi. ver. 6, &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

Ch. xxxv. 1, 7.

+ Ch. xli. ver. 19. and Ch. Iv. ver. 13.
# Ch. xi. ver. 6, 7, 8.

The steer and lion at one crib shall meet,

*

And harmless serpents lick the pilgrim's feet;
The smiling infant in his hand shall take
The crested basilisk and speckled snake,
Pleas'd, the green lustre of the scales survey,
And with their forky tongue shall innocently play.
Rise, crown'd with light, imperial † Salem rise!
'Exalt thy tow'ry head, and lift thy eyes!

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See a long race thy spacious courts adorn;
See future sons and daughters, yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on every side arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
See barb'rous | nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend;
See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate 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 Heav'n in sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day.

IMITATIONS.

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85

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"6 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.

Ver. 85. Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem rise!] The thoughts of Isaiah, which compose the latter part of the Poem, are wonderfully elevated, and much above those general exclamations of Virgil, which make the loftiest parts of his Pollio.

Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo!

toto surget gens aurea mundo!

incipient magni procedere menses!

A pice, venturo laetentur ut omnia saeclo, &c.

The reader needs only to turn to the passages of Isaiah here cited. P.

* Ch. lxv. ver. 25.

+ Ch. I. ver. 1.

Ch. ix. ver. 4s || Ch. 1x. ver. 3. § Ch.lx. ver 6.

No more the rising sun shall gild the morn,
Nor ev'ning Cynthia fill her silver horn;
But lost, dissolv'd in thy superior 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 † seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay, 150
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his saving power remains;
Thy realm for ever lasts, thy own MESSIAH reigns!

Ch lx. ver. 19, 20. † Ch.ii. ver. 6. and Ch. liv. ver. 10.

TO THE RIGHT HON.

GEORGE LORD LANSDOWN.

Non injussa cano: te nostrae, Vare, myricae,
Te nemus omne canet: nec Phoebo gratior ulla est,
Quam sibi quae Vari praescripsit pagina nomen.

VIRG.

THY forest, Windsor! and thy green retreats,
At once the Monarch's and the Muses' seats,
Invite my lays. Be present, sylvan Maids!
Unlock your springs, and open all your shades.
Granville commands, your aid, O Muses! bring,--- 5
What muse for Granville can refuse to sing?
The groves of Eden, vanish'd now so long,
Live in description, and look green in song;
These, were my breast inspir'd with equal flame,
Like them in beauty, should 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 see,

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 some coy nymph her lover's warm address,
Nor quite indulges, nor can quite repress.

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