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Th' industrious bees neglect their golden store;
Fair Daphne's dead, and sweetness is no more!
No more the mounting larks, while Daphne sings,
Shall, list'ning in mid air, suspend their wings;
No more the birds shall imitate her lays,

Or, hush'd with wonder, hearken from the sprays; ›
No more the streams their murmurs shall forbear, !
A sweeter music than their own to hear,
But tell the reeds, and tell the vocal shore,

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"Fair Daphne's dead, and music is no more!"

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Her fate is whisper'd by the gentle breeze, And told in sighs to all the trembling trees; The trembling trees, in ev'ry plain and wood,

Her fate remurmur to the silver flood;
The silver flood, so lately calm, appears

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Swell'd with new passion, and o'erflows with tears; The winds, and trees, and floods, her death deplore,--Daphne, our grief, our glory now no more!

But see! where Daphne wond'ring mounts on high

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Above the clouds, above the starry sky!
Eternal beauties grace the shining scene,
Fields ever fresh, and groves for ever green!
There while you rest in amaranthine bow'rs,
Or from those meads select unfading flow'rs,
Behold us kindly, who your name implore,
Daphne, our goddess, and our grief no more!

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Lyc. How all things listen, while thy muse complains!

Such silence waits on Philomela's strains,

In some still ev'ning, when the whisp'ring 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 flow'rs their odours give,
Thy name, thy honour, and thy praise shall live!
Thyr. But see, Orion sheds unwholesome dews; 85
Arise, the pines a noxious shade diffuse;

Sharp Boreas blows, and Nature feels decay,
Time conquers all, and we must Time obey.
Adieu, ye Vales, ye Mountains, Streams and Groves;
Adieu, ye Shepherds' rural Lays and Loves;
Adieu, my Flocks; farewell, ye Sylvan Crew;
Daphne, farewell; and all the World adieu!

90

Volume I.

I

MESSIAH.

A SACRED ECLOGUE,

IN IMITATION OF VIRGIL'S POLLIO.

Advertisement.

In reading several passages of the Prophet Isaiah, which foretel the coming of Christ, and the felicities attending it, I could not but observe a remarks able 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;

IMITATIONE.

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

Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna;

Jam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto.

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

From Jesse's root, behold a branch arise,

Whose sacred flow'r with fragance fills the skies: 10
Th' ætherial Spirit o'er its leaves shall move,

And on its top descends the mystic dove.
Yet 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 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 the 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;

IMITATIONS.

15

20

"Now the Virgin returns, now the kingdom of Saturn returns, now "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 46 perpetual fears. He shall govern the earth in peace, with the virtues of "his father."

Isaíah, 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 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 eyer and ever." P. Ver. 23. See Nature hastes, &c.] Virg. Ecl. iv. 18.

At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscuja cultu,
Errantes hederas passim cum baccare, tellus.
Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho

Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores.

"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." Isaiah, ch. xxxv. ver. 1. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be * Isa, xi. ver. 1. † Ch. xlv. ver. 8. ‡ Ch. xxv. vèr. ¿. Ch. ix. ver. 7.

*

See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forest 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!
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 Bind behold!
He from thick films shall purge the visual ray,
And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day:

IMITATIONS.

25

30

35

40

as,the

glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as, the rose." Ch. Ix. ver. 13. 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." 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 laetitia voces ad sidera jactant

Intonsi montes, ipsae jam carmina rupes,

Ipsa sonant arbusta, Deus, Deus ille Menaica! Ecl. v. vet. 62.

Oh come and receive the mighty honours: the time draws nich, O be"loved 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 ou, a God, a God!"

Isaiah, chap. xl. ver. 3, 4. The voice of him that crieth in the wilder. ness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a high way for our God! Every valley shall be exaited, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ❝ places plain." Chap. iv. ver. 23. Break forth into singing, ye Mountains! O Forest, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed Israel.'' P.

* Chap. xxxv. ver. 2. + Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4.
Ch. xliii. ver. 18. Ch, xxv. ver. 5. 6.

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