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N reading feveral paffages of the Prophet Ifaiah, which foretell the coming of Chrift and the felicities attending it, I could not but obferve a remarkable parity between many of the thoughts, and those in the Pollio of Virgil. This will not feem furprising, 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 felected fuch ideas as beft agreed with the nature of paftoral poetry, and difpofed them in that manner which served moft to beautify his piece. I have endeavoured the fame in this imitation of him, though without admitting any thing of my own; fince it was written with this particular view, that the reader, by comparing the feveral thoughts, might fee how far the images and descriptions of the Prophet are fuperior to those of the Poet. But as I fear I have prejudiced them by my management, I fhall fubjoin the paffages of Isaiah, and those of Virgil, under the same difadvantage of a literal translation. P.

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SACRED ECLOGUE,

In Imitation of VIRGIL'S POLLIO.

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E Nymphs of Solyma! begin the song: To heav'nly themes fublimer strains belong. The moffy fountains, and the fylvan fhades, The dreams of Pindus and th' Aonian maids, Delight no more---O thou my voice infpire 5 Who touch'd Ifaiah's hallow'd lips with fire!

Rapt into future times, the Bard begun : A Virgin shall conceive, a Virgin bear a Son!

IMITATIONS.

VER. 8. A Virgin shall conceive---- All crimes fhall ceafe, etc.]
VIRG. Ecl. iv. ver. 6.

Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna;
Jam nova progenies cœlo demittitur alto.

Te duce, fi qua manent fceleris veftigia noftri,
Irrita perpetua folvent formidine terras-
Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem.

"Now the Virgin returns, now the kingdom of Saturn "returns, now a new progeny is fent down from high hea"ven. By means of thee, whatever reliques of our crimes "remain, fhall be wiped away, and free the world from

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perpetual fears. He fhall govern the earth in peace, with "the virtues of his father."

ISAIAH, Ch. vii. ver. 14. "Behold a Virgin shall con"ceive and bear a fon.-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 "fhall be no end: Upon the throne of David, and upon his

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From Jeffe's root behold a branch arise,

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Whofe facred flow'r with fragrance fills the skies:
Th' Ætherial spirit o'er its leaves fhall move,
And on its top descends the mystic Dove.
Ye 'heav'ns! from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in foft filence fhed the kindly fhow'r!
The fick and weak the healing plant shall aid, 1 5
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From ftorms a fhelter, and from heat a fhade.
All crimes fhall ceafe, and ancient fraud fhall fail;
Returning Juftice lift aloft her scale;

REMARK S.

VER 13. Ye Heav'ns! from high the dewy nectar pour, And in foft filence fhed the kindly fhow'r !] His Original says, "Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies

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pour down righteoufnefs : let the earth open, and let them "bring forth falvation, and let righteousness fpring up toge"ther."-This is a very noble defcription of divine grace fhed abroad in the hearts of the faithful under the Gospel difpenfation. And the poet understood all its force, as appears from the two lines preceding thefe,-Th' Ethereal Spirit, etc. The prophet defcribes this under the image of rain, which chiefly fits the first age of the Gospel: The poet, under the idea of dew, which extends it to every age. And it was his

purpose it should be fo understood, as appears from his expreffion of foft filence, which agrees with the common, not the extraordinary effufions of the Holy Spirit. The figurative term is wonderfully happy. He who would moralize the ancient Mythology in the manner of Bacon, would fay, that by the poetical nectar, is meant the grace of the Theologifts.

VER. 17. Ancient fraud] i. e. the fraud of the Serpent.

IMITATIONS.

kingdom, to order and to stablish it, with judgment, and "with justice, for ever and ever." P.

a Ifai. xi. ver. I. Ch. ix. ver. 7.

Ch. xlv. ver. 8.

c Ch. xxv. ver. 4.

Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, 19
And white-rob'd Innocence from heav'n defcend.
Swift fly the years, and rise th' expected morn!
Oh spring to light, aufpicious Babe, be born!
See Nature haftes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incense of the breathing spring:
See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
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See nodding forefts 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:

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IMITATIONS.

VER. 23. See Nature hafte, etc.]
VIRG. Ecl. iv. ver. 18.

At tibi prima, puer, nullo munufcula cultu,
Errantes hederas paffim cum baccare tellus,
Mixtaque ridenti colocafia fundet acantho—
Ipfa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores.

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"For thee, O Child, fhall the earth, without being tilled, "produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with "Baccar, and Colocafia with fmiling Acanthus. Thy cradle "fhall pour forth pleafing flowers about thee."

ISAIAH, Ch. xxxv. ver. 1. "The wilderness and the fo"litary place fhall be glad, and the defert fhall rejoice and "bloffom as the rofe." Ch. lx. ver. 13. "The glory of "Lebanon fhall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of thy fanc tuary." P.

VER. 29. Hark! a glad Voice, etc.]

VIRG. Ecl. iv. ver. 46.

Aggredere ô magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores,
Cara deûm foboles, magnum Jovis incrementum-

Ch. xxxv. ver. 2,

f Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4,

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 valleys, rise;
With heads declin'd, ye cedars, homage pay; 35
Be fmooth, 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
the visual ray,
And on the fightless eye-ball pour the day:

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purge

REMARK S.

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VER. 39. He from thick films fhall purge the vifual ray,] The fenfe and language fhew, that by vifual ray, the poet meant the fight, or, as Milton calls it, indeed, fomething lefs boldly, tho' more exactly, the vifual nerve. However, no critic would quarrel with the figure which calls the inftrument of vision by the name of the caufe. But tho' the term be noble and fublime, yet the expreffion of thick films is faulty; and he fell into it by

IMITATIONS.

Ipfi lætitia voces ad fydera jactant

Intonfi montes, ipfæ jam carmina rupes,

Ipfa fonant arbufta, Deus, deus ille Menalca !

Ecl. v. ver. 62.

"Oh come and receive the mighty honours: the time "draws nigh, O beloved offspring of the Gods, O great en"creafe of Jove! The uncultivated mountains fend shouts of "joy to the stars, the very rocks fing in verfe, the very shrubs "cry out, a God, a God!"

ISAIAH, Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. "The voice of him that "crieth in the wildernefs, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! "make strait in the defert a high way for our God! Every "valley fhall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall "be made low, and the crooked shall be made strait, and the

rough places plain." Ch. iv. ver. 23. Break forth into fing"ing, ye mountains! O foreft, and every tree therein! for "the Lord hath redeemed Ifrael." P...

Ch. xliii. ver. 18. Ch. xxxv. ver. 5, 6.

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