*

From Jeffe's root behold a branch arise,

Whofe facred flower with fragrance fills the fkies:
Th' thereal fpirit o'er its leaves fhall move,
And on its top defcends the mystic Dove.
Yet Heavens! from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in foft filence shed the kindly shower!

The fick and weak the healing plant fhall aid,
+

From ftorms a shelter, and from heat a shade.

All crimes shall ceafe, and ancient frauds fhall fail;
Returning Juftice lift aloft her scale;

Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,

And white-rob'd Innocence from heaven defcend.
Swift fly the years, and rife the expected morn!
Oh spring to light, aufpicious Babe, be born!
See Nature haftes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incenfe of the breathing spring:

IMITATIONS.

10

15

20

See

ISAIAH, Ch. vii. ver. 14. "Behold a Virgin shall "conceive and bear a Son.-Chap. ix. ver. 6, 7. Un"to us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given; the "Prince of Peace: of the increafe of his government, "and of his peace, there fhall be no end: Upon the "throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order "and to establish it, with judgment and with justice, "for ever and ever.'

Ver. 23. See Nature haftes, &c.] Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 18.
At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu,
Errantes hederas paffim cum baccare tellus,
Mixtaque ridenti colocafia fundet acantho-
Ipfa tibi blandes fundent cunabula flores.

"For

* Ifai. xi. ver. 1. + Ch. xlv. ver. 8. + Ch. xxv. ver. 4. § Ch. ix. ver. 7.

**

See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forests on the mountains dance:
See fpicy clouds from lowly Saron rise,
And Carmel's flowery top perfumes the skies!
Hark! a glad voice the lonely defert chears;
Prepare the way! a God, a God appears :

IMITATIONS.

25

30

A God,

"For thee, O Child, fhall the earth, without being "tilled, produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mix

ed with Baccar, and Colocaffia with fmiling Acan"thus. Thy cradle fhall pour forth pleasing flowers

"about thee."

ISAIAH, Ch. xxxi. ver. 1. "The wilderness and the "folitary 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 fanctuary."

Ver. 29. Hark! a glad voice, &c.

Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 46.

Aggredere ô magnos (aderit jam tempus) honores, Cara deûm foboles, magnum Jovis incrementumEcl. v. ver. 62.

Ipfi lætitiâ voces ad fidera jactant

Intonfi montes, ipfæ jam carmina rupes,

Ipfa fonant arbufta, Deus, Deus ille Menalca!

"O come and receive the mighty honours: the time "draws nigh, O beloved offspring of the Gods, O "great increase of Jove! The uncultivated mountains "fend fhouts of joy to the ftars, the very rocks fing in "verfe, the very fhrubs cry out, A God, a God!”

ISAIAH, Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. "The voice of him that cryeth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the + Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4..

* Ch. xxxv. ver. 2. VOL. I.

E

"Lord!

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
the visual ray,
And on the fightless eye-ball pour the day :
'Tis he th' obftructed paths of found shall clear,
And bid new mufic charm th' unfolding ear:

purge

The dumb fhall fing, the lame his crutch forego,
I
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 fhall Death be bound,
And Hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good fhepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pasture, and the purest air,
Explores the loft, the wandering fheep directs,
By day o'erfees them, and by night protects,

IMITATIONS.

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

Ch. xliii. ver. 18. Ch. xxxv. ver. 5, 6.
Ch. xl. ver. 11.

XXV. ver. 8.

$ 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 rife,
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 faulchion in a plow-share end.
Then palaces fhall rife; the joyful ‡ Son
Shall finish what his fhort-liv'd Sire begun ;
Their vines a fhadow to their race shall yield,

55

60

65

And the fame hand that fow'd, fhall reap the field.

The fwain in barren § deferts with furprize,

Sees lilies fpring, and fudden verdure rife;

IMITATIONS.

And

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

ver. 28.

Molli paulatim flavefcet campus arifta,
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 fhall diftil 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, shall "be grafs, and reeds and rushes." Ch. lv. ver. 13. . "Inftead of the thorn fhall come up the fir-tree, and. "instead of the briar fhall come up the myrtle-tree."

* Ch. ix. ver. 6. + Ch. ii. ver. 4. ver. 21, 22. § Ch. xxxv. ver. 1, 7.

Ch. lxv.

And starts amidst the thirsty wilds to hear
New falls of water murmuring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,

70

The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods.
Wafte fandy* valleys, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry fir and shapely box adorn :

To leaflefs fhrubs the flowery palms fucceed,

75

And odorous myrtle to the noisome weed.

The † lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead, And boys in flowery bands the tiger lead:

The fteer and lion at one crib fhall meet,

And harmless serpents 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 capellæ Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leonesOccidet et ferpens, et fallax herba veneni

Occidet.

"The goats fhall bear to the fold their udders dif"tended with milk: nor fhall the herds be afraid of "the greatest lions. The ferpent fhall die, and the " herb that conceals poison shall 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."

*Ch. xli. ver. 19. and Ch. lv. ver. 13, † Ch. xi. ver. 6, 7, 8. Ch. lxv. ver. 25.