*

From Jeffe's root behold a branch arise,

Whofe facred flower with fragrance fills the skies:
Th' Æthereal spirit o'er its leaves shall move,
And on its top descends 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 shall aid,
From ftorms a fhelter, and from heat a shade.
All crimes fhall cease, and ancient frauds shall fail ;
Returning § Justice 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 earlieft 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 increase 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 hastes, &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 blandos fundent cunabula flores.

* Ifai. xi. ver. 1. § Ch. ix.

ver. 4.

+ Ch. xlv. ver. 8.

ver. 7.

<< For

+ Ch. xxv.

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 smiling 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 re"joice 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."

66

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 Menalcal "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 stars, 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 purge the vifual 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 shall 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 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 sheep 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 shall be made low, and the crooked shall
"be made straight, and the rough places plain." Ch.
iv. ver. 23.
"Break forth into finging, ye moun-
"tains; 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,

55

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 ufelefs 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 ;

60

The fwain in barren § deferts with furprize,

Their vines a fhadow to their race fhall yield,
And the fame hand that fow'd, fhall reap the field.

65

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 aristâ,
Incultifque rubens pendebit fentibus uva:
Et duræ quercus fudabunt rofcida mella.

"The fields shall 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, fhall "be grafs, and reeds and rushes." Ch. lv. ver. 13. "Instead 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 ftarts amidft the thirsty 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 bulrush nods.
Wafte fandy valleys, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry fir and fhapely box adorn :

70

To leaflefs 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 capellæ
Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones-
Occidet 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 poifon 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 cockatrice."

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