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All crimes fhall cease, and ancient frauds shall fail, | A God, a God! the vocal hills reply,
Returning Juftice lift aloft her scale;
Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
And white-rob'd Innocence from heaven defcend. 20
Swift fly the years, and rife th' expected morn!
Oh fpring 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,
See nodding forests on the mountains dance:
See fpicy clouds from lowly Saron rife,
And Carmel's flowery top perfumes the skies!
Hark! a glad voice the lonely defert cheers;
Prepare the way! a God, a God appears!

IMITATIONS.

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Ifaiah, Ch. vii. ver. 14. "Behold a Virgin "fhall 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 fhall "be no end: Upon the throne of David, and up" on his kingdom, to order and to establish it, "with_judgment and with justice, for ever and ever."

B

Ver. 13. See nature hastes, &c.] Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 18.

At tibi prima, puer, nullo munufcula cultu,
Errantes hederas paffim cum baccare tellus,
Mixtaque ridenti colocafia fundet acantho→→
Jpfa tibi blandes fundent cunabula flores.

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

Ifaiah, Ch. xxxi. ver. 1. "The wilderness and "the folitary place fhall be glad, and the defert "shall rejoice and bloffom as the rofe." Ch. lx. ver. 13. "The glory of Lebanon fhall come un"to 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.

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The rocks proclaim th' approaching Deity.
Lo, earth receives him from the bending fkies;
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 visual ray,
And on the fightless eye-ball pour the day:
'Tis he th' obftructed paths of found fhall clear,
And bid new mufic charm th' unfolding ear:
The dumb fhall fing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting like the bounding roe.
No figh, no murmur, the wide world fhall hear,
From every face he wipes off every tear.
In + adamantine chains shall death be bound,
As the good t fhepherd tends his fleecy care,
And hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
Seeks freshest pasture, and the purest air;
Explores the loft, the wandering sheep directs,
By day o'erfees them, and by night protects;
Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms;
The tender lambs he raises in his arms,
Thus fhall mankind his guardian care engage,
The promis'd father of the future age.

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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 fhall bend,
And the broad falchion in a ploughhare end.
Then palaces shall rife; the joyful¶ Son
Shall finish what his fhort-liv'd Sire begun;
Their vines a fhadow to their race fhall yield,
And the fame hand that sow'd, shall reap the field.
The swain in barren ++ deferts with surprise
Sees lilies fpring, and sudden verdure rife;

IMITATIONS.

"the very rocks fing in verfe; the very fhrubs cry out, A God, a God!"

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Ifaiah, Ch. xl. ver. 3. 4. " The voice of hint "that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the

way of the Lord! make ftraight in the desert "a high-way for our God! Every valley fhall be "exalted, and every mountain 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 Ifeael."

Ver. 67. The fwain in barren deferts] Virg.
Ecl. iv. ver. 28.

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Cb. lxv. ver. 21, 22. tt Ch. xxxv. ver. 1. 7.

Cb. xl. ver. II.
Ch. ii. ver. 4.

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And ftarts, amidst 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 buirush nods.
Wafte fandy valleys, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry fir and shapely box adorn :

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To leaflefs fhrubs the flowery palms fucceed,
And odorous myrtle to the noisome weed.

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,

The fmiling infant in his hand fhall take
The crested bafilifk and fpeckled fnake,
Pleas'd, the green luftre of the fcales furvey,
And with their forky tongue fhall innocently
play.

Rife, crown'd with light, imperial * Salem, rife!
Exalt thy towery head, and lift thy eyes!
See a long trace thy fpacious courts adorn;
See future fons, and daughters yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on every fide arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
See barbarous nations at thy gates attend,

And harmless ferpents lick the pilgrim's feet. 80 Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend;

IMITATIONS.

"The fields fhall grow yellow with ripen'd "ears, and the red grape fhall hang upon the wild "brambles, and the hard oaks fhall diftil honey # like dew."

of water:

Isaiah, Ch. xxxv. ver. 7. « The parched ground "fhall become a pool, and the thirsty land fprings In the habitations where dragons "lay, fhall be grafs, and reeds and rushes." Ch: lv. ver. 13. "Inftead of the thorn fhall come up "the fir-tree, and instead of the brier fhall come * up the myrtle-tree."

Ver. 77. The lambs with wolves, &c.] Virg.
Ecl. iv. ver. 21.

Ipfæ lace domum referent diftenta capella
Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones--
Occidet et ferpens, et fallax herba veneni
Occidet.-

"The goats fhall bear to the fold their udders "diftended with milk; nor fhall the herds be "afraid of the greatest lions. The ferpent fhall " die, and the herb that conceals poison shall die.” Haiah, 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 fatling together; and a little child "fhall 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 weaned child shall "put his hand on the den of the cockatrice."

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See thy bright altars throng d with proftrate kings,
And heap'd with products of § Sabean fprings,
For thee Idume's fpicy forefts blow,
And feeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See heaven its fparkling portals wide difplay,
And break upon thee in a flood of day!
No more the rifing | fun fhall gild the morn,
Nor evening Cynthia fill her filver horn;
But loft, diffolv'd in thy fuperior 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!
The feas fhall wafte, the fkies in fmoke decay,
Rocks fall to duft, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his faving power remains;
Thy realm for ever lafts, thy own Meffiah reigns!

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 85. Rife, crown'd with light, imperial Sa lem, rife! The thoughts of Ifaiah, which compofe the latter part of the poem, are wonderfully elevated, and much above thofe general exclamations of Virgil, which make the loftien part of his Pollio.

Magnis ab integro faclorum nafcitur ordo!
-toto furget gens aurea mundo!
-incipient magni procedere menfes !
Afpice, venturo lætentur ut omnia fæclo! &c.

The reader needs only to turn to the paffages of Ifaiah, here cited.

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Tais poem was written at two different times: the first part of it, which relates to the country, in the year 1704, at the fame time with the pastorals: the latter part was not added till the year 1713, in which it was published.

Tar forefts, Windfor! and thy green retreats, At once the monarch's and the mufe's feats, Invite my lays. Be prefent, Sylvan maids! Unlock your fprings, and open all your shades. Granville commands; your aid, O mufes, bring! What mufe for Granville can refufe to fing?

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The groves of Eden, vanith'd now fo long, Live in defcription, and look green in fong; Thefe, were my breaft infpir'd with equal flame, Like them in beauty, fhould be like in fame, Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain, Here earth and water feem to ftrive again; Not chaos-like together crush'd and bruis'd, But, as the world, harmoniously confus'd; Where order in variety we fee,

And where, though all things differ, alfagree. Here waving groves a chequer'd fcene difplay, And part admit, and part exclude the day;

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As fome coy nymph her lover's warm address
Nor quite indulges, nor can quite reprefs.
There, interfpers'd in lawns and opening glades,
Thin trees arife that fhun each other's fhades.
Here in full light the ruffet plains extend;
There, wrapt in clouds, the bluish hills afcend.
Ev'n the wild heath displays her purple dies,
And 'midft the defert, fruitful fields arife, [corn,
That, crown'd with tufted trees and fpringing
Like verdant ifles the fable wafte adorn.
Let India boaft her plants, no envy we
The weeping amber, or the balmy tree,
While by our oaks the precious loads are borne,
And realms commanded which thofe trees adorn.
Nor proud Olympus yields a nobler fight,
Though gods affembled grace his towering height,
Than what more humble mountains offer here,
Where, in their blessings, all those gods appear.

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VARIATIONS.

Ver. 3, &c. Originally thus:

Chafte goddess of the woods,

Nymphs of the vales, and Naiads of the floods,
Lead me through arching bow'rs, and glimm'ring
glades,
Unlock your fprings

VARIATIONS.

Ver. 25. Originally thus:

Why fhould I fing our better funs or air,
Whofe vital draughts prevent the leach's care,
While through fresh fields th' enliv'ning odours
breathe,

Or fpread with vernal blooms the purple heath?

See Pan with flocks, with fruits Pomona crown'd
Here blushing Flora paints th' enamell'd ground,
Here Ceres' gifts in waving profpect ftand,
And nodding tempt the joyful reaper's hand; 40
Rich Industry fits fmiling on the plains,
And peace and plenty tell, a Stuart reigns.
Not thus the land appear'd in ages past,
A dreary defert, and a gloomy waste,
To favage beafts and favage laws a prey,
And kings more furious and fevere than they;
Who claim'd the fkies, difpeopled air and floods,
The lonely lords of empty wilds and woods:
Cities laid wafte, they ftorm'd the dens and caves
(For wifer brutes were backward to be flaves). 5o
What could be free, when lawlefs beafts obey'd,
And ev'n the elements a tyrant fway'd?
In vain kind feasons fwell'd the teeming grain,
Soft fhowers diftill'd, and funs grew warm in vain ;
The fwain with tears his fruftrate labour yields,
And famifh'd dies amidft his ripen'd fields.
What wonder then, a beaft or fubject flain
Were equal crimes in a defpotic reign?
Both doom'd alike for fportive tyrants bled,
But, while the fubject ftarv'd, the beaft was fed.
Proud Nimrod first the bloody chace began, 61
A mighty hunter, and his prey was man :
Our haughty Norman boafts that barbarous name,
And makes his trembling flaves the royal game.
The fields are ravifh'd from th' industrious
fwains,

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From men their cities, and from gods their fanes :
The levell'd towns with weeds lie cover'd o'er;
The hollow winds through naked tempies roar;
Round broken columns clafping ivy twin'd;
O'er heaps of ruin ftalk'd the ftately hind;
The fox obfcene to gaping tombs retires,
And favage howlings fill the facred quires.
Aw'd by his nobles, by his commons curft,
Th' Oppreffor rul'd tyrannic where he durft,
Stretch'd o'er the poor and church his iron rod,
And ferv'd alike his vaffais and his God.
Whom ev'n the Saxon ipar'd, and bloody Dane,
The wanton victims of his fport remain.
But fee, the man who fpacious regions gave
A waste for beafts, himself deny'd a grave!

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Stretch'd on the lawn his fecond hope furvey,
At once the chacer, and at once the prey:
Lo! Rufus, tuggin at the deadly dart,
Bleeds in the foreft like a wounded hart.
Succeeding monarchs heard the fubje&s cries,
Nor faw difpleas'd the peaceful cottage rife.
T'hen gathering flocks on unknown mountains fed,
O'er fandy wilds were yellow harvests spread,
The forests wonder'd at th' unusual grain,
And fecret transport touch'd the confcious fwain.
Fair Liberty, Britannia's goddess, rears
Her cheerful head, and leads the golden years.
Ye vigorous fwains! while youth ferments your
blood,

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And purer fpirits fwell the fprightly flood,
Now range the hills, the gameful woods befet,
Wind the thrill horn, or spread the waving net.
When milder autumn fummer's heat fucceeds,
And in the new-fhorn field the partridge feeds;
Before his lord the ready spaniel bounds,
Panting with hope, hetries the furrow'dgrounds;100
But when the tainted gales the game betray,
Couch'd clofe he lies, and meditates the prey :
Secure the trust th' unfaithful field befet,
Till hovering o'er them fweeps the fwelling net.
Thus (if fmall things we may with great compare)
When Albion fends her eager fons to war,
Some thoughtless town, with eafe and plenty bleft,
Near and more near, the clofing lines inveft,
Sudden they feize th' amaz'd defenceless prize,
And high in air Britannia's ftandard flies.
See! from the brake the whirring pheasant

Springs,

110

And mounts exulting on triumphant wings:
Short is his joy; he feels the fiery wound,
Flutters in blood, and panting beats the ground.
Ah! what avail his gloffy varying dies,

His purple creft, and scarlet circled eves,
The vivid green his fhining plumes unfold,
His painted wings, and breaft that flames with
gold?

Nor yet when moist Arcturus clouds the fky, The woods and fields their pleafing toils deny. 120

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To plains with well-breath'd beagles we repair,
And trace the mazes of the circling hare
(Beafts, urg'd by us, their fellow beasts pursue,
And learn of man each other to undo):
With flaughtering guns th'unweary'd fowler roves,
When frofts have whiten'd all the naked groves ;
Where doves in flocks the leaflefs trees o'erfbade,
And lonely woodcocks haunt the watery glade.
He lifts the tube, and levels with his eye;
Strait a fhort thunder breaks the frozen fky 130
Oft, as in airy rings they skim the heath,

The clamorous lapwings feels the leaden death;
Oft, as the mounting larks their notes prepare,
They fall, and leave their little lives in air.

In genial fpring, beneath the quivering fhade, Where cooling vapours breathe along the mead, The patient fisher takes his filent stand, Intent, his angle trembling in his hand : With looks unmov'd, he hopes the scaly breed, And eyes the dancing cork and bending reed, 140 Our plenteous ftreams a various race supply, The bright-ey'd perch with fins of Tyrian dye, The filver eel, in fhining volumes roll'd, The yellow carp, in fcales bedropp'd with gold, Swift troats, diverfify'd with crimson stains, And pikes, the tyrants of the watery plains.

Now Cancer glows with Phoebus' fiery car: The youth rufh eager to the Sylvan war, Swarm o'er the lawns, the foreft walks furround, Rouze the fleet hart, and cheer the opening hound.

150

Th' impatient courfer pants in every vein,
And, pawing, feems to beat the distant plain :
Hills, vales, and floods, appear already cross'd,
And, ere he starts, a thousand steps are loft.
See the bold youth ftrain up the threat'ning fteep,
Rush through the thickets, down the vallies fweep,
Hang o'er their courfers heads with eager fpeed,
And earth rolls back beneath the flying fteed.
Let old Arcadia boast her ample plain,

Th' immortal huntress, and her virgin-train; 160
Nor envy, Windfor! fince thy shades have seen
As bright a goddess, and as chaste a queen;
Whofe care, like her's, protects the Sylvan reign,
The earth's fair light, and emprefs of the main.
Here, too, 'tis fung, of old Diana stray'd,
And Cynthus top forfook for Windsor shade;
Here was the feen o'er airy wastes to rove,
Seek the clear fpring, or haunt the pathless
grove;

170

Here arm'd with filver bows, in early dawn,
Her bufkin'd virgins trac'd the dewy lawn.
Above the reft a rural nymph was fam'd,'
Thy offspring, Thames the fair Lodona nam'd
(Lodona's fate, in long oblivion cast,

The mufe fhall fing, and what the fings fhall laft).

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Scarce could the goddefs from her nymph be known,

But by the crefcent and the golden zone.
She fcorn'd the praise of beauty, and the care;
A belt her waift, a fillet binds her hair;
A painted quiver on her fhoulder founds,
And with her dart the flying deer she wounds. 180
It chanc'd, as, eager of the chace, the maid
Beyond the foreft's verdant limits stray'd,
Pan faw and lov'd, and burning with defire
Purfu'd her flight; her flight increas'd his fire.
Not half fo fwift the trembling doves can fly,
When the fierce eagle cleaves the liquid fky;
Not half fo fwiftly the fierce eagle moves,
When through the clouds he drives the trembling
doves;

As from the god fhe flew with furious pace,
Or as the god, more furious, urg'd the chace. 190
Now fainting, finking, pale, the nymph appears;
Now close behind, his founding steps the hears;
And now his fhadow reach'd her as the run,
His fhadow lengthen'd by the setting fun;
And now his fhorter breath, with fultry air,
Pants on her neck, and fans her parting hair.
In vain on father Thames fhe calls for aid,
Nor could Diana help her injur'd maid.
Faint, breathlefs, thus fhe pray'd, nor pray'd im
vain;

"Ah, Cynthia! ah-though banish'd from thy "train,

200

"Let me, O let me, to the shades repair,
"My native fhades!-there weep and murmur
"there!"

She faid, and, melting as in tears she lay,
In a foft filver ftream diffolv'd away.
The filver ftream her virgin coldness keeps,
For ever murmurs, and for ever weeps;
Still bears the name the hapless virgin bore,
And bathes the foreft where the rang'd before.
In her chafte current oft the goddess laves,
And with celeftial tears augments the waves. 210
Oft in her glass the mufing fhepherd spies
The headlong mountains and the downward fkies,
The watery landskip of the pendant woods,
And abfent trees that tremble in the floods;
In the clear azure gleam the flocks are feen,
And floating forefts paint the waves with green;
Through the fair scene roll flow the lingering
ftreams,

Then foaming pour along, and rush unto the
Thames.

Thou, too, great father of the British floods!
With joyful pride furvey'ft our lofty woods; 240
Where towering oaks their growing honours rear,
And future navies on thy fhores appear.
Not Neptune's felf from all her ftreams receives
A wealthier tribute, than to thine he gives.
No feas fo rich, fo gay no banks appear,
No lake fo gentle, and no fpring fo clear.
Nor Po fo fwells the fabling poet's lays,
While led along the fkies his current strays,
As thine, which vifits Windfor's fam'd abodes,
To grace the mansion of our earthly gods:
Nor all his ftars above a luftre show,
Like the bright beauties on thy banks below;

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