Be fmooth, ye rocks; ye rapid floods, give way!, 40 No figh, no murmur the wide world fhall hear, 45 From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear. h In adamantine chains fhall Death be bound, Feeds from his hand, and in his bofom warms; Thus fhall mankind his guardian care engage, The promis'd father of the future age. g Ch. xlii. v 18. Ch. xxxv. V 5, 6. i Ch. xl. V II. k Ch, ix. v 6. V 21, 22. Ch. ii. v. 4. 65 h Ch. xxv. 8. Ch. Ixv. And the fame hand that fow'd, fhall reap the field. Waste fandy valleys, once perplex'd with thorn, To leaflefs fhrubs the flow'ry palms fucceed, 70 75 The lambs with wolves fhall graze the verdant mead, IMITATIONS. VER. 67. The Swain in barren deferts) Virg. E. iv, v 28. Incultisque rubens pendebit fentibus uva, Et duræ quercus fudabunt rofcida mella. ,,The. fields fhall grow yellow with ripen'd ears, and the red grape fhall hang upon the wild brambles, and the hard oaks fhall diftill honey like dew. ISAIAH, Ch. xxxv. v 7. The parched ground fhall beco,,me a pool, and the thirsty land fprings of water: In the habi,,tations where dragons lay, fhall be grafs, and reeds and rufhes." Ch. Iv. v 13. Instead of the thorn fhall come up the fir-tree, ,,and instead of the briar fhall come up the myrtle - tree. VER. 77. The lambs with wolves, etc.) Virg. E. iv. v 21. Ipfe late domum referent diftenta capellæ Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones The ,,The goats fhall bear to the fold their udders diftended with milk: nor fhall the herds be afraid of the greatest lions. ferpent fhall die, and the herb that conceals poifon fhall die. 80 And boys in flow'ry bands the tiger lead! See, a long race thy fpacious courts adorn; IMITATIONS. 90 ISAIAH, Ch. xi. v16, etc. ,,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 fatiing 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 fhall put his hand on the den of the cockatrice. VER. 85. Rife, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, 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 macke the loftieft part of his Pollio. Magnus ab integro feclorum nafcitur ordo! toto furget gens aurea mundo! incipient magni procedere menses! - Afpice, venturo lætentur ut omnia fæclo!. etc. The reader needs only to turn to the paffages of Ifaiah, here cited. q Ch. Ixv. v 25. Ch. Ix. v 3. r Ch. lx. v I. Ch. ix. v 6. Ch. ix. v. 4. For thee Idume's spicy forests blow, And feeds of gold in Orphir's mountains glow. One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze O'erflow thy courts: the Light himself shall shine 95 100 The feas fhall wafte, the fkies in fmoke decay, 105 w Ch. lx. v 19, 20. |