On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,

The green reed trembles, and the bulrufh nods.
Waste fandy 14 vallies, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry firr and shapely box adorn;

To leaflefs fhrubs the flow'ring palms fucceed,
And od❜rous myrtle to the noifome weed.

The lambs with wolves fhall graze the verdant mead,
And boys in flow'ry bands the Tyger lead;

The steer and lion at one crib fhall meet,

And harmless 16 ferpents lick the pilgrim's feet.
The fmiling infant in his hand fhall take
The crested Bafilisk and fpeckled fnake ;
Pleas'd the green luftre of the scales furvey,
Andwith their forkytongue and pointlesssting shall play.
Rife, crown'd with light, imperial "Salem rife!
Exalt thy tow'ry head, and lift thy eyes!
See, a long 18 race thy fpacious courts adorn;
See future fons, and daughters yet unborn,
In crouding ranks on ev'ry fide arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!

See barb'rous 19 nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy Temple bend ;
See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate Kings,
And heap'd with products of 20 Sabaan springs !
For thee Idume's fpicy forests blow,

And feeds of gold in Ophyr's mountains glow.
See heav'n its fparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day!
No more the rifing'" Sun fhall gild the morn,
Nor ev'ning Cynthia fill her filver horn,
But loft, diffolv'd in thy fuperior rays,

One Tyde of glory, one unclouded blaze
O'erflow thy courts: The Light himself fhall fhine
Reveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine!

The feas fhall wafte, the skies in smoke decay,
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his faving pow'r remains;
Thy Realm for ever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns!

I

ADVERTISEMENT.

N reading several paffages of the Prophet Isaiah, which foretell the coming of Christ 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 seem surprizing when we reflect, that the Eclogue was taken from a Sybilline prophecy on the same fubject. One may judge that Virgil did not copy it line by line, but selected fuch Ideas as beft agreed with the nature of paftoral poetry, and difpofed them in that manner which serv'd most to beautify his piece. I have endeavour'd the fame in this imitation of him, tho' 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 defcriptions 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 passages of Ifaiah, and thofe of Virgil, under the fame difadvantage of a literal translation.

AVirgin fhall conceive---All crimes shall cease, &c.

VIRG. E. 4. V. 6. Jam redit & Virgo, redeunt Saturnia
Jam nova progenies cælo demittitur alto----
Te duce, fi qua manent fceleris veftigia nostri,
Irrita perpetua folvent formidine terras----
Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem.

regna,

Now the Virgin returns, now the kingdom of Saturn returns, now a new Progeny is fent down from high heaven. By means of thee, whatever reliques of our crimes remain, shall be wip'd

41

away, and free the world from perpetual fears. He fall govern the earth in peace, with the virtues of his Father.

ISAIAH, Ch. 7. V. 14. Behold a Virgin fhall conceive, and bear a Son---Ch. 9. V. 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 shall be no end: Upon the Throne of David, and upon his Kingdom, to order and to stablifh it, with judgment, and with justice, for ever and ever.

See Nature haftes, &c.

VIRG. E. 4. V. 18. At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu,
Errantes hedæras paffim cum baccare tellus,
Mixtaque ridenti colocafia fundet acantho----
Ipfa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores.

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

I.

ISAIAH, Ch. 35. V.1. The wilderness and the folitary place Shall be glad, and the defert fhall rejoice and bloffom as the rofe. Ch. 60. V. 13. The glory of Lebanon fhall come unto thee, the firr-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of thy Sanctuary.

Hark! a glad Voice, &c.

VIR.E.4.V.46.Aggredere ô magnos, aderit jam tempus,honores, Cara deum foboles, magnum Jovis incrementum---Ipfi lætitia voces ad fydera jactant

Intonfi montes, ipfæ jam carmina rupes,

Ipfa fonant arbustà, Deus, deus ille Menalca! E.5. V. 62. Oh come and receive the mighty honours: The time draws nigh, O beloved offspring of the Gods, O great encreafe of Jove! The uncultivated mountains fend fhouts of joy to the ftars, the very rocks fing in verfe, the very shrubs cry out, A God, a God! ISAIAH, Ch. 40. V. 3, 4. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! make strait in the defert

4

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 ftrait, and the rough places plain. Ch. 4. V. 23. Break forth into finging, ye mountains! O foreft, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed Ifrael.

The Swain in barren deferts, &c.

VIRG. E. 4. V. 28. Molli paulatim flavefcet campus arista, Incultifque rubens pendebit fentibus uva.

Et duræ quercus fudabunt roscida mella.

The field fhall grow yellow with ripen'd ears, and the red grape fhall hang upon the wild brambles, and the hard Oaks Shall diftill honey like dew.

ISAIAH, Ch. 35. V.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.55. V. 13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the firr-tree, and instead of the briar fhall come up the myrtle-tree.

The lambs with wolves, &c.

VIRG. E. 4. V. 21. Ipfæ lacte domum referent diftenta capella Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones---Occidet & ferpens, & 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 serpent shall die, and the herb that conceals poison shall die.

ISAIAH, Ch. 11. V. 16, &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 Shall lead them---And the lion shall 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.