See Nature hastes her earliest wreathes to bring 6, IMITATIONS. 6 Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 18. ̧ At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu, For thee, O child, shall the earth, without being tilled, produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with baccar, and colocasia, with smiling acanthus. Thy cradle shall pour forth pleasing flowers, about thee.' Isaiah, ch. xxxv. ver. 1. The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.'-Ch. lx. ver. 13: The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of thy sanctuary.' 7 Chap. xxxv. ver. 2. 8 Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 46. Aggredere O maguos, aderit jam tempus, honores, Intonsi montes, ipsæ jam carmina rupes, Ecl. v. ver. 62. 'O come and receive the mighty honours: the time draws nigh, beloved offspring of the Gods, O great increase of Jove! The uncultivated mountains send shouts of joy to the stars, the very rocks sing in verse, the very shrubs cry out, A God, a God!' Isaiah, chap. xl. ver. 3, 4. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! make straight A God, a God! the vocal hills reply; 12 IMITATIONS. in the desert a high way for our God! Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and fill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.' Chap. iv. ver. 23: Break forth into singing, ye mountains. tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed 9 Isa. xl. ver. 3, 4. O forest, and every 10 Ch. xliii. ver. 18. ver, 8. Ch. xxxv. ver. 5, 6. 12 Ch. xl. ver. 11. 11 Ch. XXV. 13 Ch. ix, ver. 6. No more shall 14 nation against nation rise, Sees lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise 17; 14 Isa. ii. ver. 4. 16 Ch. xxxv. ver. 1. 7. 15 Ch. lxv. ver. 21, 22. IMITATIONS. 17 Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 28. Molli paulatim flavescet campus arista, Et duræ quercus sudabunt roscida mella. The fields shall grow yellow with ripened ears, and the red grape shall hang upon the wild brambles, and the hard oaks shall distil honey like dew.' Isaiah, chap. xxxv. ver. 7. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty lands springs of water in the habitation where dragons lay, shall be grass, and reeds, and rushes. Chap. lv. ver. 13: Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree:' 18 Ch. xli. ver. 19. and Ch. Iv. ver. 13. To leafless shrubs the flowering palmis succeed, 19 Jsa. xi, ver. 6, 7, 8. IMITATIONS. Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 21. 1psæ lacte domum referent distenta capellæ Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneni Occidet. The goats shall bear to the fold their udders distended with milk: nor shall the herds be afraid of the greatest lions. The serpent shall die, and the herb that conceals poison shall die.' Isaiah, chap. xi. ver. 16, &c. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall 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 straw like the ox. And the sucking child play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the den of the cockatrice.' 21 Ch. lxv. ver. 25. 22 Ch. Ix. ver. 1. 23 The thoughts of Isaiah, which compose the latter part of the poem, are wonderfully elevated, and much above those general exclamations of Virgil, which make the loftiest parts of bis Pollio. Magnus ab integro sæclorum nascitur ordo! -toto surget gens aurea mundo! -incipient magni procedere menses ! Adspice, venturo lætentur ut omnia sæcio! &c. The reader needs only to turn to the passages of Isaiah here cited. See a long race 24 thy spacious courts adorn; And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow. The seas 24 Isa. Ix. ver. 4. 26 Ch. Ix. ver. 6. 25 Ch. lx. ver. 3. 27 Ch. lx. ver. 19, 20. 28 Ch. li. ver. 6, and Ch. liv. ver. 10. |