Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, IMITATIONS. Ver. 23. See nature hastes, &c.] Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 18. At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu, .Errantes hederas passim cum baccare tellus, Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho--Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cupabula flores. For thee, O child, shall the earth, without being tilled, produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with baccar, and colocassia 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.' Ver. 29. Hark! a glad voice, &c. Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 46. Aggredere ô magnos (aderit jam tempus) honores, Cara deûm soboles, magnum Jovis incrementum--Ecl. v. ver. 62. Ipsi lætitiâ voces ad sidera jactant Intonsi montes, ipsæ jam carmina rupes, Ipsa sonant arbusta, Deus, Deus ille Menalca! (e) Ch. xxxv. ver. 2. (f) Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. A God, a God! the vocal hills reply, No sigh, no murmur, the wide world shall hear, IMITATIONS. '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 send shouts of joy to the stars; the very rocks sing in verse, the very shrubs cry out, A God, a God!' Isaiah, ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! make straight in the desert a highway for our God! Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.' Ch. xliv. ver. 23. Break forth into singing, ye mountains; O forest, therein, for the Lord hath redeemed Israel.' (g) Ch. xliii. ver. 18. Ch. xxxv. ver. 5, 6. (h) Ch. xxv. ver. 8. (i) Ch. xl. ver. 11. and every tree Explores the lost, the wandering sheep directs, Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms; IMITATIONS. Ver. 67. The swain in barren deserts] Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 28. Molli paulatim flavescet campus aristâ, Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva, 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, ch. xxxv. ver. 7. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water in the habitations where dragons lay, shall be grass, and reeds, and rushes.' Ch. lv. ver. 13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the 'myrtle-tree.' (j) Ch, ix. ver. 6. (k) Ch. ii. ver. 4. (m) Ch. xxxv. ver. 1, 7. And starts, amidst the thirsty wilds to hear To leafless shrubs the flowery palms succeed, The lambs(o)with wolves shall graze the verdant mead, IMITATIONS. Ver. 77. The lambs with wolves, &c.] Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 21. Ipsæ lacte domum referent distenta capellæ 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, ch. xi. ver. 6, &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 suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the den of the cockatrice.' (n) Ch. xli. ver. 19. and ch. lv. ver. 13. (0) Ch. xi. ver. 6, 7, 8. (p) Ch. lxv. ver. 25. C Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem (q), rise! See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate kings, And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow. O'erflow thy courts: the Light himself shall shine The seas (v) shall waste, the skies in smoke decay, Ver. 85. Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise!] 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 his Pollio. Magnus ab integro sæclorum nascitur ordo! toto surget gens aurea mundo! ---Incipient magni procedere menses! Aspice, venturo lætentur ut omnia sæclo! &c. The reader needs only to turn to the passages of Isaiah, here cited. (g) Ch. lx. ver. 1. (s) Ch. lx. ver. 3. (u) Ch. lx. ver. 19, 20. (r) Ch. Ix. ver. 4. (t) Ch. lx. ver. 6. (v) Ch. li. ver. 6. and ch. liv. ver. 10. |