A SACRED ECLOGUE In Imitation of VIRGIL'S POLLIO. VENymphs of Solyma! begin the song: To heav’nly themes sublimer strains belong: Rapt into future times, the Bard begun: Irritatumque remont returns, hent down fro L IMITATIONS. Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna; Irrita perpetua solvent formidine terras --- “ Now the Virgin returns, now the kingdom of Saturn re“ turns, now a new progeny is sent down from high heaven. By " means of thee, whatever reliques of our crimes remain, shall « be wiped away, and free the world from perpetual fears. He “ Thall govern the earth in peace, with the virtues of his Father. ISAIAH, Ch. vii. * 14. Behold a Virgin shall conceive and « bear a Son. --- Chap. ix. 6,7. Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; the Prince of Peace: of the increase of his VOL. I. F the wiped thee, wh Progeny, now this or hem From a Jelle's root behold a branch arise, IMITATIONS. “ government, and of his peace, there shall be no end: Upon «c the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order and to “ Itablish it, with judgment, and with justice, for ever and “ ever. P. REMARK S. Ver. 13. Ye Heav'ns! from hish the dewy nectar pour, And in soft silence fhed the kindly show'r! His Original says, “ Drop “ down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down “ righteousness : let the earth open, and let them bring forth “ falvation, and let righteousness spring up together."---This is a very noble description of divine grace Thed abroad in the hearts of the faithful under the Gospel dispensation. And the poet understood all its force, as appears from the two lines preceding these,--- Th' Ætherial Spirit, etc. The prophet describes this under the image of rain, which chiefly fits the firft age of the Gospel : The poet, under the idea of dew, which extends it to every age. And it was his purpose it should be so understood, as appears from his expression of soft silence, which agrees with the common, not the extraordinary effusions of the Holy Spirit. The figurative term is wonderfully happy. He who would moralize the antient Mythology in the manner of Bacon, must say, that by the ppetical nectar, is meant theological grace. VER. 17. ancient fraud.] i. e. the fraud of the Serpent alai. xi. * I. Ch. xlv. * 8. : Ch. xxv. *4. Ch. ix. * 7. Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, ; IMITATIONS. At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu, Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula Alores. « For theé, O Child, shall the earth, without being tilled, « produce her early offerings; winding ivy, inixed with Baccar, “ and Colocasia with smiling Acanthus. Íhy cradle shall pour « forth pleasing flowers about thee. ISAJAH, Ch. xxxv. x 1. " The wilderness and the solitary " place shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as " the rose.” Ch. lx. Ý 13. “ The glory of Lebanon shall come “ unto thce, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, 6 to beautify the place of thy fanctuary. P. Ver. 29. Hark, a glad Voice, etc.] Aggredere ô magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores, "Ch, xl. x 30 4. A God, a God! the vocal hills reply, IMITATIONS. Ipsa sonant arbusta, Deus, deus ille Menalca! E. v. 62. « Oh come and receive the mighty honours: the time draws “ nigh, O beloved offspring of the Gods, Ogreat encrease of “ Jove! The uncultivated mountains send shouts of joy to the “ Itars, the very rocks fing in verse, the very shrubs cry out, A “ God, a God! Isaiah, Ch. xl. x 3, 4. “ The voice of him that cryeth in “ the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! make strait « in the desert a high way for our God! Every valley shall be « exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, " and the crooked thall be made firait, and the rough places “ plain.” Ch.iv. 23. “Break forth into finging, ye mountains ! “ O forest, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed “ Ifrael. P. ' REMARKS. Ver:39. He from thick films fhall purge the visual ray,] The sense and language Thew, that, by visual ray, the poet meant the fight, or, as Milton calls it, indeed, something less boldly, the visual nerve. And no critic would quarrel with the figure which calls the instrument of vision by the name of the cause. But tho' the term bc just, nay noble, and even sublime, yet the ex *Ch. xlii, * 18. Ch. xxxv. x 5, 6. REMARKS. pression of thick films is faulty; and he fell into it by a common neglect of the following rule of good writing, “ That when a “ figurative word is used, whatsoever is predicated of it ought " not only to agree in terms to the thing to which the figure is $ applied, but likewise to that from which the figure is taken.” Thick films agree only with the thing to which it is applied, namely to the fight or eye; and not to that from which it is taken, Che xxv.ỷ 8. C. xl. * I. *Ch. ix, $ 6, 'Ch. i. * 4: |