From Jeffe's root behold a branch arife,

Whofe facred flow'r with fragrance fills the skies: 10
Th'Etherial spirit o'er its leaves fhall move,
And on its top defcends the myftic Dove.
Yeb heav'ns! from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in foft filence shed the kindly show'r !
The fick and weak the healing plant fhall aid, 15
From ftorms a fhelter, and from heat a fhade.

REMARK S.

VER. 13. Ye Heav'ns! from high the dewy nectar pour, And in foft filence shed the kindly show'r !] His Original fays, "Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies "pour down righteoufnefs: let the earth open, and let them bring forth falvation, and let righteoufnefs fpring up together."---This is a very noble defcription of divine grace shed abroad in the hearts of the faithful under the Gofpel difpenfation. And the poet understood all its force, as appears from the two lines preceding these,--Th' Ethereal Spirit, etc. The prophet describes this under the image of rain, which chiefly fits the firft age of the Gofpel: The poet, under the idea of dew, which extends it to every age. And it was his purpose it should be fo underflood, as appears from his expreffion of foft filence, which agrees with the common, not the extraordinary effufions of the Holy Spirit. The figurative term is wonderfully happy. He who would moralize the ancient Mythology in the manner of Bacon, would fay, that by the poetical nectar, is meant theological grace.

VER. 17. Ancient fraud] i. e. the fraud of the Serpent.

IMITATIONS.

"Peace: of the increase of his government, and of his peace, there fhall be no end: Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order and to stablish it, "with judgment, and with justice, for ever and ever." P.

a Ifai. xi. ver. 1. b Ch. xlv. ver. 8. Ch. xxv. ver.4.

All crimes fhall ceafe, and ancient fraud fhall fail; Returning Justice lift aloft her scale;

d

Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,

And white-rob'd Innocence from heav'n defcend. 20
Swift fly the years, and rife th' expected morn!
Oh spring to light, aufpicious Babe, be born!
See Nature haftes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incenfe of the breathing spring:
See lofty Lebanon his head advance,
See nodding forefts on the mountains dance :
See fpicy clouds from lowly Saron rife,
And Carmel's flow'ry top perfumes the skies!
Hark! a glad voice the lonely defert cheers;
Prepare the way! a God, a God appears:

f

IMITATIONS.

VER. 23. See Nature hafte, etc.]
VIRG. Ecl. iv. ver. 18.

At tibi prima, puer, nullo munúfcula cultu,
Errantes hederas paffim cum baccare tellus,
Mixtaque ridenti colocafia fundet acantho-
Ipfa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores.

25

30

"For thee, O Child, fhall the earth, without being "tilled, produce her early offerings, winding ivy, mixed "with Baccar, and Colocafia with fmiling Acanthus. Thy "cradle fhall pour forth pleafing flowers about thee."

ISAIAH, Ch. xxxv. ver. 1. "The wilderness and the folitary place shall be glad, and the defert fhall rejoice "and bloffom as the rofe." Ch lx. ver. 13. "The

glory of Lebanon fhall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the "pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place "of thy fanctuary." P.

VER.

R. 29. Hark a glad Voice, etc.] VIRG. Ecl. iv. ver. 46.

Aggredere ô magnos, aderit jam

a Ch. ix. ver. 7. e Ch, xxxv. ver. 2.

tempus, honores.

f Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4.

A God, a God! the vocal hills reply,
The rocks proclaim th' approaching Deity.
Lo, earth receives him from the bending fkies!
Sink down, ye mountains, and, ye valleys, rife;
With heads declin'd, ye cedars, homage pay;
Be finooth, ye rocks; ye rapid floods, give way!
The Saviour comes! by ancient bards foretold :
Hear him, ye deaf, and, all ye blind, behold!
He from thick films fhall purge the vifual ray,
And on the fightless eye-ball pour the day:

REMARKS.

35

40

VER.139. He from thick films shall purge the visual ray,] The fenfe and language fhew, that by vifual ray, the poet meant the fight, or, as Milton calls it, indeed, fomething lefs boldly, the vifual nerve. And no critic would quarrel with the figure which calls the inftrument of vifion by

IMITATIONS.

Cara deûm foboles, magnum Jovis incrementum---
Ipfi lætitia voces ad fydera jactant

Intonfi montes, ipfæ jam carmina rupes,

Ipfa fonant arbufta, Deus, deus ille Menalca!

Ecl. v. ver. 62. "Oh come and receive the mighty honours: the time ❝ draws nigh, O beloved offspring of the Gods, O great "encrease of Jove! The uncultivated mountains fend "fhouts of joy to the ftars, the very rocks, fing in verse, "the very fhrubs 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 ftrait in the defert a high way for our "God! Every valley fhall be exalted, and every moun"tain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall "be made ftrait, and the rough places plain." Ch. iv. ver. 23. "Break forth into finging, ye mountains! O "forest, and every tree therein ! for the Lord hath re"deemed Ifrael." P.

Ch. xliii. ver. 18. Ch. xxxv. ver. 5, 6.

I

'Tis he th' obftructed paths of found shall clear,
And bid new mufic charm th' unfolding ear:
The dumb fhall fing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting like the bounding roe.

No figh, no murmur the wide world shall hear, 45 From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear,

In hadamantine chains shall death be bound,

And Hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.

i

As the good fhepherd tends his fleecy care,

Seeks fresheft pafture and the pureft air,
Explores the loft, the wand'ring fheep directs,
By day o'erfees them, and by night protects,
The tender lambs he raises in his arms,
Feeds from his hand, and in his bofom warms;
Thus fhall mankind his guardian care engage,
The promis'd father of the future age.
No more fhall 'nation against nation rise,
Nor ardent warriours meet with hateful eyes,

REMARKS.

50

55

the name of the cause. But tho' the term be juft, nay noble, and even fublime, yet the expreffion 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, namely a ray of light coming to the eye. He should have faid thick clouds, which would have agreed with both. But these inaccuracies are not to be found in his later poems.

b Ch. xxv. ver. 8. Ch. xl. ver. 11. k Ch, ix. ver. 6. Ch. ii. ver. 4.

VOL. I.

F

Nor fields with gleaming fteel be cover'd o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But ufelefs lances into fcythes fhall bend,
And the broad faulchion in a plow-fhare end,
Then palaces fhall rife; the joyful TM Son
Shall finish what his fhort-liv'd Sire begun ;
Their vines a fhadow to their race fhall yield,

m

And the fame hand that fow'd, fhall reap the field,
The swain in barren" deferts with furprize

See lilies fpring, and fudden verdure rife ;

60

65

And ftarts, amidst the thirsty wilds to hear
New falls of water murm'ring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,
The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods.

о

Wafte fandy valleys, once perplex'd with thorn,
The spiry fir and shapely box adorn;

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

IMITATIONS.

༡༠

75

VER. 67. The fwain in barren deferts] Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 28.
Molli paulatim flavefcet campus arista,
Incultifque rubens pendebit fentibus uva,
Et duræ quercus fudabunt rofcida mella.

and

"The fields fhall grow yellow with ripen'd ears, "the red grape fhall hang upon the wild brambles, and "the hard oaks fhall diftil honey like dew."

ISAIAH, Ch. xxxv. ver. 7. "The parched ground "fhall become a pool, and the thirfty land fprings of water: In the habitation where dragons lay, fhall be grafs, and reeds and rufhes." Ch. lv. ver 13. "In"fead of the thorn fhall come up the fir-tree, and instead "of the briar fhall come up the myrtle tree.' P.

66

"

m Ch. lxv. ver. 21, 22. " Ch. xxxv. ver. 1, 7. • Ch. xli. ver. 19. and Ch. Iv. ver. 13.