To exercise him in the wilderness,
There fhall he first lay down the rudiments
Of his great warfare, ere I fend him forth
Το
Sin and Death, the two grand foes,
By humiliation and strong fufferance:
His weakness fhall o'ercome Satanic strength,
And all the world, and mass of finful flesh;
That all the Angels and ethereal Powers,
They now,
and men hereafter may difcern,
From what confummate virtue I have chofe
This perfect man, by merit call'd my Son,
To earn falvation for the fons of men.
So fpake th' eternal Father, and all Heaven
Admiring flood a space, then into hymns
Burft forth, and in celestial measures mov'd,
Circling the throne and finging, while the hand
Sung with the voice, and this the argument.
Victory' and triumph to the Son of God Now entring his great duel, not of arms, But to vanquish by wifdom hellish wiles.
The Father knows the Son; therefore fecure
Ventures his filial virtue, though untry'd,
Against whate'er may tempt, whate'er feduce,
Allure, or terrify, or undermine.
Be frustrate all ye ftratagems of Hell,
And devilish machinations come to nought.
So they in Heav'n their odes and vigils tun'd:
Meanwhile the Son of God, who yet fome days
Lodg'd in Bethabara, where John baptiz'd,"
Mufing and much revolving in his breast,
How beft the mighty work he might begin
Of Saviour to mankind, and which way first
Publish his God-like office now mature,
One day forth walk'd alone, the Spirit leading,
And his deep thoughts, the better to converse
With folitude, till far from track of men,
Thought following thought, and ftep by step led on,
He enter'd now the bord'ring defert-wild,
And with dark fhades and rocks environ'd round,
His holy meditations thus purfu'd.
O what a multitude of thoughts at once
Awaken'd in me fwarm, while I confider
What from within I feel myself, and hear
What from without comes often to my ears,
Ill-forting with my prefent ftate compar'd!
When I was yet a child, no childish play
To me was pleasing; all my mind was fet
Serious to learn and know, and thence to do
What might be public good; myself I thought
Born to that end, born to promote all truth,
All righteous things: therefore above my years
The law of God I read, and found it sweet,
Made it my whole delight, and in it grew
To fuch perfection, that, ere yet my age
Had meafur'd twice fix years, at our great feaft
I went into the temple, there to hear
The teachers of our law, and to propose
What might improve my knowledge or their own
And was admir'd by all: yet this not all,
To which my spi'rit aspir'd; victorious deeds
Flam'd in my heart, heroic acts, one while
To rescue Ifrael from the Roman yoke,
Then to fubdue and quell o'er all the earth
Brute-violence and proud tyrannic power,
B 4 Hay
Till truth were freed, and equity restor❜d:
Yet held it more humane more heav'nly first
By winning words to conquer willing hearts,
And make perfuafion do the work of fear;
At least to try, and teach the erring foul
Not wilfully mif-doing, but unware
Mifled; the ftubborn only to fubdue.
These growing thoughts my mother foon perceiving
By words at times caft forth inly rejoic'd,
And faid to me apart, High are thy thoughts,
O Son, but nourish them and let them foar
To what highth facred virtue and true worth
Can raise them, though above example high;
By matchlefs deeds exprefs thy matchless Sire.
For know, thou art no fon of mortal man;
Though men efteem thee low of parentage,
Thy father is th' eternal King,who rules
All Heav'n and Earth, Angels and Sons of men ;
A meffenger from God foretold thy birth
Conceiv'd in me a virgin, he foretold
Thou should'st be great and fit on David's throne, 240 And of thy kingdom there fhould be no end.
At thy nativity a glorious quire
Of Angels in the fields of Bethlehem fung
To fhepherds watching at their folds by night,
And told them the Messiah now was born,
Where they might fee him, and to thee they came,
Directed to the manger, where thou lay'ft,
For in the inn was left no better room:
A ftar, not feen before, in Heav'n appearing
Guided the wife men thither from the east,
To honor thee with incenfe, myrrh, and gold,
By whofe bright courfe led on they found the place,
Affirming it thy ftar new-grav'n in Heaven,
By which they knew the king of Ifrael born.
Juft Simeon and prophetic Anna, warn'd
By vifion, found thee in the temple, and spake
Before the altar and the vested priest,
Like things of thee to all, that present stood.
This having heard, ftrait I again revolv'd
The law and prophets, fearching what was writ
Concerning the Meffiah, to our fcribes
Known partly, and foon found of whom they fpake
I am; this chiefly, that my way must lie
Through many a hard affay ev'n to the death,
Ere I the promis'd kingdom can attain,
Or work redemption for mankind, whofe fins
Full weight must be transferr'd upon my head.
Yet neither thus difhearten'd or dismay'd,
The time prefix'd I waited, when behold
The Baptift (of whofe birth I oft had heard,
Not knew by fight) now come, who was to come
Before Meffiah and his way prepare.
I as all others to his baptifm came,
Which I believ'd was from above; but he
Strait knew me, and with loudest voice proclam'd
Me him (for it was shown him fo from Heaven)
Me him, whofe harbinger he was; and first
Refus'd on me his baptifm to confer,
As much his greater, and was hardly won:
But,as I rose out of the laving ftream,
Heav'n open'd her eternal doors, from whence
The Spi'rit defcended on me like a dove,
And laft the fum of all, my Father's voice,
Audibly heard from Heav'n, pronounc'd me his,
Me his beloved Son, in whom alone
He was well pleas'd; by which I knew the time
Now full, that I no more should live obfcure,
But openly begin, as beft becomes
Th' authority, which I deriv'd from Heaven.
And now by fome ftrong motion I am led
Into this wilderness, to what intent
I learn not yet, perhaps I need not know;
For what concerns my knowledge God reveals.
So fpake our Morning Star then in his rife, And looking round on every fide beheld
A pathless defert, dusk with horrid fhades;
The way he came not having mark'd, return
Was difficult, by human fteps untrod;
And he still on was led, but with fuch thoughts
Accompanied of things past and to come
Lodg'd in his breaft, as well might recommend
Such folitude before choiceft fociety.
Full forty days he pafs'd, whether on hill
Sometimes, anon in fhady vale, each night
Under the covert of fome ancient oak,
Or cedar, to defend him from the dew,
Or harbour'd in one cave, is not reveal'd;
Nor tafted human food, nor hunger felt,
Till thofe days ended, hunger'd then at last
Among wild beafts: they at his fight grew mild, 310
Nor fleeping him nor waking harm'd, his walk
The fiery ferpent fled, and noxious worm,
The lion and fierce tiger glar'd aloof.
But now an aged man in rural weeds
Following, as feem'd, the quest of some stray ewe, 315
Or wither'd sticks to gather, which might serve
Against a winter's day, when winds blow keen,
To warm him wet return'd from field at eve,
He faw approach, who firft with curious eye
Perus'd him, then with words thus utter'd fpake. 320
|