From Jesse's root behold a branch arise, Whose sacred flower with fragrance fills the skies: 6 2 Isaiah, ch. xi. ver. 1. 4 Ch. xxv. ver. 4. 6 Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 18. IMITATIONS. 8 Ch. xlv. ver. 8. At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu, Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores. '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 my sanctuary.' With all the incense of the breathing spring: IMITATIONS. 7 Isaiah, ch. xxxv. ver. 2. 8 Virg. Eccl. iv. ver. 46. A Aggredere ô magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores, Ipsi lætitia voces ad sidera jactant Intonsi montes, ipsæ jam carmina rupes, Ipsa sonant arbusta, Deus, deus ille Menalca! Ecl. v. ver. 62. '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, chap. 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 high way 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.' Chap. iv. ver. 23. 'Break forth into singing, ye mountains! O forest, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed Israel.' 9 Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. purge Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies! Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms; IMITATIONS. 1 Isaiah, ch. xliii. ver. 18. Ch. xxxv. ver. 5, 6. 2 Ch. xxv. ver. 8. 8 Ch. xl. ver. 11. 4 Ch. ix. ver. 6. No more shall5 nation against nation rise, 8 5 Isaiah, ch. ii. ver. 4. 6 Ch. lxv. ver. 21, 22. 7 Ch. xxxv. ver. 1, 7. IMITATIONS. 8 Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 28. Molli paulatim flavescet campus arista, '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.' On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes, The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods. 9 Waste sandy valleys, once perplex'd with thorn, The spiry fir and shapely box adorn; To leafless shrubs the flowering palms succeed, And odorous myrtle to the noisome weed. The lambs1 with wolves shall graze the verdant mead, And boys in flowery bands the tiger lead;2 3 And harmless serpents lick the pilgrim's feet; IMITATIONS. 9 Isaiah, ch. xli. ver. 19, and ch. lv. ver. 13. 1 Ch. xi. ver. 6, 7, 8. 2 Virg. Ecl. iv. ver. 21. Ipsæ lacte domum referent distenta capellæ 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 shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the den of the cockatrice.' 8 Ch. lxv. ver. 25. |