Where peace defcending bids, her olives spring,
And scatters bleffings from her dove-like wing.
Ev'n I more sweetly pafs my careless, days,
Pleas'd in the filent fhade with empty praife;.
Enough for me, that to the lift'ning fwains
First in these fields I fung the fylvan strains.
E nymphs of Solyma! begin the fong:
To heav'nly themes fublimer ftrains be
The moffy fountains and the sylvan fhades,
The dreams of Pindus and th' Aonian maids,
Delight no more.
Who touch'd Ifaiah's hallow'd lips with fire!
-O thou my voice inspire,
Rapt into future times, the bard begun,
A Virgin fhall conceive, a Virgin bear a Son!
From Jeffe's root behold a branch arise,
Whofe facred flow'r with fragrance fills the fkies.
Th' ætherial fpirit o'er its leaves fhall move,
And on its top defcends the mystick dove.
Yeb heav'ns! from high the dewy nector pour,
And in foft filence fhed the kindly show'r!
The fick and weak the healing plant shall aid,
From storms a fhelter, and from heat a fhade.
All crimes fhall cease, and ancient fraud fhall fail,
Returning & Juftice lift aloft her scale;
Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,
And white-rob'd innocence from heav'n defcend.
Swift fly the years, and rife th' expected morn!
Oh fpring to light, auspicious Babe, be born;
See nature haftes her earliest wreaths to bring,
With all the incenfe of the breathing fpring;
See lofty e 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 defart chears,
Prepare the f way; a God, a God appears;
A God, a God! the vocal hills reply,
The rocks proclaim the approaching Deity.
Lo earth receives him from the bending fkies!
Sink down ye mountains, and ye vallies rife:
With heads declin'd, ye cedars, homage pay;
Be fmooth, ye rocks, ye rapid floods give way!
The Saviour comes! by ancient bards foretold!
Hears him ye deaf, and all ye blind behold!
He from thick films fhall purge the visual ray,
And on the fightless eye-ball pour the day:
'Tis he th' obftructed paths of found fhall clear,
And bid new mufick charm th' unfolding ear.
The dumb fhall fing, the lame his crutch forego,
And leap exulting like the bounding roe.
No fight, no murmur the wide world fhall hear,
From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear.
In hadamantine chains fhall death be bound,
And hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good ifhepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pasture and the purest air,
Explores the loft, the wandring fheep directs,
By day o'erfees them, and by night protects;
8 Cap. xlii. . 18. Cap. xxxv. 4.5, 6. Cap. xxv. §. & Cap. xl. . 11..
The tender lambs he raifes in his arms,
Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom 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 warriors meet with hateful eyes,
Nor fields with gleaming fteel be cover'd o'er,
The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
But ufelefs llances into fcythes fhall bend,
And the broad faulchion in a plow-fhare end.
Then palaces fhall rife; the joyful m fon
Shall finish what his fhort-liv'd fire begun;
Their vines a fhadow to their race shall yield,
And the fame hand that fow'd fhall reap the field.
The fwain in barrenn defarts with furprize
See lillies fpring, and fudden verdure rife,
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 bulrufh nods.
Waste fandy o vallies, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry firr and fhapely box adorn;
|