·

Believe my oath; (with that an oath he swore) Falfe was this oath; my beauty is no more! Ceafe, hapless maid, no more thy tale purfue, Forfake mankind, and bid the world adieu! • Monarchs and beauties rule with equal sway; • All strive to ferve, and glory to obey : • Alike unpitied when depos'd they grow, . Men mock the idol of their former vow.

Adieu! ye parks !—in some obscure recefs, Where gentle streams will weep at my distress, • Where no false friend will in my grief take part, • And mourn my ruin with a joyful heart; • There let me live in fome deferted place, There hide in fhades this loft inglorious face. Ye operas, circles, I no more muft view !

·

My toilette, patches, all the world adieu !

an

We have given the rules usually laid down for pastoral writing, and exhibited fome examples which were written this plan; but we muft beg leave to observe, that this poem may fometimes partake of more dignity, and afpire even to the fublime, without deviating from nature and right reason. The fublime which arises from tumults, wars, and what are (too often falfely called great actions, the Paftoral abhors; but that which is blended with the tender and pathetic may be introduced with propriety and elegance. And, indeed, if we confider that the first shepherds were many of them princes (for that Abraham, Mofes, and David, were fuch, we have the teftimony of the fcriptures) it will seem somewhat extraordinary that fuch pains should have been taken to exclude the fublime from pastoral writing; and we shall be inclined to admit Virgil's Pollio, the Song of Solomon, and Pope's Meffiab, as Paftorals, 'till better reafons are offered to the contrary than have yet appeared; for the true characteristic of Paftoral, and what diftinguishes it from other writings, is its fole confinement to rural affairs, and and if this be observed it can lofe nothing of its nature by any elevation of fentiment or diction.

As an example of the more dignified and fublime fort of Paftoral, we fhall give the young ftudent Pope's MESSIAH, which was written in imitation of Virgil's POLLIO, together with the tranflations he has added from Isaiah, and Virgil, that the reader may fee what ufe both poets have made of the fentiments and diction of the prophet.

MESSIAH. A facred Eclogue. In Imitation of VIRGIL'S POLLIO; which is fuppofed to have been taken, in part, froin a fibyliine prophecy that foretold the coming of Chrift.

I

Ye nymphs of Solyma! begin the song;
To heav'nly themes fublimer ftrains belong.
The moffy fountains, and the fylvan fhades,
The dreams of Pindus and th' Aonian maids,
Delight no more-
-O thou my voice infpire
Who touch'd Ifaiah's hallow'd lips with fire!
Rapt into future times, the bard begun,
A virgin fhall conceive, a virgin bear a fon
From Feffe root behold a branch arife,
Whofe facred flow'r with fragrance fills the skies.
Th' ætherial fpirit o'er its leaves fhall move,
And on its top defcends the mystic dove.
Ye heav'ns! from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in foft filence fhed the kindly show'r!
The 3 fick and weak the healing plant fhall aid,
From storms a fhelter, and from heat a fhade.
All crimes fhall ceafe, and ancient fraud fhall fail
Returning 4 juftice lift aloft her fcale;
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, aufpicious babe, be born!

Ver. 8. A virgin fhall conceive-All crimes fhall cease, &c.]
Virg. E. 4 v. 6. Jam redit & Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna;
Jam nova progenies cœlo demittitur alto.
Te duce, fi qua manent fceleris veftigia noftri,
Irrita perpetua folvent formidine terras--
Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem.

1 Ifaiah, chap. xi. ver. 1. 3 Ch. xxv. ver. 4.

2 Ch. xlv. ver. 8,

Now the virgin returns, now the kingdom of Saturn returns, now a new Progeny is fent down from high heaven. By means of thee, whatever reliques of our crimes remain, fhall be wiped away, and free the world from perpetual fears. He shall govern the earth in peace, with the virtues of bis father.

Ifaiah, chap. vii. ver. 14. Behold a virgin fhall conceive, and bear a Jon-Chap. ix. ver. 6, 7. Unto us a child is born, unto us a fon is given; the prince of peace: of the increase of his government, and of bis peace, there fhall be no end: upon the throne of David, and upon bis, kingdom, to order and to establish it, with judgment, and with justice, for

ever and ever.

4 Ch. ix, ver. 7...

See nature haftes her earlieft wreaths to bring,
With all the incense of the breathing fpring:
See 5 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 desart chears;
Prepare the way! a God, a God appears:
A God, a God! the vocal hills reply,
The rocks proclaim th' approaching deity.
Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies!
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 :
Hear 7 him ye deaf, and all ye blind behold!

6

;

Ver 23. See nature haftes, &c.] Virg. E. 4. v. 18.

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

Ver. 29. Hark! a glad voice, &c.] Virg. E. 4. v. 46.

For thee, O child, fhall the earth without being tilled, produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with baccar, and colocafia with Smiling acanthus. Thy cradle fhall pour forth pleafing flowers about thee.

Aggredere o magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores.
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!

25

Ifaiah, chap. xxxv. ver. 1. The wilderness and the folitary place hall be glad, and the defert fhall rejoice and bloffom as the rofe. Chap. Ix. 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.

30

6 Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4.

35

5 Ch. xxxv. ver. 2.

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

E. 5. ver. 62.

O come and receive the mighty honours: the time draws nigh, O beloved ffspring of the Gods, O great encrease of Jove! The uncultivated mountains fend fhouts of joy to the ftars, the very rocks fing in verfe, the very fhrubs cry out, A God, a God!

Ifaiah, ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. The voice of him that cricth in the wilder

nefs, prepare ye the way of the Lord! make ftrait in the defart a high way for our God! every valley fhall be exalted, and every mountain and bill fhall be made low, and the crooked fhall be made ftrait, and the the rough places plain. Chap. iv. ver. 23. Break forth into finging, ye mountains! O foreft, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed

Ifrael,

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 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,
From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear.
In

9

II

adamantine chains fhall death be bound,
And Hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good fhepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seeks freshest pasture and the pureft air,
Explores the loft, the wand'ring sheep directs,
By day o'er fees them, and by night protects,
The tender lambs he raifes in his arms,
Feeds from his hand, and in his bofom warms;
Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage,
The promis'd 10 father of the future age.
No more shall nation against nation rise,
Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes.
Nor fields with gleaming steel 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 plowshare end.
Then palaces fhall rife; the joyful 12 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 barren 13 deferts with furprize
See lillies fpring, and sudden verdure rise;

40

Ch. xl. ver. II.

45

9
II Ch. ii. ver. 4.

50

55

60

Ver. 67. The fwain in barren defarts, &c.]

Virg. E. 4. ver. 28. Molli paulatim flavefcit campus arista,
Incultifque rubens pendebit fentibus uva,
Et duræ quercus fudabunt rofcida mella.

The fields fhall grow yellow with ripen'd ears, and the red grape fhait bang upon the wild brambles, and the hard oaks fhall diftill boney like.

derv.

65.

Ifaiah, ch. xxxv. ver. . The parched ground fhall become a pool, and the thirty land fprings of water: In the habitations where dragons lay, fhall be grafs, and reeds, and rushes. Ch. lv. ver. 13. Inftead of the thorn fhall come up the fir tree, and inftead of the briar fhall come up the myrtle-tree.

8. Ch. xxv. ver. 8. ver. 6. 13 Ch. xxxv. ver. 1, 7.

10 Ch. ix. 12 Ch, lxv. ver. 21, 22.

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.
Waste fandy 14 vallies, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry fir and fhapely box adorn;
The leaflefs fhrubs the flow'ry palms fucceed,
And od❜rous myrtle to the noifom weed.

The 15 lambs with wolves fhall graze the verdant mead,
And boys in flow'ry bands the tyger lead!
The fteer and lion at one crib shall meet

And harmless 16 ferpents lick the pilgrim's feet.
The fmiling infant in his hand shall take
The crefted bafilifk and fpeckled fnake,
Pleas'd the green luftre of the scales furvey,
And with their forked tongue fhall innocently play.
Rife, crown'd with light, imperial 17 Salem rife!
Exalt thy tow'ry head, and lift thy eyes!
See, a long race thy fpacious courts adorn;
See future fons, and daughters yet unborn,

18

70

Ver. 77. The lambs with wolves, &c.]

Virg. E. 4. v. 21. Ipfæ lacte domum referent diftenta capellæ
Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones----
Occidet & ferpens, et fallax herba veneni

Occidet

Magnus ab integro fæclorum nafcitur ordo !
toto furget gens aurea mundo !
incipient magni procedere menfes !
Afpice, venturo lætentur ut omnia fæclo! &c.

The reader need only turn to the paffages of Isaiah, here cited.

14 Ch. xli. ver. 19. and Ch. lv. ver. 13.

16 Ch. lxv. ver. 25.

75

The goats fhall bear to the fold their udders diftended with milk: nor fall the herds be afraid of the greatest lions. The ferpent shall die, and the herb that conceals poifon fhall die.

17 Ch. lx. ver. 1,

80

Ifaiah, ch. xi. ver. 16, &c. The wolf ball dwell with the lamb, and the leopard fhall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child fhall lead them And the lion fhall eat fraw like the ox. And the fucking child shall play on the bole of the afp, and the weaned child fhall put his hand on the den of the cockatrice.

85

Ver. 85. Rife, crown'd with light, &c.]

The thoughts of Ifaiab, which compofe the latter part of the poem, are wonderfully elevated, and much above chofe general exclamations of Virgil, which makes the loftieft parts of his Pollio.

15 Ch. xi. ver. 6, 7, 8,

18 Ch. lx, ver, 4