To heavenly themes fublimer ftrains belong. The mofly fountains and the fylvan fhades, The dreams of Pindus and th' Aonian maids, Delight no more-0 thou my voice infpire Who touch'd Ifaiah's hallow'd lips with fire!

15

Rapt into future times, the Bard begun : A Virgin that conceive, a Virgin bear a Son! From Jeffe's root behold a branch arife, Whofe facred flower with fragrance fills the skies: Th' Ath real fpirit o'er its leaves shall move, And on its top defcends the mystic Dove. Ye Heavens! from high the dewy nectar pour, And in foft flence fhed the kindly shower! The fick and weak the healing plant fhall aid, From forms a fhelter, and from heat a fhade. All crimes fhall ceafe, and ancient frauds fhall fail; Returning Juftice lift aloft her scale; Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend, And white-rob'd Innocence from heaven defcend. Swift fly the years, and rife th' expected morn! Oh fpring to light, aufpicious Babe, be born! See, Nature hates her earlieft 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 flowery top perfumes the kics!

25

30

Hark! a glad voice the lonely defert 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 fkies!
Sink down, ye mountains; and ye vallies, rife;
With heads declin'd, ye cedars, homage pay; 35
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!
And on the fightlefs eye-ball pour the day: 40
He from thick films fhall purge the visual ray,
Tis he th' obstructed 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 high, no murmur, the wide world shall hear,
From every face he wipes off every tear.

45

60

In adamantine chains fhall Death be bound,
And Hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.
As the good thepherd tends his fleecy care,
Seek: fresheft pafture, and the purest air;
Explores the loft, the wandering sheep directs,
By day oerfees them and by night proteas.
The tender lambs he raifes in his arms,
Feeds from his hand, and in his bofom warms;
Thus fhall mankind his guardian care engage, 55
The promis'd father of the future age.
No more fhall nation against nation rife,
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 lances into fcythes shall bend,
And the broad falchion in a plow-fhare end.
Then palaces fhall rife; the joyful Son
Shall finifh what his fhort-liv'd Sire begun;
Their vines a fhadow to their race fhall yield, 65
And the fame hand that fow'd, fhall reap the field.
The fwain in barren deferts with furprife
Sees lilies fpring, and fudden verdure rife;
And ftarts, amidst the thirsty wilds to hear
New falls of water murmuring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,
The green reed trembles, and the bulruth nods.
Wafte fandy valleys, once perplex'd with thorn,
The fpiry fir and fhapely box adorn :
To leaflefs fhrubs the flowery palms fucceed, 75
And odorous myrtle to the noisome weed,
The lambs with wolves fhall graze the verdant
mead,

And boys in flowery bands the tiger lead:
The fteer and lion at one crib fhall meet,
And harmless ferpents lick the pilgrim's feet. 80
The fmiling infant in his hand fhall take
The crefted baf lifk and fpeckled fnake,
Pleas'd, the green luftre of the fcales furvey,
And with their forty tongue fhall innocently play.
Rife, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rife!
Exalt thy towery head, and lift thy eyes!
See a long race thy fpacious courts adorn;
See future fons, and daughters yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on every fide arife,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
Se: barbarous nations at thy gates attend,
Waik in thy light, and in thy temple bend;

86

90

See thy bright altars throng'd with proftrate kings,

f And heap'd with products of Sabæan fprings! For thee Idume's fpicy forests blow,

95

100

And feeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See heaven its fparkling portals wide difplay,
And break upon thee in a flood of day!
No more the rifing Sun fhall gild the morn,
Nor evening Cynthia fill her filver horn;
But loft, diffolv'd in thy fuperior rays,
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze
O'erflow thy courts: the Light himself shall shine
Reveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine!
The feas fall wafte, the skies in fmoke decay, 105
Rocks fall to duft, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his faving power remains;
Thy realm for ever lafts, thy own MESSIAH
reigns!

The groves of Eden, vanifh'd now fo long, Live in defcription, and look green in fong;. Thefe, were my breast inspir'd with equal flame, Like them in beauty, fhould be like in fame. Here hills and vales, the woodland and the plain, Here earth and water feem to strive again: Not Chaos-like together crufh'd and bruis'd, But, as the world, harmoniously confus'd; Where order in variety we fee,

corn,

Than what more humble mountains offer here, 35 Where, in their bleffings, all thofe Gods appear. See Pan with flocks, with fruits Pomona crown'd, Here blufhing Flora paints th' enamel'd ground, Here Ceres' gifts in waving prospect ftaid, And nodding tempt the joyful reaper's hand; 40 Rich Induitry its fmiling on the plains, And peace and plenty tell, a Stuart reigns. Not thus the land appear'd in ages paft, A dreary defert, and a gloomy waste, To favage beafts and favage laws a prey, | And kings more furious and fevere than they; Who claim'd the kies, difpeopled air and floods, The lonely lords of empty wilds and woods: Cities laid wafte, they form d the dens and caves (For wifer brutes were backward to be faves), so What could be free, when lawless beafts obey'd, And even the clements a tyrant fway'd?

45

In vain kind seasons fwell'd the teeming grain, Soft frowers diftill'd, and funs grew warm in vain;

56

The fwain with tears his fruftrate labour yields,
And famish'd dies amidft his ripen'd fields.
What wonder then, a beaft or fubject flain
Were equal crimes in a defpotic reign?
Both doom'd alike, for fportive Tyrants bled,
But, while the fubje& ftarv'd, the beaft was fed.
Proud Nimrod firft the bloody chace began,
A mighty hunter, and his prey was man:
Our haughty Norman boasts that barbarous name,
And makes his trembling flaves the royal game.
The fields are ravish'd from th' induftrious fwains,
From men their cities, and from Gods their
fanes :
66

The level'd towns with weeds lie cover'd o'er ;

70

The hollow winds through naked temples roar;
Round broken columns clafping ivy twin'd;
O'er heaps of ruin ftalk'd the flately bind;
The fox obfcene to gaping tombs retires,
And favage howlings ill the facred quires.
Aw'd by his Nobles, by his Commons curft,
Th' Oppreffor rul'd tyrannic where he durft,
Stretch'd o'er the Poor and Church his iron red, 75
And ferv'd alike his Vaffals and his God,
Whom ev'n the Saxon fpar'd, and bloody Dane,
The wanton victims of his fport remain.
But fee, the man who fracious regions gave
A wafte for beafts, himfelt dery'd a grave! 80
Stretch'd on the lawn his fecond hope furvey,
At once the chacer, and at once the prey :
Lo Rufus, tugging at the deadly dart,
Bleeds in the foreft like a wounded hart.
Succeeding monarchs heard the fubjects' cries, 85
Nor faw difpleas'd the peaceful cottage rife,
Then gathering flocks on unknown mountains fed,
O'er fandy wilds were yellow harvests spread,
The forefts wonder'd at th' unusual grain,
And fecret transport touch'd the unconfciens
fwain.

Fair Liberty, Britannia's Goddess, Tears
Her cheerful head, and leads the golden years.

Ye vigorous fwains! while youth ferments your blood,

And purer fpirits fwell the fprightly flood,
Now range the hills, the gameful woods befet, 05
Wind the frill horn, or fpread the way og net.

When milder autumn fummer's heat fucceeds,
And in the new-fhorn field the partridge feeds;
Before his lord the ready fpanel bounds,
Panting with hope, he tries the furrow'd grounds;
But when the tainted gales the game betray, 101
Couch'd clofe he lies, and meditates the prey:
Secure they trust th' unfaithful feld befet,
Til hovering o'er them fweeps the fwelling net.
Thus (if fmall things we may with great compare)
When Albion fends her eager fons to war, 106
Some thoughtlefs Town, with eafe and plenty
bloft,

Near and more near, the clofing lines invest;
Sudden they feize th'amaz'd, defenceless prize,
And high in air Britannia's ftandard flies.

110

See! from the brake the whirring pheafant fprings,

115

And mounts exulting on triumphant wings:
Short is his joy; he feels the fiery wound,
Flatters in blood, and panting beats the ground.
Ah! what avail his gloffy, varying dies,
His purple cref, and fearlet circled eyes,
The vivid green his fhining plumes unfold,
His painted wings, and breaft that flames with
gold?

Nor yet, when moist Arcturus clouds the sky,
The woods and fields their pleafing toils deny. 120
To plains with well-breath'd beagles we repair,
And trace the mazes of the circling hare
(Beafts, urg'd by us, their fellow beafts purfue,
And learn of man each other to undo):
With flaughtering guns th' unweary'd fowler
125

roves,

When frofts have whiten'd all the naked groves;
Where doves in flocks the leafiefs trees o'erfhade,
And lonely woodcocks haunt the watery glade.
He lifts the tube, and levels with his eye;
Strait a fhort thunder breaks the frozen sky: 130
Oft' as in airy rings they kim the heath,
The clamorous lapwings feel the leaden death;
Oft, as the mounting larks their notes prepare,
They fall, and leave their little lives in air.

In genial fpring, beneath the quivering frade,
Where cooling vapours breathe along the mead,
The patient fifr er takes his filent ftand,
Intent, his angie trembling in his hand :
With looks unmov'd, he hopes the fcaly breed,
And eyes the dancing cork and bending reed, 140
Our plenteous ftreams a various race fupply,
The bright-ey'd verch with fins of Tyrian dye,
The filver ell, in fhining volumes roll'd,
The yellow carp, in fcales bedropp'd with gold,
Swift trouts, diverfify'd with crimson ftains, 145
And pikes, the trants of the watery plains.

151

Now Cancer glows with Phobus' fiery car. The youth roh eager to the fylvan war, Swarm o'er the lawns, the foreft walks furround, Rouze the fleet hart, and chear the opening hound. Th' impatient courfer pants in every vein, And, pawing, feems to beat the diftant plain : Hills, vales, and foods, appear already crofs'd And, ere he flarts, a thousand steps are loft. See the bold youth rain up the threatening fteep, Rath through the thickets, down the valleys fweep, 156

| Hang o'er their courfers heads with eager speed,
And earth rolls back beneath the flying feed.
Let old Arcadia beaft her ample plain,
Th' immortal huntrefs, and her virgin-train;
Nor envy, Windfor! fince thy fhades have feen
As bright a Goddess, and as chaste a QUEEN;
Whofe care, like her's, protects the filvan reign,
The Earth's fair light, and Emprefs of the main.

Here, too, 'tis fung, of old Diana ftray'd 165
And Cynthus' top ferfook for Windfor fhade;
Here was the feen o'er airy wailes to rove,
Seek the clear fpring, or haunt the pathless grove;
Here arm'd with filver bows, in early dawn,
Her butkin'd Virgins trac❜d the dewy lawn. 170
Above the reft a rural nymph was fam'd,
Thy offspring, Thames! the fair Lodona nam'd
(Lodona's fate, in long oblivion caft,
The Mufe fhall Eng, and what the Sings shall last).
Scarce could the Goddess from her nymph be
known,

175

But by the crefcent, and the golden zone.
She fcorn'd the praife of beauty, and the care;
A belt her waift, a fillet binds her hair;
A painted quiver on her foulder founds,
And with her dart the flying deer the wounds, 180
It chanc'd, as, eager of the chace, the maid
Beyond the forett's verdant limits stray'd,
Pan faw and lov'd, and burning with defire
Purfued her flight; her flight increas'd his fire.
Not half fo fwift the trembling doves can fly, 185
When the fierce eagle cleaves the liquid fky;
Not half fo fwiftly the fierce eagle moves,
When through the clouds he drives the trembling
doves;

As from the God he flew with furious pace,
Or as the God, more furious, urg'd the chace. 190
Now fainting, finking, pale, the nymph appears;
Now clofe behind, his founding fteps the hears;
And now his shadow reach'd her as the run,
His fhadow lengthen'd by the fetting fun;
And now his horter breath, with fultry air, 195
Pants on her neck, and fans her parting hair.
In vain on father Thames fhe calls for aid,
Nor could Diana help her injur'd maid,
Faint, breathlefs, thus fe pray'd nor pray'd in
vain;

Ah, Cynthia! ah-though banish'd from thy « train,

200

"Let me, O let me, to the fhades repair,
"My native fhades! there weep, and murmur
"there!"

She faid, and, melting as in tears the lay,
In a foft filver ftream diffolv'd away.
The flver ftream her virgin coldness keeps, 205
For ever murmurs, and for ever weeps;
Still bears the name the hapless virgin bore,
And bathes the foreft where the rang'd before.
In her chalte current out the Goddefs laves,
And with celestial tears augxients the waves. 210
Oft in her glafs the muting thepherd fpies
The headlong mountains and the downward kies,
The watery landfi:ip of the pendent woods,
And abfent trees tint tremble in the floods;
In the clear azure gleam the flocks are feen, 215
And floating fore to paint the waved with green;

2002

Through the fair fcene roll flow the lingering freams,

Then foaming pour along, and rush into the Thames

225

Thou, too, great father of the British floods! With joyful pride furveyft our lofty woods; 220 Where towering oaks their growing honours rear, And future navies on thy fhores appear. Not Neptune's felf from all her ftreams receives A wealthier tribute, than to thine he gives. No feas fo rich, fo gay no banks appear, No lake fo gentle, and no fpring fo clear. Nor Po fo fwells the fabling Post's lays, While led along the fies his current trays, As thine, which visits Windier's fan'd abodes, To grace the mafon of our earthly Gods: 230 Nor all his fars above a luftre show, Like the bright Beauties on thy banks below; Where Jove, fubdued by mortal passion still, Might change Olympus for a nobler hill.

Happy the man whom this bright Court ap

proves,

His Sovereign favours, and his Country loves: Happy next him, who on thefe f ades retires, Whom Nature charms, and whom the Mufe in fpires,

Whom humbler joys of home-felt quiet pleafe, Succeffive ftudy, exercife and cafe.

240

He gathers health from herb: the foreft yields, And of their ragrant phyte fpoils the fields; With chymic art exalts the mineral powers, And draws the aromatic fouls of flower!: Now marks the courfe of rolling orbs on high; O'er figur'd worlds now travel with his eye; 245 Of ancient writ unloc's the learned ftore, Confults the d.ad, a d ́lives paft ages o'er : Or wandering thoughtful in the flent wood, Attends the duties of the wife and good, T'obferve a mean, to be himself a friend, To follow nature, and regard his end; Or looks on heaven with more than mortal eyes; Bids his free foul expatiate in the skies, Amid her kindred ftars familiar roam, Survey the region, and confefs her home! Such was the life great Scipio once adir'd, Thus Atticus, and Trumbull thus retir'd,

250

255

Ye facred Nine! that all my foul poffefs, Whofe raptures fire me, and whofe vifions blefs, Eear me, oh bear me to fequefter'd feenes, The bowery mazes, and furrounding greens; To Thames's banks which fragrant breezes fill, Or where ye Mufes fport on Cooper's Hill; (On Cooper's Hill eternal wreaths fhall grow, 265 While lats the mountain, or while Thames fall

flow):

1

I feem through confecrated walks to rove,
I hear foft mufic die along the grove:
Led by the found, I roam from hade to fhade,
By god-like pots venerable made:
Here his first lays majestic Denham fung;
There the last numbers flow'd from Cowley's

fongue.

early loft! what tears the river fhed, When the fad pomp along his banks was led!

VOL. VI.

270

275

His drooping fwans on every note expire,
And on his willows hung each Mufe's lyre.
Since fate relentlefs ftopp'd their heavenly
voice,

No more the forefts ring, or groves rejoice;
Who now fall charm the fhades, where Cowley
ftrung
280

His living harp, and lofty Denham fung?
But hark! the groves rejoice, the foreft rings!
Are thefe reviv'd? or is it Granville fings!

285

290

is yours, my Lord, to blefs our foft retreats, And call the Mufes to their ancient feats; To paint anew the flowery flvan fcenes, To crown the forefts with immortal greens, Make Windfor hills in lofty numbers rife, And lift her turrets nearer to the skies; To fing thofe honours you deferve to wear, And add new luftre to her filver ftar. Here noble Surrey felt the facred rage, Surrey, the Granville of a former age: Matchlefs his pen, victorious was his lance, Bold in the lifts, and graceful in the dance: In the fame fhades the Cupids tun'd his lyre, 295 To the fame notes, of love, and foft defire: Fair Geraldine, bright object of his vow, Then fill'd the groves, as heavenly Mira now. Oh wouldst thou fing what heroes Windfor

bore, What kings first breath'd upon her winding fhore, Or raife old warriors, whofe ador'd remains In weeping vaults her hallow'd earth contains! With Edward's afts adorn the fi ining page, Stretch his long triumphs down through every age;

Draw monarchs chain'd, and Creffi's glorious

Let fofter ftrains ill-fated Henry mourn, And palms eternal flourish round his ura. Here o'er the martyr-King the marble weeps, And, faft behind him, once-fear'd Edward fleeps: Whom not th'entended Albion could contain, 315 From old Belerium to the northern main, The Grave unites; where ev'n the Great find rest, And blended lie th' oppreffor and th' oppreft!

Make facred Charles's tomb for ever known (Obfcure the plaes, and uninferib'd the ftone); Oh fact accured! what tears bas Albion fhed! 321 Heavens, what new wounds! and how her old have

340

And on their banks Augufta rose in gold:
Around his throne the fea-born brothers stood
Who fwell with tributary urns his flood!
Firft the fam'd authors of his ancient name,
The winding Ifs, and the fruitful Thame:
The Kennet [wift,, for filver eels renown'd;
The Loddon flow, with verdant alders crown'd;
Cole, whofe dark ftreams his flowery iflands lave;
And Chalky Wey, that rolls a mil y wave:
The blue, tranfparent Vandalis appears;
The gulphy Lee his fedgy treffes rears;
And fullen Mole, that hides his diving flood;
And filent Darent, ftain'd with Danish blood.

345

High in the midft, upon his urn reclin'd, (His fea-green mantle waving with the wind) 350 The God appear'd: he turn'd his azure eyes Where Windfor-domes and pompous turrets rife; Then bow'd, and fpoke; the winds forget to

roar,

And the huth'd waves glide foftly to the shore.

Hail, facred Peace! hail, long-expected days, That Thames's glory to the fars fhall raife! 356 Though Tyber's ftreams immortal Rome behold, Though foaming Hermus fwells with tides of gold,

365

From heaven itfelf the feven-fold Nilus flows,
And harvests on a hundred realms beftows; 360
Thefe now no more fhall be the Mufes' themes,
Loft in my fame, as in the fea their streams.
Let Volga's banks with iron fquadrons fhine,
And groves of lances glitter on the Rhine;
Let barbarous Ganges arm a fervile train:
Be mine the blefings of a peaceful reign.
No more my fons fhall dye with British blood
Red Iber's ands, or Ifter's foaming flood:
Safe on my fhore each unmolefted fwain
Shall tend the flocks, or reap the bearded grain ;
The fhady empire fhall retain no trace 371
Of war or blood, but in the fylvan chace ;
The trumpet fleep, while chearful horns are
blown,

375

And arms employ'd on birds and beasts alone.
Behold! th' afcending villas on my fide,
Project long fhadows o'er the crystal tide.
Behold! Augufta's glittering fpires increase,
And Temples rife, the beauteous works of Peace.
I fee, I fee, where two fair cities bend
Their ample bow, a new Whitehall afcend! 380
There mighty nations fhall inquire their doom,
The world's great oracle in times to come;
There Kings fhall fue, and fuppliant States be
feen

Once more to bend before a British Queen.

Thy trees, fair Windfor! now fhall leave their
woods,

And half thy förefts rufh into thy floods:
Bear Britain's Thunder, and her Cross display,
To the bright regions of the rifing day:
Tempt icy fans, where fearce the waters roll,
Where clearer flames glow round the frozen Pole;

391

395

400

The pearly fhell its lucid globe unfold,
And Phabus warm the ripening ore to gold.
The time fall come, when free as feas or wind
Unbounded Thames fall flow for all mankind,
Whole nations enter with each fwelling tide,
And feas but join the regions they divide;
Earth's diftant ends our glory fhall behold,
And the new world launch forth to feek the old.
Then fhips of uncouth form fhall ftem the tide,
And feather'd people crowd my wealthy fide,
And naked youths and painted chiefs admire 455
Our fpeech, our colour, and our strange attire!
Oh, ftretch thy reign, fair Peace! from fore to
fhore,

Till Conqueft ceafe, and Slavery be no more;
Till the freed Indians in their native groves
Reap their own fruits, and woo their fable lover;
Peru once more a race of Kings behold,
And other Mexicos be roof'd with gold.
Exil'd by thee from earth to deepest heil,
In brazen bonds shall barbarous Discord dwell:

411