MESSIAH, a Sacred ECLOGUE.

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By Mr. PoP E.

E nymphs of Solyma! begin the fong:

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 inspire
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 Son!
From Jeffe's root behold a branch arise,

Whofe facred flow'r with fragrance fills the skies:
Th' æthereal spirit o'er its leaves shall move,
And on its top descends the mystic dove.
Ye heav'ns! from high the dewy nectar pour,
And in foft filence shed 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 ceafe, and ancient fraud fhall fail;
Returning justice 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, aufpicious Babe, be born!
See nature haftes her earliest 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 flow'ry top perfumes the skies
Hark! a glad voice the lonely desert 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 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' obstructed 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 fhall hear,
From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear.
In 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 purest air,
Explores the loft, the wand'ring sheep directs,
By day o'erfees them, and by night protects,

The

The tender lambs he raises in his arms,

Feeds from his hand, and in his bofom warms;
Thus fhall mankind his guardian care engage,
The promis'd 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 useless lances into scythes fhall bend,
And the broad faulchion in a plow-share end.
Then palaces fhall rife; the joyful fon
Shall finish what his short-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 deferts with furprize
Sees lilies fpring, and fudden verdure rise ;
And starts amidst the thirsty wilds to hear

New falls of water murm'ring in his ear.
On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,
reed trembles, and the bulrush nods.

The green

Waste fandy valleys, once perplex'd with thorn,

The spiry fir and shapely box adorn :

To leafless fhrubs the flow'ry palms fucceed,

And od❜rous myrtle to the noisom weed.

The lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead,

And boys in flow'ry bands the tiger lead;

The fteer and lion at one crib fhall meet,

And harmless ferpents lick the pilgrim's feet.

The smiling infant in his hand fhall take

;

The crefted bafilifk and speckled fnake,
Pleas'd the green luftre of the scales furvey,
And with their forky tongue shall innocently play.
Rife, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise!
Exalt thy tow'ry head, and lift thy eyes!
See a long race thy fpacious courts adorn
See future fons, and daughters yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on ev'ry fide arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies!
See barb'rous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend;
See thy bright altars throng'd with proftrate kings,
And heap'd with products of Sabæan springs !
For thee Idume's spicy forefts blow,

And feeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.
See heav'n its fparkling portals wide display,

And break upon thee in a flood of day!
No more the rifing fun shall gild the morn,
Nor ev'ning 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 fhall waste, the skies in fmoke decay,
Rocks fall to duft, and mountains melt away;

But fix'd his word, his faving pow'r remains ;
Thy realm for ever lafts, thy own Meffiah reigns!

The

F

The UNIVERSAL PRAYER.

By the Same.

ATHER of all! in ev'ry age,
In ev'ry clime ador'd,

By faint, by favage, and by fage,
Jehovah, Jove, or Lord!

Thou great firft caufe, least understood:
Who all my sense confin'd
To know but this, that thou art good,
And that myself am blind;

Yet gave me, in this dark estate,
To fee the good from ill;
And binding nature faft in fate,

Left free the human will.

What confcience dictates to be done,

Or warns me not to do,

This, teach me more than hell to fhun,
That, more than heav'n pursue.

What bleffings thy free bounty gives,

Let me not caft away;

For God is paid when man receives,

T' enjoy is to obey.

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