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To thee, bright goddess, oft a lamb shall bleed,
If teeming ewes increase my fleecy breed.
While plants their shade, or flowers their odours give,
Thy name, thy honour, and thy praise shall live!
THYRSIS.
But see, Orion sheds unwholesome dews;
Arise, the pines a noxious shade diffuse;
Sharp Boreas blows, and Nature feels decay,
Time conquers all, and we must Time obey.
Adieu, ye vales, ye mountains, streams, and groves;
Adieu, ye shepherds, rural lays, and loves; 90
Adieu, my flocks; farewell, ye sylvan crew;
Daphne, farewell; and all the world, adieu!
* * * * *
VARIATIONS.
VER. 29, 30--Originally thus in the MS.--
'Tis done, and Nature's changed since you are gone;
Behold, the clouds have put their mourning on.
VER. 83, 84. Originally thus in the MS.--
While vapours rise, and driving snows descend,
Thy honour, name, and praise shall never end.
MESSIAH.
A SACRED ECLOGUE, IN IMITATION OF VIRGIL'S 'POLLIO.'
ADVERTISEMENT.
In reading several passages of the Prophet Isaiah, which foretell the
coming of Christ and the felicities attending it, I could not but
observe a remarkable parity between many of the thoughts, and those in
the 'Pollio' of Virgil. This will not seem surprising, when we reflect,
that the eclogue was taken from a Sibylline prophecy on the same
subject.
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