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IMITATIONS.
VER. 8. A Virgin shall conceive—All crimes shall cease, &c.
VIRG. Ecl. iv. ver. 6.Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna; Jam nova progenies caelo demittiur alto.
Messiah: a sacred eclogue, in imitation of Virgil's Pollio. By Alexander Pope, Esq;.
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- Messiah: a sacred eclogue, in imitation of Virgil's Pollio. By Alexander Pope, Esq;.
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- Pope, Alexander, 1688-1744.
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- [Edinburgh?] :: Printed for the proprietors, and sold by all the booksellers,
- 1766.
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"Messiah: a sacred eclogue, in imitation of Virgil's Pollio. By Alexander Pope, Esq;." In the digital collection Eighteenth Century Collections Online. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/004809279.0001.000. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 13, 2025.
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Te duce, si qua manent sceleris vestigia nostri, Irrita perpetua solvent formidine terras—. Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem.
Now the Virgin returns, now the kingdom of Saturn returns, now a new progeny is sent down from high hea|ven. By means of thee, whatever reliques of our crimes
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remain, shall be wiped away, and free the world from per|petual fears. He shall govern the earth in peace, with the virtues of his Father.
ISAIAH, Chap. vii. ver. 14. Behold a Virgin shall conceive and born a Son.—Chap. ix. ver. 6, 7. Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; the Prince of Peace: of the increase of his government, and of his peace, there shall be no end: Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order and establish it, with judgment, and with justice for ever and ever.P.
VER. 23. See Nature hastes, &c.] VIRG. Ecl. iv. ver. 18.
At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu, Errantes hederas passim cum baccare tellus, Mixtaque ridenti colocasia funder acantho— Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores.
For thee, O Child, shall the earth, without being til|led, produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with Baccar, and Colocasia with smiling Achanthus. Thy cradle shall pour forth pleasing flowers about thee.
ISAIAH, Ch. xxxv. ver. 1. The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad, and the desart shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. Ch. lx. ver. 13. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of thy sanctu|ary.P.
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VER. 29. Hark, a glad voice, &c.] VIRG. Ecl. iv. 46.
Aggredere o magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores, Cara deum soboles, magnum Jovis incrementum— Ipsi laetitia voces ad sydera jactant Intonsi montes, ipsae jam carmina rupes, Ipsa sonant arbusta, Deus, deus ille Menalca!
Ecl. v. ver. 62.
Oh come and receive the mighty honours: the time draws nigh, O beloved offspring of the Gods, O great in|crease of Jove! The uncultivated mountains send shouts of joy to the stars, the very rocks sing in verse, the very shrubs cry out, A God, a God!
ISAIAH, Ch. xl. ver. 3, 4. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! make strait in the desart a high-way for our God! Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made strait, and the rough places plain. Ch. iv. ver. 23. Break forth into singing, ye mountains! O forest, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed Israel.P.
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VER. 67. The swain in barren desarts, &c.] VIRG. Ecl. iv. ver. 28.
Molli paulatim flavescet campus arista Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva, Et durae quercus sodabunt roscida mella.
The fields shall grow yellow with ripened ears, and the red grape shall hang upon the wild brambles, and the hard oaks shall distil honey like dew.
ISAIAH, Ch. xxxv. ver 7. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: In the habitations where dragons lay, shall be grass, and reeds and rushes. Ch. lv. ver. 13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle-tree.P.
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VER. 77. The lambs with wolves, &c.] VIRG. Ecl. iv. ver. 21.
Ipsae lacte domum referent distenta capellae Ubera, nec magnos metuent armenta leones— Occidet et ser pens, et fallax herba veneni, Occidet.—
The goats shall bear to the fold their udders distended with milk: nor shall the herds be afraid of the greatest lions. The serpent shall die, and the herb that conceals poison shall die.
ISAIAH, Ch. xi. ver. 16, &c. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling to|gether: and a little child shall lead them.—And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the den of the cockatrice.P.
VER. 85. Rise, crown'd with light, imperial Salem, rise!] The thoughts of Isaiah, which compose the latter part of
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the poem, are wonderfully elevated, and much above thos•• general exclamations of Virgil, which make the loftiest part of his Pollio.
Magnus ab integro saeclorum nascitur ordo! —toto surget gens aurea mundo! —incipient magni procedere menses! Aspice, venturo laetentur ut omnia saeclo! etc.
The reader needs only to turn to the passages of Isaiab, here cited. P.