MESSIAH,

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. One may judge that Virgil did not copy it line by line, but selected such ideas as best agreed with the nature of pastoral poetry, and disposed them in that manner which served most to beautify his piece. I have endeavoured the same in this imitation of him, though without admitting anything of my own; since it was written with this particular view, that the reader, by comparing the several thoughts, might see how far the images and descriptions of the prophet are superior to those of the poet. But as I fear I have prejudiced them by my management, I shall subjoin the passages of Isaiah, and those of Virgil, under the same disadvantage of a literal translation.[1]

This is certainly the most animated and sublime of all our author's compositions, and it is manifestly owing to the great original which he copied. Perhaps the dignity, the energy, and the simplicity of the original, are in a few passages weakened and diminished by florid epithets, and useless circumlocutions.—Warton.

All things considered, the Messiah is as fine and masterly a piece of composition as the English language, in the same style of verse, can boast. I have ventured to point out a passage or two, for they are rare, where the sublimity has been weakened by epithets; and I have done this, because it is a fault, particularly with young writers, so common. In the most truly sublime images of Scripture, the addition of a single word would often destroy their effect. It is therefore right to keep as nearly as possible to the very words. No one understood better than Milton where to be general, and where particular; where to adopt the very expression of Scripture, and where it was allowed to paraphrase.—Bowles.

The fourth eclogue of Virgil is devoted to celebrating the coming birth, while Pollio is Consul, of a boy whose infancy will usher in the golden age, and whose manhood will witness its fullness. Wars are to cease; the beasts of prey are to change their natures; the untilled earth is to bring forth fruits spontaneously; and peace, ease, and plenty are to reign supreme. The names of the parents of this expected child are not recorded, and the commentators are greatly divided upon the question. The most reasonable conjecture is that the intention was to do homage to the ruling genius at Rome, Augustus, or Cæsar Octavianus, as he was then called, whose wife Scribonia was pregnant at the time. Unhappily for the prognostications of the poet the infant "proved a daughter, and the infamous Julia."[2]Virgil grounds his glowing anticipations upon certain Cumæan or Sibylline verses; for, as Jortin well remarks, he would have deprived his announcement of all authority if he himself had set up for a prophet. He could only hope to accredit his promised marvels by appealing to an oracle that was popularly believed to be inspired. "The Sibylline books," says Prideaux, "were a main engine of state. When they were ordered to be consulted the keepers of them always brought forth such an answer as served their purpose, and in many difficulties the governors helped themselves this way."[3]Virgil was equally diplomatic. He probably had no faith in the wonders he announced. His object was to pay court to Augustus, and to assist in establishing his patron's power.

The resemblance which portions of the Pollio bear to passages in Isaiah is generally admitted. "This," says Pope, "will not seem surprising when we reflect that the Eclogue was taken from a Sibylline prophecy on the same subject." He does not attempt to explain how the Sibyl came by her knowledge, unless he means us to infer that she was divinely illuminated. This theory has been supported by learned men, and would be warranted if the eight books of Sibylline oracles, still extant in Greek verse, were anterior to the Christian era; for since they often go beyond the Old Testament predictions in historic precision, the insight into futurity could not have been gathered exclusively from the Scripture prophets. But the existing oracles, says Jortin, "are without any one exception, mere impostures. They abound with phrases, words, facts, and passages taken from the Septuagint and the New Testament, and are a remarkable specimen of astonishing impudence, and miserable poetry."[4]Still there remains the circumstance of the parallelism between parts of Isaiah and the Eclogue which Virgil based upon the Sibylline verses. It is easy to account for the coincidence. The original Sibylline books were accidentally burntB. C.83. A few years later the senate employed agents to glean together from Italy, Greece, Sicily and Africa a body of prophecies to replace the oracles which had perished. The collection was from private as well as public sources, and a vast number of the same or similar predictions were in the hands of individuals at Rome. The Jews were located everywhere; they abounded in Rome itself; they were animated by the expectation that the reign of the Messiah was approaching; their prophetic records were incomparable for poetic beauty, sublimity, and variety; the language of the Septuagint was well understood by lettered pagans, and was even the language of the new Sibylline oracles, which were embodied in Greek verse. When all these things are considered, it would be strange if the persons employed to pick up prophecies had not come across notions, which had either been derived from personal intercourse with Jews, or from their sacred books. Although the entire world had been sunk in stupid apathy, and not a single heathen had been attracted by curiosity to turn his attention to Hebrew literature and beliefs, it was yet inevitable that a crude conception should get abroad of the leading idea which fermented in the mind of the ubiquitous Jew, and nothing was more likely than that it should be put into Sibylline verse when Roman agents were searching far and wide for oracles, and inviting contributions from every quarter.

Pope's Messiah first appeared in the Spectator for May 14, 1712, No. 378, where it is prefaced by these words: "I will make no apology for entertaining the reader with the following poem, which is written by a great genius, a friend of mine, in the country, who is not ashamed to employ his wit in the praise of his Maker." After it was published, Steele wrote on June 1, 1712, to Pope, and said, "I have turned to every verse and chapter, and think you have preserved the sublime heavenly spirit throughout the whole, especially at 'Hark a glad voice,' and 'The lamb with wolves shall graze.' Your poem is better than the Pollio." Upon this Johnson remarks, "That the Messiah excels the Pollio is no great praise, if it be considered from what original the improvements are derived." Bowles and Warton thought that Pope had kept up his verse to the level of Isaiah, and had only here and there weakened the sublimity by epithets. Wordsworth was of another opinion. When he contended that the language of poetry should be a selection from the real language of men "in a state of vivid sensation," and repudiated the ornate conventional phraseology which passed for poetic diction, he pointed to the paraphrases on parts of the Bible in illustration of what he condemned, and to the passages as they exist in our authorised version for a specimen of what he approved. "Pope's Messiah throughout" was in his apprehension an adulteration of the original.[5]His criticism appears well founded. The pure and natural language of the prophet is sometimes exchanged for sickly, affected expressions. "Righteousness" becomes "dewy nectar," "sheep" the "fleecy care," and the call upon Jerusalem to "Arise and shine" is turned into an invocation to "exalt her tow'ry head." Apart from these mawkish phrases, the imitation is framed from first to last upon the mistaken principle that the original would be embellished by amplifications, by a profusion of epithets, and by a gaudier diction. The "fir-tree and box-tree" of Isaiah are called by Pope "thespiryfir, andshapelybox." Where the sacred text announces that "instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle-tree," Pope tells us that

"Toleaflessshrubs theflow'ringpalms succeed,Andod'rousmyrtle to thenoisomeweed."

In his translation of the prediction, that in the kingdom of Christ, "the sucking-child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den," Pope makes the cockatrice a "crestedbasilisk," and the asp a "speckledsnake;" they have both scales of a "greenlustre," and a "forkytongue," and with this last the "smilinginfant shallinnocentlyplay." "The leopard," says Isaiah, "shall lie down with the kid, and the younglion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them"; but Pope could not leave this exquisite picture undecorated, and with him "boys inflow'rybands the tiger lead." How grievously is the force and pathos of the passage impaired by the substitution of "boys" for the "little child"; how completely is the bewitching nature turned into masquerade by the engrafted notion that the beasts are led by "flow'rybands." The alteration is an example of the justice of De Quincey's observation that "the Arcadia of Pope's age was the spurious Arcadia of the opera theatre."[6]The prophet refers anew to the time when creatures of prey shall cease to be carnivorous, and relates that "the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and dust shall be the serpent's meat." Pope converts the second clause into the statement that "harmless serpents lick the pilgrim's feet," which alters the meaning, and introduces a conception more noticeable for its grotesqueness than for the enchanting vision it should conjure up of universal peace.[7]Pope says he was induced to subjoin in his notes the passages he had versified by "the fear that he had prejudiced Isaiah and Virgil by his management." The reputation of Isaiah and Virgil was safe, and no one can doubt that his real reason for inviting the comparison was the belief that he had improved upon them. He imagined that he had enriched the text of the prophet, and did not suspect that the majesty and truth of the original were vitiated by his embroidery. Bowles has drawn attention to the finest parts of the poem, and it may be allowed that the piece in general is powerful of its kind. The fault is in the kind itself, which belongs to a lower style than the living strains of Isaiah, and borders too closely upon the meretricious to suit the lofty theme. The Messiah is a prophetic vision of a golden age, and on this account was classed by Pope among his Pastorals.[8]

FOOTNOTES:[1]Pope printed in his notes only those passages of Isaiah which had some resemblance to the ideas of Virgil. To the other portions of the prophet which he put into verse he merely gave references.[2]Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. i, p. 323.[3]Prideaux's Connection, ed. Wheeler, vol. ii, p. 518.[4]Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 318.[5]Wordsworth's Works, ed. 1836, vol. ii. p. 343.[6]De Quincey's Works, vol. xv. p. 115.[7]Such is the difference of taste that Wakefield says of Pope's variation, "This is indeed a glorious improvement on the sublime original. The diction has the true doric simplicity in perfection, and poetic genius never gave birth to a more delicate and pleasing image."[8]Singer's Spence, p. 236.

[1]Pope printed in his notes only those passages of Isaiah which had some resemblance to the ideas of Virgil. To the other portions of the prophet which he put into verse he merely gave references.

[2]Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. i, p. 323.

[3]Prideaux's Connection, ed. Wheeler, vol. ii, p. 518.

[4]Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 318.

[5]Wordsworth's Works, ed. 1836, vol. ii. p. 343.

[6]De Quincey's Works, vol. xv. p. 115.

[7]Such is the difference of taste that Wakefield says of Pope's variation, "This is indeed a glorious improvement on the sublime original. The diction has the true doric simplicity in perfection, and poetic genius never gave birth to a more delicate and pleasing image."

[8]Singer's Spence, p. 236.

Ye Nymphs of Solyma![1]begin the song:To heav'nly themes sublimer strains[2]belong.The mossy fountains, and the sylvan shades,The dreams of Pindus[3]and th' Aonian maids,Delight no more[4]—O Thou my voice inspireWho touched Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire![5]Rapt[6]into future times, the bard begun:[7]A virgin shall conceive, a virgin bear a son![8]From Jesse's[9]root behold a branch arise,Whose sacred flow'r with fragrance fills the skies:10Th' ethereal Spirit o'er its leaves shall move,And on its top descends the mystic dove.[10]Ye heav'ns! from high the dewy nectar pour,[11]And in soft silence shed the kindly show'r![12]The sick[13]and weak the healing plant shall aid,15From storms a shelter, and from heat a shade.All crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud[14]shall fail;Returning Justice[15]lift aloft her scale;Peace o'er the world her olive wand extend,And white-robed Innocence from heaven descend.20Swift fly the years,[16]and rise th' expected morn!Oh spring to light, auspicious babe, be born![17]See Nature hastes her earliest wreaths to bring,[18]With all the incense of the breathing spring:[19]See lofty Lebanon[20]his head advance;25See nodding forests on the mountains dance:[21]See spicy clouds from lowly Saron rise,And Carmel's flow'ry top perfumes the skies!Hark! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers;Prepare the way![22]a God, a God appears:30A God, a God![23]the vocal hills reply,The rocks proclaim th' approaching deity.Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies!Sink down, ye mountains, and, ye valleys, rise;With heads declined, ye cedars, homage pay;[24]35Be smooth, ye rocks;[25]ye rapid floods, give way!The Saviour comes! by ancient bards foretold!Hear him, ye deaf, and all ye blind, behold![26]He from thick films shall purge the visual ray,[27]And on the sightless eye-ball pour the day:40'Tis he th' obstructed paths of sound shall clear,[28]And bid new music charm th' unfolding ear:The dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego,And leap exulting like the bounding roe.[29]No sigh, no murmur the wide world shall hear,[30]45From ev'ry face he wipes off ev'ry tear,[31]In adamantine[32]chains shall Death be bound,And hell's grim tyrant feel th' eternal wound.As the good shepherd tends his fleecy care,Seeks freshest pasture and the purest air,50Explores the lost, the wand'ring sheep directs,By day o'ersees them, and by night protects,The tender lambs he[33]raises in his arms,[34]Feeds from his hand, and in his bosom warms;[35]Thus shall mankind his guardian care engage,55The promised Father[36]of the future age.No more shall nation[37]against nation rise,Nor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes,Nor fields with gleaming steel be covered o'er,[38]The brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;[39]60But useless lances into scythes shall bend,And the broad faulchion in a plow-share end.Then palaces shall rise; the joyful son[40]Shall finish what his short-lived sire begun;[41]Their vines a shadow to their race shall yield,[42]65And the same hand that sowed, shall reap the field.The swain in barren deserts[43]with surpriseSees lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise;[44]And starts, amidst the thirsty wilds, to hearNew fells of water murm'ring in his ear.[45]70On rifted rocks, the dragon's late abodes,The green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods.Waste sandy valleys,[46]once perplexed with thorn,The spiry fir and shapely box adorn;To leafless shrubs the flow'ring palms succeed,75And od'rous myrtle to the noisome weed.The lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead,[47]And boys in flow'ry bands the tiger lead;[48]The steer and lion at one crib shall meet,[49]And harmless serpents lick the pilgrim's feet.[50]80The smiling infant in his hand shall takeThe crested basilisk and speckled snake,Pleased, the green lustre of the scales survey,And with their forky tongue shall innocently play.[51]Rise, crowned with light, imperial Salem,[52]rise![53]85Exalt thy tow'ry head,[54]and lift thy eyes![55]See, a long race[56]thy spacious courts adorn;See future sons, and daughters yet unborn,In crowding ranks on ev'ry side arise,Demanding life, impatient for the skies!90See barb'rous nations[57]at thy gates attend,Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend;See thy bright altars thronged with prostrate kings,And heaped with products of Sabæan[58]springs![59]For thee Idume's spicy forests blow,95And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow.See heav'n its sparkling portals wide display,And break upon thee in a flood of day.[60]No more the rising sun[61]shall gild the morn,Nor ev'ning Cynthia[62]fill her silver horn;100But lost, dissolved in thy superior rays,One tide of glory,[63]one unclouded blazeO'erflow thy courts: the Light himself shall shineRevealed, and God's eternal day be thine![64]The seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay,[65]105Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;But fixed his word, his saving power remains:Thy realm for ever lasts, thy ownMessiahreigns!

FOOTNOTES:[1]Solyma is the latter part of the Greek name for Jerusalem, Ἱεροσολυμα.[2]Dryden's Virg. Ecl. iv. 1.Sicilian muse, begin a loftier strain—Wakefield.[3]The poets of antiquity were thought to receive inspired dreams by sleeping on the poetic mountains.—Wakefield.[4]The pause and words are evidently from Dryden, a greater harmonist, if I may say so, than Pope:The lovely shrubs and trees that shade the plain,Delight not all.—Bowles.[5]Alluding to Isaiah vi. 6, 7. "Then flew one of the Seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo! this hath touched thy lips." Milton had already made the same allusion to Isaiah, at the close of his Hymn on the Nativity:And join thy voice unto the angel quire,From out his sacred altar touched with hallowed fire.—Wakefield.[6]Rapt, that is, carried forwards from the present scene of things into a distant period, from the Latinrapio.—Wakefield.[7]The poet wrongly uses "begun," instead of the past, began.—Wakefield.[8]Virg. Ecl. iv. 6:Jam redit et Virge, redeunt Saturnia regna;Jam nova progenies cœlo demittitur alto.—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 heaven. By means of thee, whatever reliques of our crimes remain, shall be wiped away, and free the world from perpetual fears. He shall govern the earth in peace, with the virtues of his father."Isaiah vii. 14. "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son." Ch. 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 it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, for ever and ever."—Pope.By "the virgin" Virgil meant Astræa, or Justice, who is said by the poets to have been driven from earth by the wickedness of mankind.—Professor Martyn.[9]Isaiah xi. i.—Pope."And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots."[10]Pope lowers the comparison when he follows it out into details, and likens the endowments of the Messiah to leaves, and his head to the top of a tree on which the dove descends.[11]Isaiah xlv. 8.—Pope."Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness."[12]Dryden's Don Sebastian:But shed from nature like a kindly show'r.—Steevens.[13]Isaiah xxv. 4,—Pope."For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat."[14]Warburton says that Pope referred to the fraud of the serpent, but the allusion is more general, and the poet had probably in his mind the "priscæ vestigia fraudis," which Wakefield quotes from Virg. Ecl. iv. 31, and which Dryden rendersYet of old fraud some footsteps shall remain.[15]Isaiah ix. 7.—Pope.For Justice was fabled by the poets to quit the earth at the conclusion of the golden age.—Wakefield.[16]This animated apostrophe is grounded on that of Virg. Ecl. iv. 46:Talia sæcla . . . currite . . .—Wakefield.[17]This seems a palpable imitation of Callimachus, Hymn. Del. 214, but where our poet fell upon it I cannot discover.—Wakefield.[18]Virg. Ecl. iv. 18:At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu,Errantes hederas passim cum baccare tellus,Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho.—Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores."For thee, O child, shall the earth, without being tilled, produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with Baccar, and Colocasia with smiling Acanthus. Thy cradle shall pour forth pleasing flowers about thee."Isaiah xxxv. 1. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." Chap. lx. 13. "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary."—Pope.[19]This couplet has too much prettiness, and too modern an air.—Warton.[20]Isaiah xxxv. 2.—Pope."It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God."[21]An improper and burlesque image.—Warton.The line is too particular; it brings the image too close, and by exhibiting the action stronger than poetical propriety and sublimity required, destroys the intended effect. In images of this sort, the greatest care should be taken just to present the idea, but not to detail it,—otherwise it becomes, in the language of Shakespeare, like "ambition that o'er-leaps itself."—Bowles.Pope copied Dryden's translation of Virgil, Ecl. vi. 44, quoted by Wakefield;And silver fauns and savage beasts advanced,And nodding forests to the numbers danced,[22]Virg. Ecl. iv. 46:Aggredere, ô magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores,Cara deum soboles, magnum Jovis incrementum.Ecl. v. 62:Ipsi lætitia voces ad sidera jactanIntonsi montes, ipsæ jam carmina rupes,Ipsa sonant arbusta, Deus, deus ille, Menalca!"Oh come and receive the mighty honours: the time draws nigh, O beloved offspring of the gods, O great increase 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 xl. 3, 4. "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! make straight in the desert 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 straight, and the rough places plain." Chap. xliv. 23. "Break forth into singing, ye mountains! O forest, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed Israel."—Pope.The passage from Virgil, in which the shrubs are supposed to cry out "a god, a god," is not from the same Eclogue with the rest of Pope's extracts, and has no reference to the anticipated appearance of a ruler who should regenerate the world. The occasion of the shout is the presumed deification of one Daphnis who is dead.[23]The repetition is in the true spirit of poetry, "Deus, deus ipse." The whole passage indeed is finely worked up from "lofty Lebanon" to the magnificent and powerful appeal, "Hark! a glad voice."—Bowles.[24]This line is faulty, for the same reason as given in the remark on "nodding forests." The action is brought too near, and for that reason the image no longer appears grand.—Bowles.[25]He seems to have had in his eye Cromwell's translation of Ovid, Amor, ii. 16:Then, as you pass, let mountains homage payAnd bow their tow'ring heads to smooth your way.—Wakefield.[26]Isaiah xlii. 18.—Pope."Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see."[27]The sense and language show, that by "visual ray," the poet meant the sight, or, as Milton calls it, indeed, something less boldly, "the visual nerve." And no critic would quarrel with the figure which calls the instrument of vision by the name of the cause. But though the term be just, nay noble, and even sublime, yet the expression of "thick films" is faulty, and he fell into it by a common neglect of the following rule of good writing, that when a figurative word is used, whatsoever is predicated of it ought not only to agree in terms to the thing to which the figure is applied, but likewise to that from which the figure is taken. "Thick films" agree only with the thing to which it is applied, namely, to the sight or eye; and not to that from which it is taken, namely, a ray of light coming to the eye. He should have said "thick clouds," which would have agreed with both. But these inaccuracies are not to be found in his later poems.—Warburton.Concanen had previously made the same objection in his Supplement to the Profound, and Pope has written in the margin, "Milton," who uses "visual ray," Par. Lost, iii. 620, "visual nerve" xi. 415, and "visual beam," Samson Agonistes, ver. 163; but none of these passages support Pope's misapplication of the phrase "thick films" to rays of light.[28]Isaiah xxxv. 5.—Pope."The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped."[29]Isaiah xxxv. 6.—Pope."Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing."[30]I wonder Dr. Warton had not here pointed out the force and the beauty of this most comprehensive and striking line.—Bowles.[31]The verse, as first published, stoodHe wipes the tears for ever from our eyes,which was from Milton's Lycidas, ver. 181:And wipe the tears for ever from his eyes.Steele having objected that Pope's line "in exalted and poetical spirit" was below the original, Isaiah xxv. 8,—"The Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces,"—the poet altered his text without, perhaps, either injuring or improving it.[32]Isaiah xxv. 8.—Pope."He will swallow up death in victory."The meaning of the original has been missed by Pope. The promise was not that men should cease to die, which would be the ease if Death was "bound in adamantine chains," but that death should lose its terrors through "the life and immortality brought to light by the gospel," and be welcomed as the passport to a blissful eternity.[33]"He" is redundant.—Warton.[34]Isaiah xl. 11.—Pope."He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom."[35]He was betrayed into a little impropriety here, by not being aware that the "bosom," in classic use, commonly means the capacious flow of the eastern garments.—Wakefield.[36]Isaiah ix. 6.—Pope."His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."[37]Isaiah ii. 4.—Pope."They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."[38]The words "covered o'er" form an insipid termination of this verse.—Wakefield.[39]Mr. Steevens aptly quotes Virg. Æn. vi. 165:Ære ciere viros.With breathing brass to kindle fierce alarms. Dryden.—Wakefield.[40]Isaiah lxv. 21, 22.—Pope."And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat."[41]A line almost wholly borrowed from Dryden's Britannica Rediviva:And finish what thy god-like sire begins—Wakefield.[42]St. John iv. 37. "One soweth, and another reapeth."—Wakefield.[43]Isaiah xxxv. 1.—Pope."The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose."[44]Virg. Ecl. iv. 28:Molli paulatim flavescet campus arista,Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva,Et duræ quercus sudabunt roscida mella."The fields shall grow yellow with ripened ears, and the red grape shall hang upon the wild brambles, and the hard oak shall distil honey like dew."Isaiah xxxv. 7. "The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: In the habitation where dragons lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes." Chap. lv. ver. 13. "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle-tree."—Pope.[45]Pope has been happy in introducing this circumstance.—Warton.[46]Isaiah xli. 19, and chap. lv. 13.—Pope."I will set in the desert the fir-tree, and the pine, and the box-tree together."[47]Virg. Ecl. iv. 21:Ipsæ lacte domum referent distenta capelæUbera, nec magnos metuent armeuta leones.—Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneniOccidet."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 xi. 6, 7, 8. "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 together: 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."—Pope.[48]The similarity of the rhymes in this couplet to those of the preceding is a blemish to this passage.—Wakefield.[49]Isaiah lxv. 25.—Pope."The lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat."[50]Pope's line may have been suggested by Ovid's description of the transformation of Cadmus and his wife into snakes. Of Cadmus it is said, Met. iv. 595, thatille suæ lambebat conjugis ora;and of husband and wife, when the change in both was complete, thatNunc quoque nec fugiunt hominem, nec vulnere lædunt.[51]Originally,And with their forky tongue and pointless sting shall play.Wakefield conjectures that Pope altered the line from having learnt the erroneousness of the vulgar belief that the sting of the serpent is in its tail. The expression he substituted in the text is borrowed from Dryden's Palamon and Arcite, quoted by Wakefield:And troops of lions innocently play.[52]Salem is used for Jerusalem in Psalm lxxvi. 2.[53]Isaiah lx. 1.—Pope."Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."[54]The thoughts of Isaiah, which compose the latter part of the poem, are wonderfully elevated, and much above those general exclamations of Virgil, which make the loftiest parts of his Pollio:Magnus ab integro sæclorum nascitur ordo—toto surget gens aurea mundo!—incipient magni procedere menses!Aspice, venture lætentur ut omnia sæclo! &c.The reader needs only to turn to the passages of Isaiah, here cited.—Pope.[55]The open vowelthy eyesis particularly offensive.—Wakefield.[56]Isaiah lx. 4.—Pope."Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side."[57]Isaiah lx. 3.—Pope."And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."[58]Dryden in his Aureng-Zebe:What sweet soe'er Sabæan springs disclose.—Steevens.Saba, in Arabia, was noted for its aromatic products. Thus Milton, Par. Lost, iv. 161:Sabæan odours from the spicy shoreOf Araby the blest.[59]Isaiah lx. 6.—Pope."All they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord."[60]Broome, in Pope's Miscellanies, p. 104:A stream of glory, and a flood of day.—Wakefield.[61]Isaiah lx. 19, 20.—Pope."The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory."[62]Cynthia is an improper, because a classical word.—Warton.Sandys' Ovid:Now waxing Phœbe filled her wained horns.—Wakefield.[63]Here is a remarkably fine effect of versification. The poet rises with his subject, and the correspondent periods seem to flow more copious and majestic with the grandeur and sublimity of the theme.—Bowles.[64]This fine expression is borrowed from Dryden's Ode on Mrs. Killegrew:Thou wilt have time enough for hymns divine,Since heaven's eternal year is thine.—Wakefield.[65]Isaiah li. 6, and chap. liv. 10.—Pope."The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, but my salvation shall be for ever.—For the mountains shall depart, and the hills shall be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee."

[1]Solyma is the latter part of the Greek name for Jerusalem, Ἱεροσολυμα.

[2]Dryden's Virg. Ecl. iv. 1.Sicilian muse, begin a loftier strain—Wakefield.

[2]Dryden's Virg. Ecl. iv. 1.

Sicilian muse, begin a loftier strain—Wakefield.

[3]The poets of antiquity were thought to receive inspired dreams by sleeping on the poetic mountains.—Wakefield.

[4]The pause and words are evidently from Dryden, a greater harmonist, if I may say so, than Pope:The lovely shrubs and trees that shade the plain,Delight not all.—Bowles.

[4]The pause and words are evidently from Dryden, a greater harmonist, if I may say so, than Pope:

The lovely shrubs and trees that shade the plain,Delight not all.—Bowles.

[5]Alluding to Isaiah vi. 6, 7. "Then flew one of the Seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo! this hath touched thy lips." Milton had already made the same allusion to Isaiah, at the close of his Hymn on the Nativity:And join thy voice unto the angel quire,From out his sacred altar touched with hallowed fire.—Wakefield.

And join thy voice unto the angel quire,From out his sacred altar touched with hallowed fire.—Wakefield.

[6]Rapt, that is, carried forwards from the present scene of things into a distant period, from the Latinrapio.—Wakefield.

[7]The poet wrongly uses "begun," instead of the past, began.—Wakefield.

[8]Virg. Ecl. iv. 6:Jam redit et Virge, redeunt Saturnia regna;Jam nova progenies cœlo demittitur alto.—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 heaven. By means of thee, whatever reliques of our crimes remain, shall be wiped away, and free the world from perpetual fears. He shall govern the earth in peace, with the virtues of his father."Isaiah vii. 14. "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son." Ch. 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 it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, for ever and ever."—Pope.By "the virgin" Virgil meant Astræa, or Justice, who is said by the poets to have been driven from earth by the wickedness of mankind.—Professor Martyn.

[8]Virg. Ecl. iv. 6:

Jam redit et Virge, redeunt Saturnia regna;Jam nova progenies cœlo demittitur alto.—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 heaven. By means of thee, whatever reliques of our crimes remain, shall be wiped away, and free the world from perpetual fears. He shall govern the earth in peace, with the virtues of his father."

Isaiah vii. 14. "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son." Ch. 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 it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, for ever and ever."—Pope.

By "the virgin" Virgil meant Astræa, or Justice, who is said by the poets to have been driven from earth by the wickedness of mankind.—Professor Martyn.

[9]Isaiah xi. i.—Pope."And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots."

[10]Pope lowers the comparison when he follows it out into details, and likens the endowments of the Messiah to leaves, and his head to the top of a tree on which the dove descends.

[11]Isaiah xlv. 8.—Pope."Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness."

[12]Dryden's Don Sebastian:But shed from nature like a kindly show'r.—Steevens.

[12]Dryden's Don Sebastian:

But shed from nature like a kindly show'r.—Steevens.

[13]Isaiah xxv. 4,—Pope."For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat."

[14]Warburton says that Pope referred to the fraud of the serpent, but the allusion is more general, and the poet had probably in his mind the "priscæ vestigia fraudis," which Wakefield quotes from Virg. Ecl. iv. 31, and which Dryden rendersYet of old fraud some footsteps shall remain.

Yet of old fraud some footsteps shall remain.

[15]Isaiah ix. 7.—Pope.For Justice was fabled by the poets to quit the earth at the conclusion of the golden age.—Wakefield.

[15]Isaiah ix. 7.—Pope.

For Justice was fabled by the poets to quit the earth at the conclusion of the golden age.—Wakefield.

[16]This animated apostrophe is grounded on that of Virg. Ecl. iv. 46:Talia sæcla . . . currite . . .—Wakefield.

[16]This animated apostrophe is grounded on that of Virg. Ecl. iv. 46:

Talia sæcla . . . currite . . .—Wakefield.

[17]This seems a palpable imitation of Callimachus, Hymn. Del. 214, but where our poet fell upon it I cannot discover.—Wakefield.

[18]Virg. Ecl. iv. 18:At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu,Errantes hederas passim cum baccare tellus,Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho.—Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores."For thee, O child, shall the earth, without being tilled, produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with Baccar, and Colocasia with smiling Acanthus. Thy cradle shall pour forth pleasing flowers about thee."Isaiah xxxv. 1. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." Chap. lx. 13. "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary."—Pope.

[18]Virg. Ecl. iv. 18:

At tibi prima, puer, nullo munuscula cultu,Errantes hederas passim cum baccare tellus,Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho.—Ipsa tibi blandos fundent cunabula flores.

"For thee, O child, shall the earth, without being tilled, produce her early offerings; winding ivy, mixed with Baccar, and Colocasia with smiling Acanthus. Thy cradle shall pour forth pleasing flowers about thee."

Isaiah xxxv. 1. "The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose." Chap. lx. 13. "The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary."—Pope.

[19]This couplet has too much prettiness, and too modern an air.—Warton.

[20]Isaiah xxxv. 2.—Pope."It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God."

[21]An improper and burlesque image.—Warton.The line is too particular; it brings the image too close, and by exhibiting the action stronger than poetical propriety and sublimity required, destroys the intended effect. In images of this sort, the greatest care should be taken just to present the idea, but not to detail it,—otherwise it becomes, in the language of Shakespeare, like "ambition that o'er-leaps itself."—Bowles.Pope copied Dryden's translation of Virgil, Ecl. vi. 44, quoted by Wakefield;And silver fauns and savage beasts advanced,And nodding forests to the numbers danced,

[21]An improper and burlesque image.—Warton.

The line is too particular; it brings the image too close, and by exhibiting the action stronger than poetical propriety and sublimity required, destroys the intended effect. In images of this sort, the greatest care should be taken just to present the idea, but not to detail it,—otherwise it becomes, in the language of Shakespeare, like "ambition that o'er-leaps itself."—Bowles.

Pope copied Dryden's translation of Virgil, Ecl. vi. 44, quoted by Wakefield;

And silver fauns and savage beasts advanced,And nodding forests to the numbers danced,

[22]Virg. Ecl. iv. 46:Aggredere, ô magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores,Cara deum soboles, magnum Jovis incrementum.Ecl. v. 62:Ipsi lætitia voces ad sidera jactanIntonsi montes, ipsæ jam carmina rupes,Ipsa sonant arbusta, Deus, deus ille, Menalca!"Oh come and receive the mighty honours: the time draws nigh, O beloved offspring of the gods, O great increase 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 xl. 3, 4. "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! make straight in the desert 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 straight, and the rough places plain." Chap. xliv. 23. "Break forth into singing, ye mountains! O forest, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed Israel."—Pope.The passage from Virgil, in which the shrubs are supposed to cry out "a god, a god," is not from the same Eclogue with the rest of Pope's extracts, and has no reference to the anticipated appearance of a ruler who should regenerate the world. The occasion of the shout is the presumed deification of one Daphnis who is dead.

[22]Virg. Ecl. iv. 46:

Aggredere, ô magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores,Cara deum soboles, magnum Jovis incrementum.

Ecl. v. 62:

Ipsi lætitia voces ad sidera jactanIntonsi montes, ipsæ jam carmina rupes,Ipsa sonant arbusta, Deus, deus ille, Menalca!

"Oh come and receive the mighty honours: the time draws nigh, O beloved offspring of the gods, O great increase 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 xl. 3, 4. "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord! make straight in the desert 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 straight, and the rough places plain." Chap. xliv. 23. "Break forth into singing, ye mountains! O forest, and every tree therein! for the Lord hath redeemed Israel."—Pope.

The passage from Virgil, in which the shrubs are supposed to cry out "a god, a god," is not from the same Eclogue with the rest of Pope's extracts, and has no reference to the anticipated appearance of a ruler who should regenerate the world. The occasion of the shout is the presumed deification of one Daphnis who is dead.

[23]The repetition is in the true spirit of poetry, "Deus, deus ipse." The whole passage indeed is finely worked up from "lofty Lebanon" to the magnificent and powerful appeal, "Hark! a glad voice."—Bowles.

[24]This line is faulty, for the same reason as given in the remark on "nodding forests." The action is brought too near, and for that reason the image no longer appears grand.—Bowles.

[25]He seems to have had in his eye Cromwell's translation of Ovid, Amor, ii. 16:Then, as you pass, let mountains homage payAnd bow their tow'ring heads to smooth your way.—Wakefield.

[25]He seems to have had in his eye Cromwell's translation of Ovid, Amor, ii. 16:

Then, as you pass, let mountains homage payAnd bow their tow'ring heads to smooth your way.—Wakefield.

[26]Isaiah xlii. 18.—Pope."Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see."

[27]The sense and language show, that by "visual ray," the poet meant the sight, or, as Milton calls it, indeed, something less boldly, "the visual nerve." And no critic would quarrel with the figure which calls the instrument of vision by the name of the cause. But though the term be just, nay noble, and even sublime, yet the expression of "thick films" is faulty, and he fell into it by a common neglect of the following rule of good writing, that when a figurative word is used, whatsoever is predicated of it ought not only to agree in terms to the thing to which the figure is applied, but likewise to that from which the figure is taken. "Thick films" agree only with the thing to which it is applied, namely, to the sight or eye; and not to that from which it is taken, namely, a ray of light coming to the eye. He should have said "thick clouds," which would have agreed with both. But these inaccuracies are not to be found in his later poems.—Warburton.Concanen had previously made the same objection in his Supplement to the Profound, and Pope has written in the margin, "Milton," who uses "visual ray," Par. Lost, iii. 620, "visual nerve" xi. 415, and "visual beam," Samson Agonistes, ver. 163; but none of these passages support Pope's misapplication of the phrase "thick films" to rays of light.

Concanen had previously made the same objection in his Supplement to the Profound, and Pope has written in the margin, "Milton," who uses "visual ray," Par. Lost, iii. 620, "visual nerve" xi. 415, and "visual beam," Samson Agonistes, ver. 163; but none of these passages support Pope's misapplication of the phrase "thick films" to rays of light.

[28]Isaiah xxxv. 5.—Pope."The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped."

[29]Isaiah xxxv. 6.—Pope."Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing."

[30]I wonder Dr. Warton had not here pointed out the force and the beauty of this most comprehensive and striking line.—Bowles.

[31]The verse, as first published, stoodHe wipes the tears for ever from our eyes,which was from Milton's Lycidas, ver. 181:And wipe the tears for ever from his eyes.Steele having objected that Pope's line "in exalted and poetical spirit" was below the original, Isaiah xxv. 8,—"The Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces,"—the poet altered his text without, perhaps, either injuring or improving it.

[31]The verse, as first published, stood

He wipes the tears for ever from our eyes,

which was from Milton's Lycidas, ver. 181:

And wipe the tears for ever from his eyes.

Steele having objected that Pope's line "in exalted and poetical spirit" was below the original, Isaiah xxv. 8,—"The Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces,"—the poet altered his text without, perhaps, either injuring or improving it.

[32]Isaiah xxv. 8.—Pope."He will swallow up death in victory."The meaning of the original has been missed by Pope. The promise was not that men should cease to die, which would be the ease if Death was "bound in adamantine chains," but that death should lose its terrors through "the life and immortality brought to light by the gospel," and be welcomed as the passport to a blissful eternity.

[32]Isaiah xxv. 8.—Pope."He will swallow up death in victory."

The meaning of the original has been missed by Pope. The promise was not that men should cease to die, which would be the ease if Death was "bound in adamantine chains," but that death should lose its terrors through "the life and immortality brought to light by the gospel," and be welcomed as the passport to a blissful eternity.

[33]"He" is redundant.—Warton.

[34]Isaiah xl. 11.—Pope."He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom."

[35]He was betrayed into a little impropriety here, by not being aware that the "bosom," in classic use, commonly means the capacious flow of the eastern garments.—Wakefield.

[36]Isaiah ix. 6.—Pope."His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."

[37]Isaiah ii. 4.—Pope."They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

[38]The words "covered o'er" form an insipid termination of this verse.—Wakefield.

[39]Mr. Steevens aptly quotes Virg. Æn. vi. 165:Ære ciere viros.With breathing brass to kindle fierce alarms. Dryden.—Wakefield.

[39]Mr. Steevens aptly quotes Virg. Æn. vi. 165:

Ære ciere viros.With breathing brass to kindle fierce alarms. Dryden.—Wakefield.

[40]Isaiah lxv. 21, 22.—Pope."And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat."

[41]A line almost wholly borrowed from Dryden's Britannica Rediviva:And finish what thy god-like sire begins—Wakefield.

[41]A line almost wholly borrowed from Dryden's Britannica Rediviva:

And finish what thy god-like sire begins—Wakefield.

[42]St. John iv. 37. "One soweth, and another reapeth."—Wakefield.

[43]Isaiah xxxv. 1.—Pope."The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose."

[44]Virg. Ecl. iv. 28:Molli paulatim flavescet campus arista,Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva,Et duræ quercus sudabunt roscida mella."The fields shall grow yellow with ripened ears, and the red grape shall hang upon the wild brambles, and the hard oak shall distil honey like dew."Isaiah xxxv. 7. "The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: In the habitation where dragons lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes." Chap. lv. ver. 13. "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle-tree."—Pope.

[44]Virg. Ecl. iv. 28:

Molli paulatim flavescet campus arista,Incultisque rubens pendebit sentibus uva,Et duræ quercus sudabunt roscida mella.

"The fields shall grow yellow with ripened ears, and the red grape shall hang upon the wild brambles, and the hard oak shall distil honey like dew."

Isaiah xxxv. 7. "The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: In the habitation where dragons lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes." Chap. lv. ver. 13. "Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle-tree."—Pope.

[45]Pope has been happy in introducing this circumstance.—Warton.

[46]Isaiah xli. 19, and chap. lv. 13.—Pope."I will set in the desert the fir-tree, and the pine, and the box-tree together."

[47]Virg. Ecl. iv. 21:Ipsæ lacte domum referent distenta capelæUbera, nec magnos metuent armeuta leones.—Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneniOccidet."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 xi. 6, 7, 8. "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 together: 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."—Pope.

[47]Virg. Ecl. iv. 21:

Ipsæ lacte domum referent distenta capelæUbera, nec magnos metuent armeuta leones.—Occidet et serpens, et fallax herba veneniOccidet.

"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 xi. 6, 7, 8. "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 together: 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."—Pope.

[48]The similarity of the rhymes in this couplet to those of the preceding is a blemish to this passage.—Wakefield.

[49]Isaiah lxv. 25.—Pope."The lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat."

[50]Pope's line may have been suggested by Ovid's description of the transformation of Cadmus and his wife into snakes. Of Cadmus it is said, Met. iv. 595, thatille suæ lambebat conjugis ora;and of husband and wife, when the change in both was complete, thatNunc quoque nec fugiunt hominem, nec vulnere lædunt.

[50]Pope's line may have been suggested by Ovid's description of the transformation of Cadmus and his wife into snakes. Of Cadmus it is said, Met. iv. 595, that

ille suæ lambebat conjugis ora;

and of husband and wife, when the change in both was complete, that

Nunc quoque nec fugiunt hominem, nec vulnere lædunt.

[51]Originally,And with their forky tongue and pointless sting shall play.Wakefield conjectures that Pope altered the line from having learnt the erroneousness of the vulgar belief that the sting of the serpent is in its tail. The expression he substituted in the text is borrowed from Dryden's Palamon and Arcite, quoted by Wakefield:And troops of lions innocently play.

[51]Originally,

And with their forky tongue and pointless sting shall play.

Wakefield conjectures that Pope altered the line from having learnt the erroneousness of the vulgar belief that the sting of the serpent is in its tail. The expression he substituted in the text is borrowed from Dryden's Palamon and Arcite, quoted by Wakefield:

And troops of lions innocently play.

[52]Salem is used for Jerusalem in Psalm lxxvi. 2.

[53]Isaiah lx. 1.—Pope."Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee."

[54]The thoughts of Isaiah, which compose the latter part of the poem, are wonderfully elevated, and much above those general exclamations of Virgil, which make the loftiest parts of his Pollio:Magnus ab integro sæclorum nascitur ordo—toto surget gens aurea mundo!—incipient magni procedere menses!Aspice, venture lætentur ut omnia sæclo! &c.The reader needs only to turn to the passages of Isaiah, here cited.—Pope.

[54]The thoughts of Isaiah, which compose the latter part of the poem, are wonderfully elevated, and much above those general exclamations of Virgil, which make the loftiest parts of his Pollio:

Magnus ab integro sæclorum nascitur ordo—toto surget gens aurea mundo!—incipient magni procedere menses!Aspice, venture lætentur ut omnia sæclo! &c.

The reader needs only to turn to the passages of Isaiah, here cited.—Pope.

[55]The open vowelthy eyesis particularly offensive.—Wakefield.

[56]Isaiah lx. 4.—Pope."Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side."

[57]Isaiah lx. 3.—Pope."And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising."

[58]Dryden in his Aureng-Zebe:What sweet soe'er Sabæan springs disclose.—Steevens.Saba, in Arabia, was noted for its aromatic products. Thus Milton, Par. Lost, iv. 161:Sabæan odours from the spicy shoreOf Araby the blest.

[58]Dryden in his Aureng-Zebe:

What sweet soe'er Sabæan springs disclose.—Steevens.

Saba, in Arabia, was noted for its aromatic products. Thus Milton, Par. Lost, iv. 161:

Sabæan odours from the spicy shoreOf Araby the blest.

[59]Isaiah lx. 6.—Pope."All they from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord."

[60]Broome, in Pope's Miscellanies, p. 104:A stream of glory, and a flood of day.—Wakefield.

[60]Broome, in Pope's Miscellanies, p. 104:

A stream of glory, and a flood of day.—Wakefield.

[61]Isaiah lx. 19, 20.—Pope."The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory."

[62]Cynthia is an improper, because a classical word.—Warton.Sandys' Ovid:Now waxing Phœbe filled her wained horns.—Wakefield.

[62]Cynthia is an improper, because a classical word.—Warton.

Sandys' Ovid:

Now waxing Phœbe filled her wained horns.—Wakefield.

[63]Here is a remarkably fine effect of versification. The poet rises with his subject, and the correspondent periods seem to flow more copious and majestic with the grandeur and sublimity of the theme.—Bowles.

[64]This fine expression is borrowed from Dryden's Ode on Mrs. Killegrew:Thou wilt have time enough for hymns divine,Since heaven's eternal year is thine.—Wakefield.

[64]This fine expression is borrowed from Dryden's Ode on Mrs. Killegrew:

Thou wilt have time enough for hymns divine,Since heaven's eternal year is thine.—Wakefield.

[65]Isaiah li. 6, and chap. liv. 10.—Pope."The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, but my salvation shall be for ever.—For the mountains shall depart, and the hills shall be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee."

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