Eclogue<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\nYe nymphs of Solyma! begin the song:
\nTo heavenly themes sublimer strains belong.
\nThe mossy fountains, and the sylvan shades,
\nThe dreams of Pyndus, and th\u2019 Aonian maids,
\nDelight no more\u2014O Thou, my voice inspire
\nWho touch\u2019d Isaiah\u2019s hallow\u2019d lips with fire!
\nRapt into future times the bard begun:
\nA virgin shall conceive, a virgin bear a Son!
\nFrom Jesse\u2019s root behold a Branch arise,
\nWhose sacred flower with fragrance fills the skies:
\nTh\u2019 ethereal spirit o\u2019er its leaves shall move,
\nAnd on its top descend the mystic dove,
\nYe heavens! from high the dewy nectar pour,
\nAnd in soft silence shed the kindly show\u2019r!
\nThe sick and weak the healing plant shall aid,
\nFrom storms a shelter, and from heat a shade.
\nAll crimes shall cease, and ancient fraud shall fail
\nReturning Justice lifts aloft her scale;
\nPeace o\u2019er the world her olive wand extend,
\nAnd white-robed Innocence from heav\u2019n descend.
\nSwift fly the years, and rise th\u2019 expected morn!
\nO spring to light, auspicious Babe be born!
\nSee, Nature hastes her earliest fruits to bring,
\nWith all the incense of the breathing spring;
\nSee lofty Lebanon his head advance,
\nSee nodding forests in the mountains dance:
\nSee spicy clouds from lowly Sharon rise,
\nAnd Carmel\u2019s flowery top perfume the skies!
\nHark! a glad voice the lonely desert cheers;
\n\u201cPrepare the way! a God, a God appears!\u201d
\n\u201cA God, a God!\u201d the vocal hills reply;
\nThe rocks proclaim th\u2019 approaching Deity.
\nLo, Earth receives Him from the bending skies!
\nSink down, ye mountains, and, ye valleys, rise!
\nWith heads declined, ye cedars, homage pay!
\nBe smooth, ye rocks! ye rapid floods, give way!
\nThe Savior comes, by ancient bards foretold:
\nHear him, ye deaf; and, all ye blind, behold!
\nHe from thick films shall purge the visual ray,
\nAnd on the sightless eye-ball pour the day:
\n\u2018Tis he th\u2019 obstructed paths of sound shall clear,
\nAnd bid new music charm th\u2019 unfolding ear:
\nThe dumb shall sing, the lame his crutch forego,
\nAnd leap exulting like the bounding roe.
\nNo sigh, no murmur, the wide world shall hear,
\nFrom every face he wipes off every tear.
\nIn adamantine chains shall Death be bound,
\nAnd Hell\u2019s grim tyrant feel th\u2019 eternal wound.
\nAs the good shepherd tends his fleecy care,
\nSeeks freshest pasture and the purest air,
\nExplores the lost, the wandering sheep directs,
\nBy day o\u2019ersees them, and by night protects;
\nThe tender lambs he raises in his arms,
\nFeeds from his hands, and in his bosom warms;
\nThus shall mankind His guardian care engage,
\nThe promised father of the future age.
\nNo more shall nation against nation rise,
\nNor ardent warriors meet with hateful eyes,
\nNor fields with gleaming steel be cover\u2019d o\u2019er,
\nThe brazen trumpets kindle rage no more;
\nBut useless lances into scythes shall bend,
\nAnd the broad falchion in a ploughshare end.
\nThen palaces shall rise; the joyful son
\nShall finish what his short-lived sire begun;
\nTheir vines a shadow to their race shall yield,
\nAnd the same hand that sow\u2019d shall reap the field.
\nThe swain in barren deserts with surprise
\nSees lilies spring, and sudden verdure rise;
\nAnd starts amidst the thirsty wilds to hear
\nNew falls of water murmuring in his ear.
\nOn rifted rocks, the dragon\u2019s late abodes,
\nThe green reed trembles, and the bulrush nods.
\nWaste sandy valleys, once perplex\u2019d with thorn,
\nThe spiry fir and shapely box adorn;
\nTo leafless shrubs the flowering palm succeeds,
\nAnd odorous myrtle to the noisome weeds.
\nThe lambs with wolves shall graze the verdant mead,
\nAnd boys in flowery bands the tiger lead;
\nThe steer and lion at one crib shall meet,
\nAnd harmless serpents lick the pilgrim\u2019s feet.
\nThe smiling infant in his hand shall take
\nThe crested basilisk and speckled snake,
\nPleased, the green lustre of the scales survey,
\nAnd with their forky tongue shall innocently play.
\nRise, crown\u2019d with light, imperial Salem, rise,
\nExalt thy towery head, and lift thy eyes!
\nSee a long race thy spacious courts adorn;
\nSee future sons and daughters yet unborn,
\nIn crowding ranks on every side arise,
\nDemanding life, impatient for the skies!
\nSee barbarous nations at thy gates attend,
\nWalk in thy light, and in thy temple bend!
\nSee thy bright altars throng\u2019d with prostrate kings,
\nAnd heap\u2019d with products of Sabsean springs!
\nFor thee Idumea\u2019s spicy forests blow,
\nAnd seeds of gold in Ophir\u2019s mountains glow.
\nSee heaven its sparkling portals wide display,
\nAnd break upon thee in a flood of day.
\nNo more the rising sun shall gild the morn,
\nNor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn;
\nBut lost, dissolved in thy superior rays,
\nOne tide of glory, one unclouded blaze
\nO\u2019erflow thy courts: the Light himself shall shine
\nReveal\u2019d, and God\u2019s eternal day be thine!
\nThe seas shall waste, the skies in smoke decay,
\nRocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;
\nBut fix\u2019d His word, His saving pow\u2019r remains;\u2014
\nThy realm for ever lasts, thy own Messiah reigns.<\/p>\n
I pray that you and yours have a Blessed Christmas. Amen.<\/i><\/p>\n
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