Virgilius Evangelizans Poppio. A Poem Upon Christmas—day. Poem by Daniel Baker

I.
Enough of Rural Things, my Muse,
The lowly Shrubs and Bushes of the Field
To all an equal Pleasure do not yield.
'Tis Time for thee a nobler Theam to chuse:
Or if of Woods thou still do sing,
Let them be such Woods as are
Worthy of a Consuls Care.
Enough my Muse, of Love and Woman--kind.
Take now thy Lute and to it bind
A loud and everlasting String,
And make the joyful News through the wide World to ring.
The golden Age is come that shall unfold
Sibylla's mystick Oracles of old.
Behold! at last the heav'nly Maid is come,
Whose long--expected Fruit shall bless us all,
And from the Regions of high Heav'n recall
The Days of Paradise before the Fall.
See, how her chast and sacred Womb
Does with Seed immortal swell!
From Heav'n the best Conception did descend,
May Angels at their Master's Birth attend,
And to Mankind the welcome Tidings tell,
That by the Merit of this high--born Child
The ancient Enmity is now exil'd,
And God and Man are reconcil'd;
Peace on the Earth through him, the Prince of Peace doth dwell.


II.
Thou Pollio thou shalt surely see
This Darling of Manking, the World's Desire:
For yet before thy Consul--ship expire
The wond'rous Things shall be perform'd, that are foretold by me.
For now the Womb of Time so big is grown,
It cannot long the ripen'd Birth with hold:
A new Account of Years comes marching on,
The Iron Age will soon improve to Gold.
Come, blessed Infant, whom high Heav'n ordains
The promis'd Renovation to begin;
'Tis thou must wash away the Stains
And Footsteps of Orig'nal Sin,
And ease Man--kind of all the Fears they now are in.
A Life divine thou on the Earth shalt lead
Amidst thy Saints conversing Face to Face,
A Priviledge not giv'n 'till now to human Race.
Upon thy Foes thy Foot shall tread:
Thou thy great Father's Gift the World shalt sway,
And all the Kingdoms of the Earth thy Scepter shall obey.


III.
In Honour of thy Birth, the Earth untill'd
All kinds of Sovereign Herbs and smiling Flow'rs shall yield.
Roses and Lilies of their own accord
Shall grow about the Cradle of their Lord.
All Creatures in thy Service shall agree;
The Kine shall dutifully bring
Their well fill'd Bottles to their Infant King,
And thou shalt suck the free--will Off'rings of the Bee
'Twixt tame and savage Beasts there shall remain
No diff'rence in thy peaceful Reign,
The Kids with Wolves shall safely dwell,
And Lambs sleep boldly in the Leopard's Cell,
The Flocks shall feed secure, and for thy sake
The Lion and the calf shall Leagues of Friendship make.
Nay, Man more savage yet than these,
Shall lay aside the Thoughts of War:
The sound of Trumpets then shall cease,
No loud Alarums shall disturb Man's ease;
But Janus Gates an universal Peace shall bar.
Th' old Serpent's Head shall bruised be,
And all his Poison taken out by thee,
No Herbs of painful Nature shall be found;
But rich Assyrian Odours then shall grow on ev'ry Ground.


IV.
But as in Strength and Stature thou shalt grow,
Thy Fame shall new Advances make:
Whatever ancient Prophets spake
Thou shalt not only answer but out--do.
The Virtues of thy Royal Line,
Which in the sacred Books so clearly shine,
Shall be obscur'd and over--cast by thine:
As less illustrious Stars slip out of sight,
When once the Sun steps forth all clad in golden Light.
The cursed Earth, which like a Desert lies,
A barren and unlovely Land,
Into a fair and fruitful Paradise
Shall be reformed by thy skilful Hand.
Thy precious Seed in ev'ry Field
A manifold Encrease shall yield.
The Wood's wild Plants shall feel thy Pow'r divine,
Their Nature thou shalt change, their Fruit refine,
And bid the rugged Thorn become a noble Vine.
On Brambles thou the purple Rose shalt set,
And stubborn Oaks shall store of tastful Honey sweat.


V.
Yet still some Reliques of the Prim'tive Stain
Shall in the Root of tainted Nature lurk,
And countermine thy sacred Work,
Reducing Sin, and Sin's unlucky Fruits again.
The Love of Gold shall yet enslave Man--kind,
And to vexatious Cares and Labours bind.
Some to the toilsom Plough shall yoaked be,
And others travel through the Pathless Sea,
Pride and Ambition still shall reign,
And Princes to the Wars their People train;
And foolish Men their Wits shall stain
T' invent more dreadful Engines still
The Life of Innocents to spill.


VI.
But when thy glorious Body shall receive
It's perfect growth, it's full increase,
All Pain and Labour then shall cease.
The Mariner the stormy Sea shall leave:
Of Traffick there shall be no further need,
For ev'ry Land shall all things useful breed,
With Plough--shares torn, the Earth no more shall be
The lab'ring Ox shall then go free;
Nor shall the tender Vine by cutting bleed,
The Dyers feigned Art shall useless lie:
Instructed Nature shall the Place of Art supply.
Thy Flocks shall precious Colours freely bear,
Some Azure Wool, and some shall Scarlet wear.
Soft to the Touch, and to the Eye more fair
Than Persian Silks, or Tyrian Hangings are:
And all thy Lambs shall yield a golden Fleece,
Richer than that at Colchos, sought by all the Youth of Greece.
So Heav'n decrees, so Prophecies relate;
This blessed Change we all expect from thy resistless Fate.


VII.
Come mighty Prince the Time draws near,
Thou, God's beloved Son, Heav'ns shining Crown,
Thou Joy of Angels hasten down:
The sinful Earth to visit do not fear;
Thy Presence will create its own Heav'n ev'ry where.
See how the Heav'ns, the Earth, and spacious Sea
Beneath the Weight of Sin and Vanity
Do groan and pant, and long for thee,
Who art ordain'd their great Deliverer to be.
See how they smile with secret Joy,
Stretch forth their Necks, and raise their Heads on high.
O might I live to see that Joyful Day,
When free'd from Sin and Vanity,
Both Heav'n and Earth renew'd shall be,
And re--obtain their sweet and ancient Liberty!
When the last Fire shall purge their Dross away,
But leave the Substance still behind,
(Like precious Gold) more rich and more refin'd,
No more obnoxious now to Bondage or Decay.
When, Sin and Malice driven down to Hell,
(Their native Place, their ancient Home,
From whence they never more shall come)
Just Men and meek in endless Bliss on the new Earth shall dwell.
O might I live thy noble Acts to tell!
Doubtless that glorious Subject will inspire
Thy Servant's Breast with such exalted Fire,
That the blest Spirits, and th' immortal Quire
Shall listen to my Verses, and admire
To hear Angelick Songs breath'd from an human Lyre.