“We shall conclude our account of this period by ... [referring to] the ‘[♦]Davideis[¹] of the melancholy [Abraham] Cowley (1618–1667) in which he seems to have borne in mind the language of the Bible.. ..’ ‘It will be in the recollection of every person, that there flourished in the latter half of the seventeenth century three churchmen, whose works are still regarded as models of style and mines of learning and thought—[Bishop Jeremy] Taylor (1613–1667), [Archbishop John] Tillotson (1630–1694) and [Dr. Isaac] Barrow (1630–1677); whose writings, if they have ever been equalled, have certainly never been surpassed. The familiarity with the pages of Holy Writ which these illustrious men must infallibly have acquired during the course of that severe education which made them what they were, could not but have exercised a very great influence upon their works....’”
[♦] “Davidies” replaced with “Davideis”
[¹] Poems: ... IV. Davideis, Or, A Sacred Poem Of The Troubles Of David. Written by A. Cowley.... London, Printed for Humphrey Moseley, at the Prince’s Arms in St. Paul’s Church-yard, M.DC.LVI.
“There are many allusions to Sacred Writ in the works of [John] Dryden (1631–1700), particularly in his polemical works,... In the Hind and Panther....[¹]
[¹] The | Hind | And The | Panther. | A | Poem,| In Three Parts. | ... London, | Printed for Jacob Tonson, at the Judges Head in | Chancery Lane near Fleet-street, 1687. (4to. 4 ll. + 145 pp. [B. M.])
Licensed April the 11th, 1687.
“In [Thomas] Parnell’s (1679–1718) beautiful poem of the ‘Hermit’[¹] there are several traces of Biblical influence:...
[¹] Poems On Several Occasions. Written by Dr. Thomas Parnell, Late Arch-Deacon of Clogher: And Published by Mr. Pope.... London: Printed for B. Lintot, at the Cross-Keys, between the Temple Gates in Fleet-street, 1722. (8º. 4 ll. + 221 pp. + 1 l.)
“The Hermit,” pp. 164–180.
“A perusal of [Alexander] Pope’s (1688–1744) Messiah,[¹] in which many of the expressions are taken, word for word, from the book of Holy Writ, will convince any reader of the influence which has been exercised by it upon this poet. We have the authority of Mr. [Joseph] Addison (1672–1719) himself for the assertion, that he was fully sensible of the beauties of the English translation. ‘Our language,’ says the writer, in the 405th Number of the Spectator, ‘has received innumerable elegancies and improvements from the infusion of Hebraisms which are derived to it out of the poetical passages of Holy Writ;—they give a force and energy to our expression, warm and animate our language, and convey our thought in more ardent and intense phrases than any that are to be met with in our own tongue.’ Addison was the founder of that pure, classical, and polished style which has, ever since the publication of the Spectator, been considered as the ne plus ultra of that manner of writing. Knowing then, as we do, the sentiments of this accomplished writer, it is not to be supposed that he would, in the formation of his own style, have neglected to borrow largely from that which he praised so much; and thus it appears probable that the translation, throughout in this case itself a direct agent, has yet exercised a beneficial influence upon the prose even of modern writers....”
[¹] A sacred pastoral first published in the Spectator, May 14th, 1712. It has also been translated into Hebrew:—