Some nymphs there are, too confcious of their face,

80

For life predeftin'd to the gnomes embrace.
Thefe fwell their profpects, and exalt their pride,
When offers are disdain'd, and love deny'd :
Then gay ideas crowd the vacant brain,
While peers, and dukes, and all their fweeping train,
And garters, stars, and coronets appear,
And in foft founds, your Grace falutes their ear,
- 'Tis these that early taint the female foul,
Inftrua the eyes of young coquettes to roll,
Teach infant cheeks a bidden blush to know,
And little hearts to flutter at a beau.

90

Oft, when the world imagine women ftray,~
-The fylphs through myftic mazes guide their way,
Through all the giddy circle they pursue,
And old impertinence expel by new,
What tender maid but must a victim fall
To one man's treat, but for another's ball?
When Florio fpeaks, what virgin could withstand,
- If gentle Damon did not fqueeze her hand?
With varying vanities, from every part,
They fhift the moving toy-shop of their heart; 100
Where wigs with wigs, with fword-knots fword-
knots ftrive,

Beaux banish beaux, and coaches coaches drive.
This erring mortals levity may call;
Oh, blind to truth the fylphs contrive it all.
Of thefe am I, who thy protection claim,
A watchful sprite, and Ariel is my name.
Late, as I rang'd the crystal wilds of air,
In the clear mirror of thy ruling star
I faw, alas! fome dread event impend,
Ere to the main this morning fun defcend;
But heaven reveals not what, or how, or where:
Warn'd by the fylph, oh pious maid, beware!
This to difclofe is all thy guardian can;
Beware of all, but most beware of man!

130

And now, unveil'd, the toilet ftands difplay'd, Each filver vafe in myftic order laid. Firft, rob'd in white, the nymph intent adores, With head uncover'd, the cofmetic powers. A heavenly image in the glass appears, To that the bends, to that her eyes the rears; Th' inferior priestess, at her altar side, Trembling, begins the facred rites of pride. - Unnumber'd treasures ope at once, and here The various offerings of the world appear; From each fhe nicely culls with curious toil, And decks the goddess with the glittering spoil. This cafket India's glowing gems unlocks, And all Arabia breathes from yonder box. The tortoise here and elephant unite, Transform'd to combs, the fpeckled and the white. Here files of pins extend their fhining rows, Puffs, powders, patches, bibles, billet-doux. Now awful beauty puts on all its arms;

Repairs her fmiles, awakens every grace,
And calls forth all the wonders of her face:
Sees by degrees a purer blush arise,
And keener lightnings quicken in her eyes.
The bufy fylphs furround their darling care;
Thefe fet the head, and those divide the hair;
Some fold the fleeve, whilft others plait the gown;
And Betty's prais'd for labours not her own.

CANTO II,

Nor with more glories in th' ethereal plain,
The fun first rifes o'er the purpled main,
Than, iffuing forth, the rival of his beams
Launch'd on the bofom of the filver'd Thames.
Fair nymphs and well-drefs'd youths around her
fhone,

IO

But every eye was fix'd on her alone.
On her white breast a sparkling cross fhe wore,
Which Jews might kifs, and Infidels adore.
Her lively looks a fprightly mind disclose,
Quick as her eyes, and as unfix'd as those :
Favours to none, to all she smiles extends;
Oft the rejects, but never once offends.
Bright as the fun, her eyes the gazers strike,
And, like the fun, they fhine on all alike.
Yet graceful cafe, and sweetness void of pride,
Might hide her faults, if belles had faults to hide:
If to her fhare fome female errors fall,
Look on her face, and you'll forget them all.
This nymph, to the destruction of mankind,
Nourish'd two locks, which graceful hung be-

hind

20

In equal curls, and well confpir'd to deck
With fhining ringlets the smooth ivory neck.
Love in thefe labyrinths his flaves detains,
And mighty hearts are held in flender chains.
With hairy fprings we the birds betray;
Slight lines of hair furprise the finny prey;
Fair treffes man's imperial race infnare,
And beauty draws us with a fingle hair.
Th' adventurous baron the bright locks ad-
mir'd;

He faw, he wish'd, and to the prize aspir'd.
Refolv'd to win, he meditates the way,
By force to ravish, or by fraud betray;
For when fuccefs a lovers toil attends,
Few afk, if fraud or force attain'd his ends.

For this, ere Phoebus rofe, he had implor'd
Propitious heav'n, and every power ador'd;
But chiefly Love-to Love an altar built,
Of twelve vaft French romances neatly gilt.
There lay three garters, half a pair of gloves,
And all the trophics of his former loves.

VARIATIONS.

30

40

Ver. 4. Launch'd on the bofont] From hence the poem continues, in the first edition to ver. 46. The reft the winds difpers'd in empty air;

With tender billet-doux he lights the pyre,
And breathes three amorous fighs to raise the fire.
Then proftrate falls, and begs with ardent eyes
Soon to obtain, and long poffefs the prize:
The powers gave ear, and granted halt his prayer;
The reft, the winds difpers'd in empty air.

50

But now fecure the painted veffel glides,
The fun-beams trembling on the floating tides:
While melting mufic fteals upon the sky,
And foften'd founds along the waters die;
Smooth flow the waves, the zephers gently play,
Belinda fmil'd, and all the world was gay,
All but the fylph-with careful thoughts oppreft,
Th' impending wo fat heavy on his breast.
He funmons ftrait his denizens of air;
The lucid fquadrons round the fails repair;
Soft o'er the throud aërial whispers breathe,
That feem'd but zephyrs to the train beneath.
Some to the fun their infect wings unfold,
Waft on the breeze, or fink in clouds of gold;
Tranfparent forms, too fine for mortal fight,
Their fluid bodies half diffolv'd in light.
Loofe to the wind their airy garments flew,
Thin glittering textures of the filmy dew,
Dipp'd in the richest tinctures of the skies,
Where light difports in ever-mingling dyes,
While every beam new tranfient colours flings,
Colours that change whene'er they wave their
wings.

Amid the circle on the gilded mast,
Superior by the head was Ariel plac'd;
His purple pinions opening to the fun,
He rais'd his azure wand and thus begun :

Some dire difafter, or by force, or flight;
But what, or where, the fates have wrapp'd in
night.

Whether the nymph shall break Diana's law,
Or fome frail China-jar receive a flaw;
Or ftain her honour, or her new brocade;
Forget her prayers, or mifs a masquerade;
Or lose her heart, or necklace at a ball;

Or whether Heaven has deem'd that Shock muft fall.

Hafle then, ye fpirits! to your charge repair:
The fluttering fan be Zephyretta's care;
The drops to thee, Brillante, we confign;
And, Momentilla, let the watch be thine;
Do thou, Crifpiffa, tend her favourite Lock;
Ariel himself fhall be the guard of Shock.

70

Ye fylphs and fylphids, to your chief give ear;
Fays, fairies, genii, elves, and dæmons, hear!
Ye know the fpheres, and various tasks affign'd
By laws eternal to th' aërial kind.
Some in the fields of pureft æther play,
And bafk and whiten in the blaze of day;
Some guide the courfe of wondering orbs on
high,

Or roll the planets through the boundless sky; 80
Some, lefs refin'd, beneath the moon's pale light
Pursue the stars that shoot athwart the night,
Or fuck the mifts in groffer air below,
Or dip their pinions in the painted boy,
Or brew fierce tempefts on the wintery main,
Or o'er the glebe distil the kindly rain.
Others on earth o'er human race prefide,
Watch all their ways, and all their actions guide:
Of these the chief the care of nations own,
And guard with arms divine the British throne. 90
Our humbler province is to tend the fair,
Not a lefs pleafing, though lefs glorious care;
To fave the powder from too rude a gale,
Nor let th' imprifon'd effences exhale ;

To draw fresh colours from the vernal flowers;
To fteal from rainbows, ere they drop in fhowers,
A brighter wafh; to curl their waving hairs,
Affift their blufhes, and infpire their airs;
Nay oft, in dreams, invention we beflow,
To change a flounce, or add a furbelow.

This day, black omens threat the brightest

fair

whale.

Form a ftror g line about the filver bound, And guard the wide circumference around.

120

Whatever fpirit, careless of his charge,
His poft neglects, or leaves the fair at large,
Shall feel sharp vengeance foon o'ertake his fing
Be ftopp'd in vials, or tranfix'd with pins;
Or plung'd in lakes of bitter washes lie,
Or wedg'd whole ages in a bodkin's eye:
Gums and pomatums fhall his flight restrain,
While clogg'd he beats his filken wings in
vain;
130

Or alum ftyptics with contracting power
Shrink his thin effence like a fhrivel'd flower:
Or, as Ixion fix'd, the wretch fhall feel
The giddy motion of the whirling mill,
In fumes of burning chocolate fhall glow,
And tremble at the fea that froths below!

He spoke; the fpirits from the fails defcend:
Some, orb in orb, around the nymph extend;
Some thrid the mazy ringlets of her hair;
Some hang upon the pendents of her ear;
With beating hearts the dire event they wait,
Anxious, and trembling for the birth of fate.

CANTO III.

CLOSE by thofe meads, for ever crown'd with flowers, [towers, Where Thames with pride furveys his rifing There ftands a structure of majestic frame, Which from the neighbouring Hampton takes its

name.

Here Britain's statesmen oft the fall foredoom
Of foreign tyrants, and of nymphs at home;
Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey,
Doft fometimes couniel take-and fonetimes tea.

VARIATIONS.

Ver. 1. Clofe by thofe meads,] The first edition continues from this line to ver. 24. of this Canto.

Hither the heroes and the nymphs refort,
To tafle awhile the pleasures of a court;
In various talk th' instructive hours they past.
Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last';
One fpeaks the glory of the British queen,
And one defcribes a charming Indian screen;
A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes;
At every word a reputation dies.

Snuff, or the fan, fupply each pause of chat,
With finging, laughing, ogling, and all that.

Meanwhile, declining from the noon of day,
The fun obliquely shoots his burning ray;
The hungry judges foon the fentence fign,
And wretches hang, that jurymen may dine;
The merchant from th Exchange returns
peace,

And the long labours of the toilet cease. Belinda now, whom thirst of fame invites, Burns to encounter two adventurous knights, At Ombre fingly to decide their doom;

ΙΟ

20

in

And fwells her breaft with conquefts yet to

come.

30

Strait the three bands prepare in arms to join,
Each band the number of the facred nine,
Soon as the fpreads her hand, th' aërial guard
Defcend, and fit on each important card :
First Ariel perch'd upon a Matadore,
Then each according to the rank they bore:
For fylphs, yet mindful of their ancient race,
Are, as when women, wondrous fond of place.
Behold, four Kings in majesty rever'd,
With hoary wifkers and a forky beard;
And four fair Queens, whose hands sustain a
flower,

Th' expreffive emblem of their fofter power;
Four Knaves in garbs fuccinct, a trusty band;
Caps on their heads, and halberts in their hand;
And party-coloured troops, a fhining train,
Drawn forth to combat on the velvet plain.
The fkilful nymph reviews her force with

Puts forth one manly leg, to fight reveal'd,
The reft, his many-colour'd robe conceal'd.
The rebel Knave, who dares his prince engage,
Proves the juft victim of his royal rage.
Ev'n mighty Pam, that Kings and Queens o'er-
threw,

And mow'd down armies in the fights of Lu,
Sad chance of war! now deftitute of aid,
Falls undistinguish'd by the victor Spade!

60

Thus far both armies to Belinda yield; Now to the Baron fate inclines the field. His warlike Amazon her host invades, Th' imperial confort of the crown of Spades. The Club's black tyrant first her victim dy'd, Spite of his haughty mien, and barbarous pride: 70 What boots the regal circle on his head. His giant limbs in ftate unwieldy spread; That long behind he trails his pompous robe, And, of all monarchs, only grafps the globe?

The Baron now his Diamonds pours apace; Th' embroider'd King who fhows but half his face,

And his refulgent Queen with powers combin'd,
Of broken troops an eafy conquest find.
Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, in wild diforder feen,
With throngs promifcuous ftrow the level green. 80
Thus when difpers'd a routed army runs,
Of Afia's troops, and Afric's fable fons,
With like confufion different nations fly,
Of various habit, and of various dye,
The pierc'd battalions difunited fall,

In heaps on heaps; one fate o'ewhelms them all.
The Knave of Diamonds tries his wily arts,
And wins (oh fhameful chance!) the Queen of

Hearts.

At this, the blood the virgin's face forfook,
A livid palenefs fpreads o'er all her look;
She fees, and trenibles at th' approaching ill,
Juft in the jaws of ruin, and codilie.
And now (as oft in fome diftemper'st state)
On one nice trick depends the general fate,
An Ace of Hearts fteps forth: the King unseen
Lurk'd in her hand, and mourn'd his captive
Queen :

He fprings to vengeance with an eager pace,
And falls like thunder on the proftrate Ace.
The nymph exulting fills with fhouts the sky;
The walls, the woods, and long canals reply. roo
O thoughtless mortals! ever blind to fate,
Too foon dejected, and too foon elate.
Sudden, thefe honours fhall be snatch'd away,
And curs'd for ever this victorious day.

For lo! the board with cups and fpoons is crown'd,

The berries crackle, and the mill turns round:
On fhining altars of Japan they raife
The filver lamp; the fiery fpirits blaze:
From filver fpouts the grateful liquors glide,
While China's earth receives the fmoking

Ver. 103. Sudden the board, &c.] From hence

At once they gratify their scent and taste,
And frequent cups prolong the rich repast.
Strait hover round the fair her airy band;
Some, as the fipp'd, the fuming liquor fann'd;
Some o'er her lap their careful plumes difplay'd,
Trembling, and confcious of the rich brocade.
Coffee (which makes the politician wife,
And fee through all things with his half-fhut eyes)
Sent up in vapours to the Baron's brain
New ftratagems, the radiant Lock to gain.
Ah cease, rafh youth! defist ere 'tis too late,
Fear the juft gods, and think of Scylla's fate!
Chang'd to a bird, and fent to flit in air,
She dearly pays for Nifus' injured hair!

120

But when to mifchief mortals bend their will, How foon they find fit instruments of ill! Juft then, Clariffa drew with tempting grace A two-edg'd weapon from her fhining cafe: So ladies, in romance, affift their knight, Prefent the spear, and arm him for the fight 130 He takes the gift with reverence, and extends The little engine on his fingers ends; This juft behind Belinda's neck he spread,' As o'er the fragrant fteanas fhe bends her head. Swift to the Lock a thousand sprites repair, A thoufand wings, by turns, blow back the hair; And thrice they twitch'd the diamond in her ear; Thrice fhe look'd back, and thrice the foe drew

150

T'inclose the Lock; now joins it, to divide. Ev'n then, before the fatal engine clos'd, A wretched fylph too fondly interpos'd; Fate urg'd the fheers, and cut the fylph in twain (But airy substance foon unites again) 'The meeting points the facred hair diffever From the fair head, for ever, and for ever!

Then flash'd the living lightning from her eyes, And screams of horror rend th' affrighted skies. Not louder fhrieks to pitying heaven are caft, When husbands, or when lap-dogs, breathe their laft!

Or when rich China veffels, fall'n from high,
In glittering duft and painted fragments lie! 160
Let wreaths of triumph now my temples twine
(The victor cry'd), the glorious prize is mine!

While fish in streams, or birds delight in air,'
Or in a coach and fix the British fair,
As long as Atalantis fhall be read,
Or the fmall pillow grace a lady's bed,
While vifits fhall be paid on folemn days,
When numerous wax-lights in bright order blaze,'
While nymphs take treats, or affignations give,
So long my honour, name, and praife, fhall live! 170
What time would fpare, from steel receives its date,
And monuments, like men, fubmit to fate!
Steel could the labour of the gods destroy,
And strike to duft th' imperial powers of Troy;
Steel could the works of mortal pride confound,
And hew triumphal arches to the ground.

What wonder then, fair nymph! thy hairs fhould feel

The conquering force of unrefisted steel?

CANTO IV.

BUT anxious cares the penfive nymph oppress'd,
And fecret paffions labour'd in her breast.
Not fcornful virgins who their charms furvive,
Not youthful kings in battle seiz'd alive,
Not ardent lovers robb'd of all their blifs,
Not ancient ladies when refus'd a kifs,
Not tyrants fierce that unrepenting die,
Not Cynthia when her mantau's pinn'd awry,
E'er felt fuch rage, refentment, and despair,
As thou, fad virgin! for thy ravifh'd hair.

For, that fad moment, when the sylphs with-
drew,

And Ariel weeping from Belinda flew,
Umbriel, a dusky, melancholy fprite,
Down to the central earth, his proper fcene,
As ever fully'd the fair face of light,
Repair'd to fearch the gloomy cave of fpleen.

Swift on his footy pinions flits the gnome,
And in a vapour reach'd the difinal dome.
No cheerful breeze this fulien region knows,
The dreaded eaft is all the wind that blows." 20
Here in a grotto, fhelter'd clofe from air,
And screen'd in fhades from day's detefted glare,
Pain at her fide, and Megrim at her head.
She fighs for ever on her penfive bed,

Two handmaids wait the throne: alike in
place,

But differing far in figure and in face.
Here ftood Ill-nature like an ancient reid,
Her wrinkled form in black and white array'd;`
With ftore of prayers, for mornings, nights, and

noons,

Her hand is fill'd; her bofom with lampoons. 3

VARIATIONS.

Ver. 134. In the first edition it was thus:
As o'er the fragrant ftream the bends her head,
First he expands the glittering forfex wide
T'enclose the Lock; then joins it to divide :
The meeting points the facred hair dissever
From the fair head, for ever and for ever. Ver. 154.

VARIATIONS.

Ver. II. For, that fad moment, &c.] All the lines from hence to the 94th verse, defcribe the houfe of Spleen, and are not in the first edition; inftead of them followed only these :

While her rack'd foul repofe and peace requires, The fierce Thaleftris fans the rifing fires;

There Affectation, with a fickly mien,
Shows in her cheek the roles of eighte.n,
Practis'd to lifp, and hang the head aside.
Faints into airs, and languishes with pride,
On the rich quilt finks with becoming wo,
Wrapt in a gown, for sickness, and for show.
The fair ones feel such maladies as thefe,
When cach new night-drefs gives a new disease.
A constant vapour o'er the palace flics;
Strange phantoms rifing as the mifts arise;
Dreadful, as hermits dreams in haunted shades,
Or bright, as vifions of expiring maids.
Now glaring fiends, and fnakes on rolling fpires,
Pale spectres, gaping tombs, and purple fires:
Now lakes of liquid gold, Elysian scenes,
And cryftal domes, and angels in machines.

40

Unnumber'd throngs on every fide are seen,
Of bodies chang'd to varions forms by spleen.
Here living tea-pots stand, one arm held out,
One bent; the handle this, and that the spout: 50
A pipkin there, like Homer's tripod, walks;
Here fighs a jar, and there a goofe-pye talks;
Men prove with child, as powerful fancy works,
And maids, turn'd bottles, call aloud for corks.
Safe paft the gnome through this fantastic band,
A branch of healing fpleen-wort in his hand,
Then thus addrefs'd the power-Hail, wayward
queen!

Who rule the fex to fifty from fifteen :
Parent of vapours, and of female wit,
Who give th' hyfteric, or poetic fit,
On various tempers act by various ways,
Make fome take phyfic, others fcribble plays;
Who cause the proud their visits to delay,
And fend the godly in a pet to pray.

бо

70

A nymph there is, that all thy power disdaine,
And thoufands more in equal mirth maintains.
But oh if e'er thy gnome could spoil a grace,
Or raise a pimple on a beauteous face,
Like citron-waters matrons cheeks inflame,
Or chang'd complexions at a lofing game;
If e'er with airy horns I planted heads,
Or rumpled petticoats, or tumbled beds,
Or caus'd fufpicion where no foul was rude,
Or difcompos'd the head-dress of a prude,
Or e'er to coftive lap-dog gave disease,
Which not the tears of brighteft eyes could ease :
Hear me, and touch Belinda with chagrin ;
That ungle act gives half the world the spleen.
The goddess with a difcontented air,
Seems to reject him, though the grants
prayer.

his

80 A wonderous bag with both her hands fhe binds, Like that where once Ulyffes held the winds; There she collects the force of female lungs, Sighs, fobs, and paffions, and the war of tongues. A vial next the fills with fainting fears, Soft forrows, melting griefs, and flowing tears. The gnome rejoicing bears her gifts away, Spreads his black wings, and flowly mounts to day.

Belinda burns with more than mortal ire, And fierce Thaleftris fans the rifing fire. O wretched maid! fhe fpread her hands, and cry'd, (While Hampton's echoes, wretched maid! reply'd)

90

Sunk in Thalestris' arms the nymph he found, Her eyes dejected, and her hair unbound. Full o'er their heads the fwelling bag he rent,

Was it for this you took such conftant care
The bodkin, comb, and effence, to prepare?
For this your locks in paper durance bound,
For this with torturing irons wreath'd around? 100
For this with fillets ftrain'd your tender head,
And bravely bore the double loads of lead?
Gods! fhall the ravisher display your hair,
While the fops envy, and the ladies ftare?
Honour forbid at whose unrival'd fhrine
Eafe, pleasure, virtue, all our fex refign.
Methinks already I your tears furvey,
Already hear the horrid things they say,
Already fee you a degraded toast,
And all your honour in a whisper loft:
How fhall I, then, your helpless fame defend?
"Twill then be infamy to feem your friend!
And fhall this prize, th' ineftimable prize,
Expos'd through cryftal to the gazing eyes,
And heighten'd by the diamond's circling rays,
On that rapacious hand for ever blaze!
Sooner fhall grafs in Hyde Park circus grow,
And wits take lodgings in the found of Bow?
Sooner let earth, air, fea, to chaos fall,
Men, monkeys, lap-dogs, parrots, perifh all! 120
She faid; then raging to Sir Plume repairs,
And bids her beau demand the precious hairs!
(Sir Plume of amber fnuff-box justly vain,
And the nice conduct of a clouded cane)
With earnest eyes, and round unthinking face,
He first the fnuff-box open'd, then the cafe,
And thus broke out-"My Lord, why, what the
"devil?

180

It grieves me much (reply'd the peer again) Who fpeaks fo well fhould ever fpeak in vain ; But by this Lock, this facred Lock, I swear, (Which never more shall join its parted hair; Which never more its honour shall renew, Clipp'd from the lovely head where late it grew) That while my noftrils draw the vital air, This hand, which won it, fhall for ever wear. He fpoke, and fpeaking, in proud triumph spread The long-contended honours of her head.

140

But Umbriel, hateful gnome! forbears not fo; He breaks the vial whence the forrows flow. Then fee the lymph in beauteous grief appears, Her eyes half languishing, half drown'd in tears; On her heav'd bofom hung her drooping head, Which, with a figh, fhe rais'd; and thus the faid:

For ever curfed be this detefted day, Which fnatch'd my best, my favourite curl away! Happy! ah, ten times happy had I been, If Hampton-court thefe eyes had never seen! Yet am not I the first mistaken maid