21

This Nymph, to the deftruction of mankind, Nourish'd two Locks, which graceful hung behind In equal curls, and well confpir'd to deck With fhining ringlets the smooth iv'ry neck. Love in thefe labyrinths his flaves detains, And mighty hearts are held in flender chains. With hairy springes we the birds betray, Slight lines of hair furprize the finny prey, Fair treffes man's imperial race infnare, And beauty draws us with a fingle hair.

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35

Th' advent'rous Baron the bright locks admir'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 fucceís a Lover's 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 ev'ry pow'r 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 trophies of his former loves; With tender Billet-doux he lights the pyre, And breathes three am'rous fighs to raise the fire. Then proftrate falls, and begs with ardent eyes Soon to obtain, and long poffefs the prize:

IMITATIONS.

40

The

VER. 25. With hairy Springes] In allufion to Anacreon's manner.

VER. 28. with a fingle hair.] In allufion to those lines of Hudibras, applied to the fame purpose,

And tho' it be a two foot Trout,
'Tis with a fingle hair pull'd out.

The pow'rs gave ear, and granted half his pray'r,
The reft, the winds difpers'd in empty air.

46.

50

But now secure the painted veffel glides, The fun-beams trembling on the floating tides: While melting music steals upon the sky, And foften'd founds along the waters die ; Smooth flow the waves, the Zephyrs gently play, Belinda fmil'd, and all the world was gay. All but the Sylph-with careful thoughts oppreft, Th' impending woe fat heavy on his breast. He fummons ftrait his Denizens of air; The lucid fquadrons round the fails repair; Soft o'er the shrouds 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; Transparent forms, too fine for mortal fight, Their fluid bodies half diffolv'd in light. Loose to the wind their airy garments flew, Thin glitt'ring textures of the filmy dew, Dipt in the richeft tincture of the skies, Where light difports in ever-mingling dyes, While ev'ry beam new tranfient colours Alings, Colours that change whene'er they wave their wings. Amid the circle, on the gilded mast,

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65

Superior by the head, was Ariel plac'd;

༡༠

His purple pinions op'ning to the fun,

He rais'd his azure wand, and thus begun.

Ye

IMITATIONS.

VER. 45. The pow'rs gave ear,] Virg. Æn. xi.

5

P.

Ye Sylphs and Sylphids, to your chief give ear, Fays, Fairies, Genii, Elves, and Dæmons hear! Ye know the spheres and various tasks affign'd By laws eternal to th' aërial kind.

Some in the fields of pureft Æther play,

And bask and whiten in the blaze of day.

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80

Some guide the course of wand'ring orbs on high,
Or roll the planets thro' the boundless sky.
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 bow,
Or brew fierce tempests on the wintry 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.
Our humbler province is to tend the Fair,

Not a lefs pleafing, tho' lefs glorious care;
To fave the powder from too rude a gale,
Nor let th' imprifon'd effences exhale ;

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91

To draw fresh colours from the vernal flow'rs; 95
To steal from rainbows e'er they drop in fhow'rs
A brighter wash; to curl their waving hairs,
Affift their blushes, and inspire their airs;
Nay oft, in dreams, invention we bestow,
To change a Flounce, or add a Furbelow.

100

This day, black Omens threat the brightest Fair

That e'er deferv'd a watchful spirit's care;
Some dire difafter, or by force, or flight;

But what, or where, the fates have wrapt in night.

4.

Whether

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 pray❜rs, or miss a masquerade ;
Or lofe her heart, or necklace at a ball;

105

Or whether Heav'n has doom'd that Shock muft fall.

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

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121

To fifty chofen Sylphs, of special note, We truft th' important charge, the Petticoat: Oft have we known that feven-fold fence to fail, Tho' stiff with hoops, and arm'd with ribs of whale; Form a ftrong line about the filver bound, And guard the wide circumference around. Whatever spirit, carelefs of his charge, His poft neglects, or leaves the fair at large, Shall feel sharp vengeance foon o'ertake his fins, Be ftop'd in vials, or transfix'd with pins; Or plung❜d in lakes of bitter washes lie,

Or wedg'd whole ages in a bodkin's eye:

VBR. 119.

IMITATIONS.

126

Gums

clypei dominus feptemplicis Ajax. Ovid. VER. 121. about the filver bound] In allufion to the fhield of Achilles,

Thus the broad field complete the Artist crown'd,
With his laft hand, and pour'd the Ocean round:
In living Silver Jeem'd the waves to roil,

·And beat the Buckler's verge, and bound the whole.

Gums and Pomatums fhall his flight reftrain,
While clog'd he beats his filken wings in vain ;
Or Alum ftyptics with contracting pow'r
Shrink his thin effence like a rivel'd flow'r:
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 fpoke; 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 pendants of her ear;
With beating hearts the dire event they wait,
Anxious, and trembling for the birth of Fate.

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THE