Amid the circle, on the gilded maft,
Superior by the head, was Ariel plac'd ;
His purple pinions op'ning to the fun,

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

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.

Sóme in the fields of pureft æther play,

And bask and whiten in the blaze of day;
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 tempefts on the wint'ry 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;

• To draw fresh colours from the vernal flow'rs;
To fteal from rainbows ere they drop in fhow'rs
A brighter wash; to curl their waving hairs,
Affift their blufhes, and infpire their airs;
" Nay oft, in dreams, invention we bestow,
To change a flounce, or add a furbelow.

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 fleight;

But what, or where, the Fates have wrapp'd in night:

• Whether

• Whether the nymph fhall 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,

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 shall be the guard of Shock. To fifty chofen Sylphs, of fpecial note, We trust th' important charge, the petticoat: Oft have we known that fev'nfold fence to fail,

• Tho' ftiff 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 fharp vengeance foon o'ertake his fins,
Be ftopp'd in phials, or transfix'd with pins;
Or plung'd in lakes of bitter washes lie,

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

⚫ Gums and pomatum shall his flight restrain,

• While clogg'd he beats his filken wings in vain;
Or alum ftypticks, with contracting pow'r,
Shrink his thin effence like a fhrivell'd flow'r;
• Or, as Ixïon 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 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 flow'rs,
Where Thames with pride furveys his rifing tow❜rs,

There ftands a ftructure of majestick frame,

Which from the neighb'ring Hampton takes it's name.
Here Britain's ftatefmen oft the fall foredoom
Of foreign tyrants, and of nymphs at home;
Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms obey,
Doft fometimes counsel take and fometimes tea:
Hither the heroes and the nymphs refort,

To taste a while the pleasures of a court:
In various talk th' inftructive hours they pass'd,
Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last ;
One speaks the glory of the British queen,
And one describes a charming Indian screen;
A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes;
At ev'ry word a reputation dies.

Snuff or the fan, fupply each paufe of chat,
With finging, laughing, ogling, and all that.
Meanwhile, declining from the noon of day,
The fun obliquely fhoots his burning ray;
The hungry judges foon the sentence fign,
And wretches hang, that jurymen may dine ;
The merchant from th' Exchange returns in peace,
And the long labours of the toilette cease.
Belinda now, whom thirst of fame invites,
Burns to encounter two advent'rous knights;
At ombre fingly, to decide their doom,

And fwells her breast with conquefts yet to come.
Straight the three bands prepare in arms to join,
Each band the number of the facred Nine.

Cc

Soon

Soon as the spreads 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 Sylphs, yet mindful of their ancient race,
Are, as when women, wond'rous fond of place.
Behold four kings in majefty rever'd,
With hoary whiskers and a forky beard;

And four fair queens, whofe hands sustain a flow'r,
Th' expreffive emblem of their fofter pow'r;
Four knaves, in garbs fuccinct, a trusty band!
Caps on their heads, and halberts in their hand;
And party-colour'd troops, a fhining train!
Drawn forth to combat on the velvet plain.

The skilful nymph reviews her force with care.

Let fpades be trumps!' fhe said, and trumps they were. Now move to war her fable matadores,

In fhew, like leaders of the fwarthy Moors.

Spadillio firft, unconquerable lord!

Led off two captive trumps, and fwept the board.

As many more Manillio forc'd to yield,
And march'd a victor from the verdant field.
Him Bafto follow'd; but his fate, more hard,
Gain'd but one trump and one plebeian card.
With his broad fabre next, a chief in years,
The hoary Majefty of Spades appears,
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.

E'en mighty Pam, that kings and queens o'erthrew,
And mow'd down armies in the fights of Loo,
Sad chance of war! now deftitute of aid,
Falls undistinguish'd by the victor Spade!

Thus far both armies to Belinda yield;
Now to the Baron fate inclines the field.

His warlike Amazon her hoft invades,

Th' imperial confort of the crown of Spades.
The Club's black tyrant firft her victim dy'd,
Spite of his haughty mien and barb'rous pride:
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 fhews but half his face,
And his refulgent queen, with pow'rs combin'd,
Of broken troops an eafy conqueft find.
Clubs, di'monds, hearts, in wild disorder feen,
With throngs promiscous ftrew the level green.
Thus when difpers'd a routed army runs,
Of Afia's troops, and Africk's fable fons,
With like confufion diff'rent nations fly,
Of various habit and of various dye;
The pierc'd battalions difunited fall

In heaps on heaps; one fate o'erwhelms them all!
The Knave of Di'monds tries his wily arts,

And wins (oh, shameful chance!) the Queen of Hearts.
At this the blood the virgin's cheek forfook,

A livid paleness spreads o'er all her look;
She fees, and trembles at th' approaching ill,

Juft in the jaws of ruin and codille.

And now (as oft in some distemper'd state)
On one nice trick depends the genʼral fate,

An ace of hearts steps forth; the king, unseen,
Lurk'd in her hand, and mourn'd his captive queen :
He springs to vengeance with an eager pace,
And falls like thunder on the prostrate ace.
The nymph, exulting, fills with shouts the sky;
The walls, the woods, and long canals, reply.

O thoughtless mortals! ever blind to Fate,
Too foon dejected, and too foon elate.
Ccz

Sudden