| What dire offence from am'rous causes springs, |
[1-6] |
| What mighty contests rise from trivial things, |
|
| I sing-This verse to Caryll, Muse! is due; |
|
| This, ev'n Belinda may vouchsafe to view: |
|
| Slight is the subject, but not so the praise, |
5 |
| If she inspire, and he approve, my lays. |
|
| |
|
| Say what strange motive, Goddess! cou'd compel |
[7-9] |
| A well-bred lord to assault a gentle belle? |
|
| Oh say what stranger cause, yet unexplored, |
|
| Cou'd make a gentle belle reject a lord? |
10 |
| In tasks so bold, can little men engage, |
|
| And in soft bosoms, dwell such mighty rage? |
|
| |
|
| Sol through white curtains shot a timorous ray, |
[13-20] |
| And ope'd those eyes that must eclipse the day: |
|
| Now lap-dogs give themselves the rouzing shake, |
15 |
| And sleepless lovers, just at twelve, awake: |
|
| Thrice rung the bell, the slipper knock'd the ground, |
|
| And the pressed watch returned a silver sound, |
|
| Belinda still her downy pillow prest, |
|
| Her guardian Sylph prolng'd the balmy rest. |
20 |
| 'Twas he had summon'd to her silent bed |
[ 21-26] |
| The morning dream that hover'd o'er her head. |
|
| A youth more glitt'ring than a birthnight beau |
|
| (That ev'n in slumber caus'd her cheek to glow) |
|
| Seem'd to her ear his winning lips to lay, |
25 |
| And thus in Whispers said, or seemed to say. |
|
| |
|
| "Fairest of mortals, thou distinguished care |
[27-56] |
| Of thousand bright Inhabitants of air! |
[27-28] |
| If e'er one vision touch'd thy infant thought, |
|
| Of all the nurse and all the priest have taught, |
30 |
| Of airy elves by moonlight shadows seen, |
|
| The silver token, and the circled green, |
|
| Or virgins visited by angel powers |
|
| With golden crowns and wreaths of heav'nly flow'rs; |
|
| Hear and believe! thy own Importance know, |
35 |
| Nor bound thy narrow views to things below. |
|
| Some secret truths, from learned pride conceal'd, |
[37-38] |
| To maids alone and children are reveal'd: |
|
| What tho' no credit doubting wits may give? |
|
| The fair and Innocent shall still believe. |
40 |
| Know then, unnumber'd spirits round thee fly, |
|
| The light militia of the lower sky: |
|
| These, tho' unseen, are ever on the wing, |
|
| Hang o'er the box, and hover round the Ring. |
|
| Think what an equipage thou hast in air, |
45 |
| And view with scorn two pages and a chair. |
|
| As now your own, our beings were of old, |
|
| And once inclos'd in woman's beauteous mold; |
|
| Thence, by a soft transition, we repair |
|
| From earthly vehicles to these of air. |
50 |
| Think not, when woman's transient breath is fled, |
|
| That all her vanities at once are dead. |
|
| Succeeding vanities she still regards, |
|
| And tho' she plays no more, o'erlooks the cards. |
|
| Her joy in gilded chariots, when alive, |
55 |
| And love of ombre, after death survive. |
|
| For when the fair in all their pride expire, |
[ 57-66] |
| To their first elements the souls retire: |
|
| The sprites of fiery termagants in flame |
|
| Mount up, and take a Salamander's name. |
60 |
| Soft yielding minds to water glide away, |
|
| And sip, with nymphs, their elemental tea. |
|
| The graver prude sinks downward to a Gnome, |
|
| In search of mischief still on earth to roam. |
|
| The light coquettes in Sylphs aloft repair, |
65 |
| And sport and flutter in the fields of air. |
|
| |
|
| "Know further yet; whoever fair and chaste |
[67-68] |
| Rejects mankind, is by some Sylph embrac'd: |
|
| For spirits, freed from mortal laws, with ease |
[69-70] |
| Assume what sexes and what shapes they please. |
70 |
| What guards the purity of melting maids, |
|
| In courtly balls, and midnight masquerades, |
|
| Safe from the treach'rous friend, the daring spark, |
|
| The glance by day, the whisper in the dark; |
|
| When kind occasion prompts their warm desires, |
75 |
| When music softens, and when dancing fires? |
|
| 'Tis but their Sylph, the wise celestials know, |
|
| Tho' Honour is the word with men below. |
|
| |
|
| "Some nymphs there are, too conscious of their face, |
[79-90] |
| For life predestin'd to the Gnomes' embrace. |
80 |
| Who swell their prospects 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 sweeping train, |
|
| And garters, stars, and coronets appear, |
85 |
| And in soft sounds, 'your Grace' salutes their ear. |
|
| 'Tis these that early taint the female soul, |
|
| Instruct 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 stray, |
[91-104] |
| The Sylphs through mystic mazes guide their way. |
|
| Thro' all the giddy circle they pursue, |
|
| And old impertinence expel by new. |
|
| What tender maid but must a victim fall |
95 |
| To one man's treat, but for another's ball? |
|
| When Florio speaks, what virgin could withstand, |
|
| If gentle Damon did not squeeze her hand? |
|
| With varying vanities, from ev'ry part, |
|
| They shift the moving toyshop of their heart; |
100 |
| Where wigs with wigs, with sword-knots sword-knots strive, |
[101-102] |
| Beaux banish beaux, and coaches coaches drive. |
|
| This erring mortals levity may call, |
|
| Oh, blind to truth! the Sylphs contrive it all. |
|
| |
|
| "Of these am I, who thy protection claim, |
105 [105-14] |
| 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 saw, alas! some dread event impend, |
|
| Ere to the main this morning's sun descend, |
110 |
| But Heav'n reveals not what, or how, or where: |
|
| Warn'd by thy Sylph, oh pious maid beware! |
|
| This to disclose is all thy guardian can. |
|
| Beware of all, but most beware of Man!" |
|
| |
|
| He said: when Shock, who thought she slept too long, |
115 [115-20] |
| Leap'd up, and wak'd his mistress with his tongue. |
|
| 'Twas then, Belinda! if report say true, |
|
| Thy eyes first open'd on a billet-doux; |
|
| Wounds, charms, and ardors, were no sooner read, |
|
| But all the vision vanish'd from thy head. |
120 |
| |
|
| And now, unveil'd, the toilet stands display'd, |
[121-48] |
| Each silver vase in mystic order laid. |
|
| First, rob'd in white, the nymph intent adores |
|
| With head uncover'd, the cosmetic powers. |
|
| A heavenly image in the glass appears; |
125 |
| To that she bends, to that her eyes she rears; |
|
| The inferior priestess, at her altar's side, |
|
| Trembling, begins the sacred rites of pride. |
|
| Unnumber'd treasures ope at once, and here |
|
| The various off'rings of the world appear; |
130 |
| From each she nicely culls with curious toil, |
|
| And decks the goddess with the glitt'ring spoil. |
|
| This casket India's glowing gems unlocks, |
|
| And all Arabia breathes from yonder box. |
|
| The tortoise here and elephant unite, |
135 [135-136] |
| Transform'd to combs, the speckled and the white. |
|
| Here files of pins extend their shining rows, |
|
| Puffs, powders, patches, bibles, billet-doux. |
|
| Now awful Beauty puts on all its arms; |
|
| The fair each moment rises in her charms, |
140 |
| Repairs her smiles, 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 busy Sylphs surround their darling care; |
145 |
| These set the head, and those divide the hair, |
|
| Some fold the sleeve, whilst others plait the gown; |
|
| And Betty's praised for labours not her own. |
|
