HAT dire offence from amorous caufes fprings;
What mighty contests rife from trivial things,
I fing-this verse to Caryl, Mufe! is due:
This ev'n Belinda may vouchsafe to view:
Slight is the subject, but not fo the praise,
If She infpire, and He approve my lays.
Say what strange motive, Goddefs! could compel
A well-bred Lord t' affault a gentle Belle?
O fay what ftranger caufe, yet unexplor'd,
Could make a gentle Belle reject a Lord?
In tasks fo bold, can little men engage?
And in foft bofoms dwells fuch mighty rage?
Sol through white curtains fhot a timorous ray,
And ope'd those eyes that must eclipfe the day:
Ver. 11, 12. It was in the first editions,
And dwells fuch rage in fofteft bofoms then,
And lodge fuch daring fouls in little men?
Ver. 13, &c. Stood thus in the first edition:
Sol through white curtains did his beams difplay,
And ope'd thofe eyes which brighter fhone than they;
Shock just had given himself the rouzing shake,
And Nymphs prepar'd their chocolate to take;
Thrice the wrought flipper knock'd against the ground,
And ftriking watches the tenth hour refound.
Now lap-dogs give themselves the rouzing shake, 15 And fleepless lovers, juft at twelve, awake:
Thrice rung the bell, the flipper knock'd the ground,
And the prefs'd watch return'd a filver found.
Belinda ftill her downy pillow prest,
Her guardian Sylph prolong'd the balmy reft:
"Twas he had fummon'd to her filent bed
The morning dream that hover'd o'er her head.
A Youth more glittering than a birth-night beau
(That ev'n in fumber caus'd her cheek to glow)
Seem'd to her ear his winning lips to lay,
And thus in whispers faid, or feem'd to say :
Fairest of mortals, thou diftinguifh'd care.
Of thoufand bright Inhabitants of Air!
If e'er one Vifion touch thy infant thought,
Of all the Nurfe and all the Priest have taught;
Of airy Elves by moonlight fhadows feen,
The filver token, and the circled green,
Or virgins vifited by Angel-powers,
With golden crowns and wreaths of heavenly flowers; Hear, and believe! thy own importance know,
Nor bound thy narrow views to things below.
Some fecret truths, from learned pride conceal'd,.
To Maids alone and Children are reveal'd:
What though no credit doubting Wits may give?
The Fair and Innocent fhall still believe.
Know then, unnumber'd Spirits round thee fly,
The light Militia of the lower fky:
Ver. 19. Belinda still, &c.] All the verfes from hence to the
end of this Canto were added afterwards.
Thefe, though unfeen, are ever on the wing,
Hang o'er the Box, and hover round the Ring.
Think what an equipage thou haft in air,
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 mould;
Thence, by a foft tranfition, we repair
Think not, when Woman's tranfient breath is fled,
That all her vanities at once are dead;
Succeeding vanities fhe ftill regards,
And though the plays no more, o'erlooks the cards.
Her joy in gilded Chariots, when alive,
And love of Ombre, after death furvive.
For when the Fair in all their pride expire,
To their firft Elements their fouls retire:
The fprites of fiery Termagants in Flame
Mount and take a Salamander's name.
up,
Soft yielding minds to Water glide away,
And fip, with Nymphs, their elemental tea.
The graver Prude finks downward to a Gnome,
In fearch of mischief still on Earth to roam.
The light Coquettes in Sylphs aloft repair,
And sport and flutter in the fields of Air.
Know farther yet; whoever fair and chafte
Rejects mankind, is by fome Sylph embrac❜d:
For, fpirits, freed from mortal laws, with ease
Affume what sexes and what shapes they please.
What guards the purity of melting Maids,
*In courtly balls, and midnight masquerades,
Safe from the treacherous friend, the daring spark,
The glance by day, the whifper in the dark,
When kind occafion prompts their warm defires,
When music softens, and when dancing fires?
'Tis but their Sylph, the wife Celestials know,
Though Honour is the word with Men below.
Some nymphs there are, too conscious of their face, For life predeftin'd to the Gnomes embrace.
These swell 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,
Inftruct the eyes of young Coquettes to roll,
Teach infant cheeks a bidden blush to know,
And little hearts to flutter at a Beau.
Oft, when the world imagine women stray,
The Sylphs 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 squeeze her hand?
With varying vanities, from every part,
They fhift the moving Toy-fhop of their heart;
Where wigs with wigs, with fword-knots fword-knots
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,
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 Sylph, oh pious maid, beware!
This to disclose is all thy guardian can:
Beware of all, but most beware of Man!
He faid; when Shock, who thought she slept too long, Leap'd up, and wak'd his mistress with his tongue. 'Twas then, Belinda, if report fay true,
Thy eyes firft open'd on a Billet-doux;
Wounds, Charms, and Ardors, were no fooner read, But all the Vifion vanish'd from thy head.
And now, unveil'd, the Toilet ftands difplay'd,
Each filver vafe in myftic order laid.
First, rob'd in white, the Nymph intent adores,
With head uncover'd, the Cosmetic powers.
A heavenly Image in the glafs appears,
To that she bends, to that her eyes fhe rears;
Th' inferior Priestess, at her altar's fide,
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.
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