In three feal-rings; which after, melted down, Boast not my fall (he cry'd) infulting foe! 100 105 Reftore the Lock! fhe cries; and all around Restore the Lock! the vaulted roofs rebound. Not fierce Othello in fo loud a strain Roar'd for the handkerchief that caus'd his pain. But fee how oft ambitious aims are crofs'd, And chiefs contend till all the prize is loft! The Lock, obtain'd with guilt, and kept with pain, In ev'ry place is fought, but fought in vain: 110 With fuch a prize no mortal must be blest, So heav'n decrees! with heav'n who can contest ? 1 Some thought it mounted to the Lunar sphere, Since all things loft on earth are treasur'd there. There Heros' wits are kept in pond'rous vases, 115 And Beaux in fnuff-boxes and tweezer-cafes. There broken vows, and death-bed alms are found, And lovers hearts with ends of ribband bound, The courtier's promises, and fick men's pray'rs, The fmiles of harlots, and the tears of heirs, 120 Cages for gnats, and chains to yoak a flea, But trust the Mufe---fhe faw it upward rife, 126 A fudden Star, it shot thro' liquid air, NOTES. VER. 114. Since all things loft] Vid. Ariosto, Canto xxxiv. P. IMITATIONS. VER. 128. Flammiferumque trahens fpatiofo limite crinem Stella micat. Ovid. P. The Sylphs behold it kindling as it flies, vey, And hail with mufic its propitious ray; This the bleft Lover shall for Venus take, 135 Which adds new glory to the shining sphere! 145 VARIATIONS. VER. 131. The Sylphs behold] Thefe two lines added for the fame reason, to keep in view the Machinery of the Poem. P. NOTES. VER. 137. This Partridge foon] John Partridge was a ridiculous Star-gazer, who in his Almanacks every year never fail'd to predict the downfal of the Pope, and the King of France, then at war with the English. P. When those fair funs fhall fet, as set they must, And all thofe treffes fhall be laid in duft, This Lock, the Mufe fhall confecrate to fame, And 'midft the ftars infcribe Belinda's name. 150 ELEGY To the MEMORY of an UNFORTUNATE LADY*. AT beck'ning ghost, along the moon WHAT light shade 5 Invites my steps, and points to yonder glade? For those who greatly think, or bravely die? 10 NOTES. * See the Duke of Buckingham's verfes to a Lady defigning to retire into a Monaftery, compared with Mr. Pope's Letters to feveral Ladies, p. 206. quarto Edition. She feems to be the fame person whofe unfortunate death is the fubject of this poem. P. |