While ev'ry beam new tranfient colours flings,
Colours that change whene'er they wave their wings.
Amid the circle on the gilded mast,

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, Fay, Fairies, Genii, Elves, and Dæmons hear! Ye know the spheres, and various tasks affign'd By laws eternal to the aërial kind.

Some in the fields of purcft æther play,

And bask and whiten in the blaze of day;
Some guide the courfe of wand'ring orbs on high,
Or roll the planets thro' the boundless fky.
Some, lefs refin'd, beneath the moon's pale light
Pursue the ftars that shoct 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 wintry main,
Or o'er the glebe diftil 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

B 5

A brighter wafh; 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.
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 wrap'd in night.
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 feven-fold 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 fpirit, careless 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

Or plung'd in lakes of bitter washes lie,
Or wedg'd whole ages in a bodkin's eye:
Gums and Pomatums fhall his flight reftrain,
While, clog'd, he beats his filken wings in vain ;
Or Alum flyptics, with contracting pow'r,
Shrink his thin effence like a fhrivel'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 spoke; 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.

Clofe by those meads, for ever crown'd with flow'rs,
Where Thames with pride furveys his rifing tow'rs,
There stands a structure of majestic frame,
Which from the neighb'ring Hampton takes its 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 counfel take-and fometimes tea.
Hither the heroes and the nymphs refort,

To taste awhile the pleasures of a Court;
In various talk th' inftructive hours they past,
Who gave the ball or paid the visit laft:

One speaks the glory of the British Queen,
And one describes a charming Indian fcreen;

A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes;
At ev'ry word a reputation dies.

Snuff, or the fan, fupply each pause 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 fentence fign,
And wretches hang that Jurymen may dine;
The merchant from th' Exchange returns in peace,
And the long labours of the toilet 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 breaft with conquefts yet to come.
Strait the three bands prepare in arms to join,
Each band the number of the facred nine.
Soon as the fpreads 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 he 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

The skilful nymph reviews her force with care: Let Spades be trumps! fhe faid, and trumps they were. Now move to war her fable Matadores,

In fhow like leaders of the fwarthy Moors.
Spadillio first, 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.

Ev'n mighty Pam, that Kings and Queens o'erthrew,
And mow'd down armies in the fights of Lu,
Sad chance of war! now, destitute of aid,
Falls undiftinguifh'd by the victor Spade!

Thus far both armies to Belinda yield ;
Now to the Baron fate inclines the field.
His warlike Amazon her host invades,
Th' imperial confort of the crown of Spades.
The Club's black tyrant first 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