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 tho' no credit doubting wits may give?
The fair and innocent shall still believe.
Know then, unnumber'd fpirits round thee fly,
The light militia of the lower fky;

Thefe, tho' 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 mold;
Thence, by a foft tranfition, we repair

From earthly vehicles to thefe of air.

Think not, when woman's tranfient breath is fled,

That all her vanities at once are dead:

Succeeding vanities fhe ftill regards,

And tho' fhe 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 the fouls retire:
D 3

The

The fprites of fiery termagants in flame
Mount up, and take a Salamander's name.
Soft yielding minds to water glide away,
And fip, with nymphs, their elemental tèa.
The graver prude finks downward to a Gnome,
In fearch of mifchief ftill 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 eafe
Affume what fexes and what shapes they please.
What guards the purity of melting maids,
In courtly balls, and midnight masquerades,
Safe from the treach'rous friend, and daring fpark,
The glance by day, the whisper 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,
Tho' honour is the word with men below.

Some nymphs there are, too confcious of their face, For life predeftin'd to the Gnomes embrace. These fwell their prospects and exalt their pride, When offers are difdain'd, and love.deny'd.

Then

Then gay ideas crowd the vacant brain,

While Peers and Dukes, and all their sweeping 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 infants cheeks a bidden blush to know,
And little hearts to flutter at a beau.

Oft' when the world imagine women ftray,
The Sylphs thro' myftic mazes guide their way,
Thro' all the giddy circle they pursue,
And old impertinence expel by new.

What tender maid but muft 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 ev'ry part,

They fhift the moving toyshop of their heart;

Where wigs with wigs, with fword-knots fword

knots strive,

Beaus banish beaus, 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 fprite, 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,
E're to the main this morning fun descend.

But heav'n reveals not what, or how, or where:
Warn'd by thy Sylph, oh pious maid, beware!
This to difclofe 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 cofmetic pow'rs.
A heav'nly image in the glass appears,
To that the bends, to that her eyes the rears;

Th' in

Th' inferior prieftefs, at her altar's fide,
Trembling, begins the facred rites of pride.
Unnumber'd treafures ope at once, and here
The various off'rings of the world appear;
From each fhe nicely culls with curious toil,
And decks the Goddess with the glitt'ring spoil.
This casket India's glowing gems unlocks,
And all Arabia breaths from yonder box.
The tortoife here, and elephant unite,
Transform'd to combs, the fpeckled, and the white.
Here files of pins extend their fhining rows,
Puffs, powders, patches, bibles, billet-doux.
Now awful beauty puts on all its arms:
The fair each moment rifes in her charms,
Repairs her fmiles, awakens ev'ry grace,
And calls forth all the wonders of her face;
Sees by degrees a purer blush arife,
And keener lightnings quicken in her eyes.
The bufy Sylphs furround their darling care,
These fet the head, and thofe divide the hair,
Some fold the fleeve, while others plait the gown;
And Betty's prais'd for labours not her own.