A brighter wash; to curl their waving hairs,
Affift their blushes, and infpire their airs;
Nay oft, in dreams, invention we bestow,
To change a Flounce, or add a Furbelow. 100
This day, black Omens threat the brightest Fair
That e'er deserv'd a watchful spirit's care;
Some dire difafter, or by force, or flight;
But what, or where, the fates have wrapt in night.
Whether the nymph shall break Diana's law, 105
Or fome frail China jar receive a flaw;

Or stain her honour, or her new brocade;
Forget her pray'rs, or miss a masquerade;
Or lose her heart, or necklace, at a ball;
Or whether Heav'n has doom'd that Shock must

fall.

IIO

Haste 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; 115
Ariel himself shall be the guard of Shock.

NOTES.

VER. 105. Whether the nymph, etc.] The difafter, which makes the fubject of this poem, being a trifle, taken seriously; it naturally led the Poet into this fine fatire on the female efti

121

To fifty chofen Sylphs, of special note, We trust th' important charge, the Petticoat: Oft have we known that seven-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 spirit, careless of his charge, His poft neglects, or leaves the fair at large, Shall feel sharp vengeance foon o'ertake his fins, Be stop'd in vials, or transfix'd with pins; 126 Or plung'd in lakes of bitter washes lie, Or wedg'd whole ages in a bodkin's eye: Gums and Pomatums shall his flight restrain, While clog'd he beats his filken wings in vain ; Or Alum ftyptics with contracting pow'r 131 Shrink his thin effence like a rivel'd flow'r: Or, as Ixion fix'd, the wretch shall feel

The giddy motion of the whirling Mill,

IMITATIONS.

VER. 121. about the filver bound] In allufion to the shield of Achilles,

Thus the broad fhield complete the Artift crown'd,
With his laft hand, and pour'd the Ocean round:
In living Silver feem'd the waves to roll,

And beat the Buckler's verge, and bound the whole.
VIR. 119.
clypei dominus feptemplicis Ajax.

--

Ovid.

In fumes of burning Chocolate fhall glow, 135 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.

140

THE

RAPE of the LOCK.

CANTO III.

Lofe by thofe 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.

5

Here Britain's statesmen oft the fall foredoom
Of foreign Tyrants, and of Nymphs at home;
Here thou, great ANNA! whom three realms obey,
Doft fometimes counsel take---and fometimes Tea.
Hither the Heroes and the nymphs refort,
To taste a while the pleasures of a Court;
In various talk th' instructive hours they past,
Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last;

10

VARIATIONS.

VER. 1. Clofe by thofe meads,] Ths firft Edition continues from this line to y 24. of this Canto. P.

VER. 11, 12. Originally in the firft Edition,

In various talk the chearful hours they pait,
Of, who was bit, or who capotted laft. P.

One speaks the glory of the British Queen,
And one describes a charming Indian screen;
A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes; 15
At ev'ry word a reputation dies.

Snuff, or the fan, supply each pause of chat,
With finging, laughing, ogling, and all that.

20

;

peace,'

Mean while, declining from the noon of day, The fun obliquely shoots his burning ray; The hungry Judges foon the sentence fign, And wretches hang that Jury-men may dine The merchant from th' Exchange returns in And the long labours of the Toilet cease. Belinda now, whom thirst of fame invites, Burns to encounter two adven'trous Knights, At Ombre fingly to decide their doom; And fwells her breast 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 spreads her hand, th' aërial guard Defcend, and fit on each important card:

30

25

VARIATIONS.

VER. 24, And the long labours of the Toilet ceafe.] All that follows of the game at Ombre, was added fince the first Edition, till 105. which connected thus,