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, unnumbered Spirits round thee fly,
The light Militia of the lower sky:

Thefe, tho' unfeen, are ever on the wing,

Hang o'er the Box, and hover round the Ring.
Think what an equipage thou hast 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
From earthly vehicles to these of air.

Think not, when Woman's tranfient breath is filed,
That all her vanities at once are dead;

1

Succeeding vanities fhe ftill regards,

And, tho' she 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 Souls retire:
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 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.
B 2

Know

Say what frange motive, Goddess! could compel
A well-bred Lord t'affault a gentle Belle?
O fay what franger caufe, yet unexplor'd,
Could make a gentle Belle reject a Lord?
In tasks so bold, can little men engage,
And in foft bofems dwells fuch mighty rage?
Sel thro' white curtains fhot a tim'rous ray,
And ope'd thofe eyes that muft eclipse the day:
Now lap-dogs gave themfelves the rouzing shake,
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 rest:
'Twas He had fummon'd to her filent bed
The morning dream that hover'd o'er her head.
A youth more glitt'ring than a birth night beau,
(That ev'n in flumber 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 diftinguish'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-pow'rs,

With golden crowns and wreaths of heav'nly flow'rs;
Hear and believe! thy own importance know,
Nor bound thy narrow views to things below.

Some

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 fhall ftill believe.
Know, then, unnumbered Spirits round thee fly,
The light Militia of the lower sky:

These, tho' unseen, are ever on the wing,
Hang o'er the Box, and hover round the Ring.
Think what an equipage thou hast 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
From earthly vehicles to these 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 their Souls retire:
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 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.

B 2

Know

Know farther yet; whoever, fair and chaste, Rejects mankind, is by fome Sylph embrac'd: For Spirits, freed from mortal laws, with eafe Affume what fexes and what fhapes they please. What guards the purity of melting maids, In courtly balls, and midnight masquerades, Safe from the treach'rous friend, the daring spark, The glance by day, the whisper in the dark, When kind occafion prompts their warm defires, When mufic foftens, and when dancing fires? "Tis but their Sylph, the wise Celestials know, Tho' 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 fwell their profpects and exalt their pride, When offers are difdain'd, and love deny'd : Then gay ideas croud 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 infant cheeks a bidden blush to know,
And little hearts to flutter at a Beau.

way,

Oft, when the world imagine women stray,
The Sylphs thro' mystic mazes guide their
Thro' 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

When Florio fpeaks, what virgin could withstand,
If gentle Damon did not squeeze her hand;
With varying vanities, from ev'ry part

They shift the moving Toy-shop of their heart; Where wigs with wigs, with fword-knots fword-knots ftrive,

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 fprite, and Ariel is my name.
Late, as I rang'd the cryftal wilds of air,
In the clear Mirror of thy ruling ftar
I saw, alas, fome dread event impend,
Ere to the main this morning fun defcend;
But heav'n reveals not what, or how, or where :
Warn'd by the 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 Vision vanish'd from thy head.

And now, unveil'd, the Toilet ftands difplay'd, Each filver vase in myftic order laid. First, rob'd in white, the Nymph intent adores, With head uncover'd, the Cosmetic pow'rs.

B 3

A heav'nly