The nymph exulting fills with fhouts the fky;
The walls, the woods, and long canals reply. 100
Oh thoughtless mortals! ever blind to fate,
Too foon dejected, and too foon elate.
Sudden, thefe honours fhall be snatch'd away,
And curs❜d for ever this victorious day.
For lo! the board with cups and fpoons is
The berries crackle, and the mill turns round;
On fhining altars of Japan they raise
The filver lamp; the fiery fpirits blaze:
From filver spouts the grateful liquors glide,
While China's earth receives the fmoaking tide: 110
At once they gratify their scent and taste,
And frequent cups prolong the rich repast.
Strait hover round the Fair her airy band;
Some, as the fipp'd, the fuming liquor fann'd,
VER. 105. Sudden the board, etc.] From hence, the first Edition continues to ver. 134. P.
Nefcia mens hominum fati fortifque futuræ ;
Et fervare modum, rebus fublata fecundis !
Turno tempus erit magno cum optaverit emptum
Intactum Pallanta; et cum fpolia ifta diemque
Oderit,
Some o'er her lap their careful plumes display'd,
Trembling, and conscious of the rich brocade. 116
Coffee (which makes the politican wife,
And see thro' all things with his half-shut eyes)
Sent up in vapours to the Baron's brain
New ftratagems, the radiant Lock to gain. 120
Ah cease, rash youth! defift ere 'tis too late,
Fear the just Gods, and think of Scylla's Fate!
Chang'd to a bird, and sent to flit in air,
She dearly pays for Nifus' injur'd hair!
But when to Mischief mortals bend their will,
How foon they find fit instruments of ill? 126
Just then, Clariffa drew with tempting grace
A two-edg❜d weapon from her fhining case:
So Ladies in Romance affift their Knight,
Present the spear, and arm him for the fight. 130
He takes the gift with rev'rence, and extends
The little engine on his fingers' ends;
This just behind Belinda's neck he spread,
As o'er the fragrant fteams fhe bends her head.
Swift to the Lock a thousand Sprites repair, 135
A thousand wings, by turns, blow back the hair;
VER. 134. In the first Edition it was thus,
"As o'er the fragrant ftream fhe bends her head." P.
VER. 122. and think of Scylla's Fate !] Vide Ovid's Metam. viii.
And thrice they twitch'd the diamond in her ear; Thrice the look'd back, and thrice the foe drew
Just in that inftant, anxious Ariel fought
The close receffes of the Virgin's thought: 140
As on the nofegay in her breast reclin'd,
He watch'd th' ideas rifing in her mind,
Sudden he view'd, in spite of all her art,
An earthly Lover lurking at her heart.
Amaz'd, confus'd, he found his pow'r expir'd, 145
Refign'd to fate, and with a figh retir'd.
The Peer now spreads the glitt'ring Forfex wide,
T'inclofe the Lock; now joins it, to divide.
Ev'n then, before the fatal engine clos'd,
A wretched Sylph too fondly interpos'd;
Fate urg'd the sheers, and cut the Sylph in twain,
(But airy fubftance foon unites again)
"First he expands the glitt'ring Forfex wide "T'inclose the Lock; then joins it to divide "The meeting points the facred hair diffever, "From the fair head, for ever, and for ever." All that is between was added afterwards. P.
VER. 152. But airy fubftance] See Milton, lib. vi, of Satan cut asunder by the Angel Michael. P.
The meeting points the facred hair diffever
From the fair head, for ever, and for ever! 154
Then flash'd the living light'ning from her eyes,
And screams of horror rend th' affrighted skies.
Not louder shrieks to pitying heav'n are cast,
When husbands, or when lap-dogs breathe their
laft;
Or when rich China veffels fall'n from high,
In glitt'ring duft, and painted fragments lie! 160
Let wreaths of triumph now my temples twine,
(The Victor cry'd) the glorious prize is mine!
While fish in ftreams, or birds delight in air,
Or in a coach and fix the British Fair,
As long as Atalantis fhall be read,
Or the fmall pillow grace a Lady's bed,
While vifits shall be paid on folemn days, When num'rous wax-lights in bright order blaze, While nymphs take treats, or affignations give, So long my honour, name, and praise shall live! 170
VER. 165. Atalantis] A famous book written about that time by a woman; full of Court and Party-scandal; and in a loofe effeminacy of ftyle and fentiment, which well fuited the debauched taste of the better vulgar.
Dum juga montis aper, fluvios dum pifcis amabit,
Semper honos, nomenque tuum, laudefque manebunt.
What Time would fpare, from Steel receives its
And monuments, like men, fubmit to fate!
Steel could the labour of the Gods destroy,
And strike to duft th' imperial tow'rs of Troy;
Steel could the works of mortal pride confound,
And hew triumphal arches to the ground.
What wonder then, fair nymph! thy hairs
fhould feel
The conqu'ring force of unrefifted steel?
Ille quoque everfus mons eft, etc.
Quid faciant crines, cum ferro talia cedant ?
Catull. de com. Berenices. P.
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