THE

RAPE of the LOCK .

CANTO V.

SHBE

HE said : the pitying audience melt in tears.

But Fate and Jove had stopp'd the Baron's ears. In vain Thalestris with reproach affails, For who can move when fair Belinda fails ? Not half so fix'd the Trojan could remain, 5 While Anna begg’d and Dido rag'd in vain. Then grave Clariffa graceful wav'd her fan; Silence ensu'd, and thus the nymph began.

Say why are Beauties prais'd and honour'd mosto The wise man's passion, and the vain man's toast ?

Why

VARIATIONS. Ver. 7. Then grave Clarisa, etc.) A new Character introduced in the subsequent Editions, to open more clearly the MORAL of the Poem, in a parody of the speech of Sarpedon to Glaucus in Homer. P.

IMITATIONS.
Ver. 9. Say why are Beauties, etc.)

Why boast we, Glaucus! our extended reign,
Where Xanthus' streams enrich the Lycian plain ;
Our num'rous herds that range the fruitful field,
And bills where vines their purple harvest yield ;
Our

foaming bowls with purer nectar crown'd,
Our feasts enhanc'd with mufic's Sprightly found;

Why

Why deck'd with all that land and sea afford,
Why Angels call'd, and Angel-like ador'd ?
Why round our coaches croud the white-glov'd

Beaux,
Why bows the side-box from its inmost rows?
How vain are all these glories, all our pains, IS
Unless good sense preserve what beauty gains :
That men may say, when we the front-box grace,
Behold the first in virtue as in face!
Oh! if to dance all night, and dress all day,
Charm'd- the small-pox, or chas'd old age away ;
Who would not scorn what housewife's cares pro-

duce,
Or who would learn one earthly thing of use?
To patch, nay ogle, might become a Saint,
Nor could it sure be such a fin to paint.

Why on those foores are we with joy survey'd;

Admir'd as heroes, and as Gods obey'd;
Unless great acts superior merit prove,
And vindicate the bounteous porw'rs above?
'Tis ours, the dignity they give, to grace;

The first in valour, as the first in place :
That when with wond'ring eyes our martial bands
Bebold our deeds tranfcending our commandi,
Such, they may cry, deserve the fou'reign state,
Whom those that envy, dare not imitate ;
Could all our care elude the gloomy grave,
Which claims no less the fearful than the brave,
For luft of fanie I should not v. iniy dare
In fighting fields, nor urge thy foul to war.

But since, alas! ignoble age must come,
Disease, and death's inexorable doom;
The life which others pay, let us beflow,
And give to fame what we to nature owe;
Brave tho' we fall, and honour'd if we liweg

Or let us glory gain, or glory give.
VOL. I.

M

But

But since, alas! frail beauty must decay, 25
Curld or uncurl'd, since Locks will turn to grey;
Since painted, or not painted, all shall fade,
And she who scorns a man, must die a maid ;
What then remains, but well our pow'r to use,
And keep good-humour still whate'er we lose ?

30 And trust me, dear! good-humour can prevail, When airs, and fights, and screams, and fcolding

fail. Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll; Charms strike the fight, but merit wins the foul.

So spoke the Dame, but no applause enfu'd; 35 Belinda frown'd, Thaleftris call'd her Prude. To arms, to arms! the fierce Virago cries, And swift as lightning to the combat dies. All fide in parties, and begin th' attack; Fans clap, filks rufsle, and tough whalebones crack; Heroes and Heroines shouts confus’dly rise, 41 And base, and treble voices frike the skies. No common weapons in their hands are found, Like Gods they fight, nor dread a mortal wounds

So when bold Homer makes the Gods engage, And heav'nly breasts with human passions rage;

'Gaina

VER. 45. So when bold Homer) Homer, Il. xx. P.

VARIATIONS. VER. 37. To arms, to arms!] From hence the first Edition goes on to the Conclusion, except a very few short insertions added, to keep the Machinery in view to the end of the poem.

P.

IMIT VER: 35. So fpoke the Dame,] It is a verse frequently vepeated in Homer after any speech,

Se /pokemand all the Heroes applauded. P.

51

56

bo

'Gainst Pallas, Mars; Latona, Hermes arms; 47
And all Olympus rings with loud alarms :
Jove's thunder roars, heav'n trembles all around,
Blue Neptune storms, the bellowing deeps resound:
Earth shakes her nodding tow'rs, the ground gives

way,
And the pale ghosts start at the flash of day!

Triumphant Umbriel on a sconce's height
Clap'd his glad wings, and fate to view the fight :
Prop'd on their bodkin spears, the Sprites survey
The growing combat, or assist the fray.

While thro' the press enrag'd Thalestris flies,
And scatters death around from both her eyes,
A Beau and Witling perish'd in the throngs
One dy'd in metaphor, and one in song.
6. Oh cruel nymph! a living death I bear;
Cry'd Dapperwit, and sunk beside his chair.
A mournful glance Sir Fopling upwards cast,
“ Those eyes are made fo killing-was his last.
Thus on Mæander's flow'ry margin lies
Th' expiring Swan, and as he sings he dies.

When bold Sir Plume had drawn Clariffa down,
Chloe stepp'd in, and kill'd him with a frown ;

She
VARIATION B.
VER. 53. Triumphant Umbriel] These four lines add-
ed, for the reason before mentioned, P.

IMITATIONS.
Ver. 53. Triumpbant Umbriel) Minerva in like man-
ner, during the Battle of Ulysses with the, Suitors in
Odyff, perches on a beam of the roof to behold it. P.

Ver. 64. Those eyes are made so killing] The words of
A Song in the Opera of Camilla. P.
VER. 65. Thus on Maander's flow'ry margin lies]
Sic ubi fata vocant, udis abjectus in herbis,

Ad vada Meandri conciñil albus olor. Ov. Ep. Pa

65

M 2

ito

She smild to see the doughty heroe slain,
But, at her smile, the Beau reviv'd again. 7

Now Jove suspends his golden scales in air,
Weighs the Mens wits against the Lady's hair;
The doubtful beam long nods from side to side ;
At length the wits mount up, the hairs subside.
See fierce Belinda on the Baron flies,

75 With more than usual lightning in her eyes: Nor fear'd the Chief th’ unequal fight to try, Who fought no more than on his fue to die. But this bold Lord with manly strength endu'd, She with one finger and a thumb fubdu'd :

8@ Just where the breath of life his nostrils drew, A charge of Snuff the wily virgin threw; The Gnomes direct, to ev'ry atom just, The pungent grains of titillating duft. Sudden, with starting tears each eye o'erflows, 85 And the high dome re-echoes to his nose.

Now meet thy fate, incens'd Belinda cry'd, And drew a deadly bodkin from her fide. (The same, his ancient personage to deck, Her great great grandfire wore about his neck, go In three seal-rings, which after, melted downg Form'd a vast buckle for his widow's gown: Her infant grandame's whistle next it grew, The bells she jingled, and the whistle blew;

Then Ver.71 Now yove, etc.) Vid. Homer II. vüi, and Virg. Æn. xii.

P.

IMITATIONS. Ver. 83. The Gnames direct,] These two lines added for the above reason.

Ver. 89. The same, his ancient persunage to deck ] In imitation of the progress of Agamemnon's fceptre in Homer, Il. ü.

P.

P.