Now lap-dogs give themselves the rouzing shake,
And fleepless lovers, just 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 preft,
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 glittering 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 distinguish'd care
Of thousand bright Inhabitants of Air!
If e'er one Vision touch thy infant thought,
Of all the Nurfe and all the Priest have taught;
Of airy Elves by moonlight shadows seen,
The filver token, and the circled green,
Or virgins vifited by Angel-powers,
With golden crowns and wreaths of heavenly flowers;
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 though no credit doubting Wits may give?
The Fair and Innocent fhall ftill believe.
Know then, unnumber'd Spirits round thee fly,
The light Militia of the lower sky:
Belinda ftill, &c.] All the verfes from hence
to the end of this Canto were added afterwards.
These, though 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 fcorn 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 soft 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 still regards,
And though the plays no more, o'erlooks the cards.
Her joy in gilded Chariots, when alive,
And love of Ombre, after death survive.
For when the Fair in all their pride expire,
To their firft Elements their Souls retiré :
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.
Know farther yet; whoever fair and chaste
Rejects mankind, is by fome Sylph embrac'd:
For, fpirits, freed from mortal laws, with ease,
Affume what fexes and what shapes they please.
What guards the purity of melting Maids,
In courtly balls, and midnight mafquerades,"
Safe from the treacherous friend, the daring spark,
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,'
Though 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 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.
Oft, when the world imagine women stray,"
The Sylphs through myftic mazes guide their way,
Through 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 Florio speaks, what virgin could withstand,
If gentle Damon did not fqueeze her hand?
With varying vanities, from every part,
They shift the moving Toy-fhop of their heart;
Where wigs with wigs, with fword-knots fword-knots
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 crystal wilds of air,
In the clear Mirror of thy ruling Star
I faw, alas! fome dread event impend,
Ere to the main this morning fun defcend;
But heaven reveals not what, or how, or where:
Warn'd by the Sylph, oh pious maid, beware !
This to disclose 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 first 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 stands display'd,
Each filver vafe in myftic order laid.
First, rob'd in white, the Nymph intent adores,
With head uncover'd, the Cofmetic powers.
A heavenly Image in the glass appears,
To that the bends, to that her eyes the rears;
Th' inferior Prieftefs, at her altar's fide,
Trembling, begins the facred rites of Pride.
Unnumber'd treasures ope at once, and here
The various offerings of the world appear;
From each the nicely culls with curious toil,
And decks the Goddess with the glittering spoil.
This casket India's glowing gems unlocks,
And all Arabia breathes from yonder box.
The Tortoise 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 fimiles, awakens every grace,
And calls forth all the wonders of her face:
Sees by degrees a purer blush arise,
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, whilft others plait the gown;
And Betty's prais'd for labours' not her own.
NOT with more glories in th' etherial plain,
The Sun first rises o'er the purpled main,
Than, iffuing forth, the rival of his beams
Launch'd on the bofom of the filver'd Thames...
Fair Nymphs and well-drefs'd Youths around her fhone,
But every eye was fix'd on her alone.
On her white breast a sparkling Crofs fhe wore,
Which Jews might kifs, and Infidels adore.
Ver. 4. Launch'd on the bofom] From hence the poem continues, in the first edition, to ver, 46.
The reft the winds difpers'd in empty air; aff after, to the end of this Canto, being additional.
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