Elegant Extracts

This long succeeding critics justly reign'd, License repress'd, and useful laws ordain'd: Learning and Rome alike in empire grew, And as still follow'd where her eagles flew From the same foes, at last, both felt their doom;

And the same age saw learning fall, and Rome.
With tranny then superstition join'd;
As that the body, this enslav'd the mind:
Much was believ'd, but little understood;
And to be dull was construed to be good;
A second deluge learning thus o'er-ran ;
And the monks finish'd what the Goths be-
gan.
[name,

At length Erasmus, that great injur'd (The glory of the priesthood, and the shame!) Stemm'd the wild torrent of a barb'rous age, And drove those holy Vandals off the stage. But see! each muse, in Leo's golden days, Starts from her trance, and trims her wither'd bays;

Rome's ancient Genius, o'er its ruins spread, Shakes off the dust, and rears its rev'rend head.

Then sculpture and her sister-arts revive; Stones leap'd to form, and rocks began to live:

With sweeter notes each rising temple rung:
A Raphael painted, and a Vida sung.
Immortal Vida! on whose honor'd brow
The poet's bays and critic's ivy grow:
Cremona now shall ever boast thy name,
As next in place to Mantua, next in fame!
But soon, by impious arms from Latium
chas'd,

;

The muse, whose early voice you taught to sing, [wing, Prescrib'd her heights, and prun'd her tender (Her guide now lost) no more attempts to rise, But in low numbers short excursions tries; Content, if hence th' unlearn'd their wants may view;

The learn'd reflect on what before they knew: Careless of censure, nor too fond of fame; Still pleas'd to praise, yet not afraid to blame: Averse alike to flatter, or offend;

Not free from faults, nor yet too vain to mend.

9 The Rape of the Lock. POPE.

CANTO I.

WHAT dire offence from am'rous causes springs, What mighty contests rise from trivial things, I sing-This verse to CARYL, Muse! is due; This e'en Belinda may vouchsafe to view : Slight is the subject, but not so the praise, If she inspire, and he approve my lays.

Say what strange motive, goddess! could compel

A well-bred lord t' assault a gentle belle ?

say, what stranger cause, yet unexplor'd, Could make a gentle belle reject a lord? In tasks so bold can little men engage? And in soft bosoms dwells such mighty rage? Sol through white curtains shot a tim'rous

ray,

And op'd those eyes that must eclipse the day: Now lap-dogs give themselves the rousing shake, [pass'd; And sleepless lovers, just at twelve, awake: Thrice rung the bell, the slipper knock'd the

Their ancient bounds the banish'd muses Thence arts all o'er the northern world ad

vance,

But critic-learning flourish'd most in France;
The rules a nation born to serve obeys,
And Boileau still in right of Horace sways.
But we, brave Britons, foreign laws despis'd,
And kept unconquer'd and uncivilis'd;
Fierce for the liberties of wit, and bold,
We still defied the Romans, as of old.
Yet some there were, among the sounder few
Of those who less presum'd, and better knew,
Who durst assert the juster ancient cause,
And here restor'd wit's fundamental laws.
Such was the muse whose rules and practice
tell,

"Nature's chief master-piece is writing well." Such was Roscommon, not more learn'd than good,

With manners gen'rous as his noble blood; To him the wit of Greece and Rome was known,

And ev'ry author's merit but his own.

Such late was Walsh, the muse's judge and friend,

ground,

And the press'd watch return'd a silver sound. Belinda still her downy pillow press'd, Her guardian sylph prolong'd the balmy rest'Twas he had summon'd to her silent bed The morning dream that hover'd o'er her head[beau, A youth more glitt'ring than a birth-night That e'en in slumber caus'd her cheek to glow,

Seem'd to her ear his winning lips to lay, And thus in whispers said, or seem'd to say:

Fairest of mortals, thou distinguish'd care Of thousand bright inhabitants of air! If e'er one vision touch'd thy infant thought, Of all the nurse and all the priest have taught; Of airy elves by moonlight shadows seen, The silver token, and the circled green; Or virgins visited by angel-powers, With golden crowns, and wreaths of heavenly flow'rs;

Hear and believe! thy own importance know, Nor bound thy narrow view to things below. Some secret truths, from learned pride con

ceal'd,

Who justly knew to blame or to commend;
To failings mild, but zealous for desert;
The clearest head, and the sincerest heart.
This humble praise, lamented shade! receive;
This praise at least a grateful muse may give : The fair and innocent shall still believe.

To maids alone and children are reveal'd:
What though no credit doubting wits may
give,

Know then, unnumber'd spirits round thee fly, | What tender maid but must a victim fall
The light militia of the lower sky:

These, though unseen, are ever on the wing;
Hang o'er the box, or 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 soft transition, we repair
From earthly vehicles to these of air.
Think not, when woman's transient breath is
That all her vanities at once are dead; [fled,
Succeeding vanities she still regards,

To one man's treat, but for another's ball?
When Florio speaks, what virgin could with-

stand,

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 sword-knots
sword-knots strive,

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 sprite, and Ariel is my name.

And, though she plays no more, o'erlooks the Late as I rang'd the crystal wilds of air,

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 first elements their souls retire:
The sprites of fiery termagants in flame
Mount up, and take a salamander's name :
Soft yielding maids to water glide away,
And sip, with nymphs, their elemental tea :
The graver prude sinks downward to a

gnome,

In search of mischief still on earth to roam :
The light coquettes in sylphs aloft repair,
And sport and flutter in the fields of air.

Know further yet-whoever fair and chaste
Rejects mankind, is by some sylph embrac'd:
For spirits, freed from mortal laws, with ease
Assume what sexes and what shapes 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 occasion prompts their warm de-
sires,

When music softens, and when dancing fires? "Tis but their sylph, the wise celestials know, Though honor is the word with men below. Some nymphs there are, too conscious of their face,

For life predestin'd to the gnomes' embrace.
These swell their prospects and exalt their
pride,

When offers are disdain'd, and love denied:
Then gay ideas crowd the vacant brain,
While peers and dukes, and all their sweeping
train,

And garters, stars, and coronets, appear,
And in soft sounds, your grace "salutes

their ear.

'Tis these that early taint the female soul,
Instruct the eye 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 mystic mazes guide their way;

Through all the giddy circle they pursue,
And old impertinence expel by new.

In the clear mirror of thy ruling star,

I saw, alas! some dread event impend,
Ere to the main this morning sun descend;
But Heaven reveals not what, or how, or
where ;

Warn'd by thy Sylph, oh pious maid, beware!
This to disclose is all thy guardian can:
Beware of all, but most beware of man!
He said when Shock, who thought she slept

too long,
[tongue.
Leap'd up, and wak'd his mistress with his
"Twas then, Belinda, if report say true,
Thy eyes first open'd on a billet-doux;
Wounds, charms, and ardors were no sooner
read,

But all the vision vanish'd from thy head.

And now, unveil'd, the toilet stands display'd;
Each silver vase in mystic order laid.
First, rob'd in white, the nymph intent adores,
With head uncover'd, the cosmetic pow'rs:
A heavenly image in the glass appears;
To that she bends, to that her eyes she rears;
Th' inferior priestess, at her altar's side,
Trembling, begins the sacred rites of pride,
Unnumber'd treasures ope at once, and here
The various off'rings of the world appear;
From each she nicely culls with curious toil,
And decks the goddess with the glitt'ring 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 speckled and the
white :

Here files of pins extend their shining rows,
Puffs, powders, patches, bibles, billet-doux.
Now awful beauty puts on all its arms;
The fair each moment rises in her charms,
Repairs her smiles, awakens ev'ry 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 busy Sylphs surround their darling care;
These set the head, and those divide the hair;
Some fold the sleeve, whilst others plait the

gown;

And Betty's prais'd for labors not her own.

CANTO II.

NOT with more glories in th' ethereal plain, The sun first rises o'er the purpled main,

Than, issuing forth, the rival of his beams Launch'd on the bosom of the silver Thames. Fair nymphs, and well-drest youths, around her shone ;

But ev'ry eye was fix'd on her alone.

On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore,

Which Jews might kiss, and Infidels adore,
Her lively looks a sprightly mind disclose,
Quick as her eyes, and as unfixt as those;
Favors to none, to all she smiles extends;
Oft she rejects, but never once offends.
Bright as the sun her eyes the gazers strike,
And, like the sun, they shine on all alike.
Yet graceful ease, and sweetness void of pride,
Might hide their faults, if belles had faults to
hide :

Some to the sun their insect wings unfold,
Waft on the breeze, or sink in clouds of gold;
Transparent forms, too fine for mortal sight,
Their fluid bodies half-dissolv'd in light.
Loose to the wind their airy garments flew,
Thin glitt'ring textures of the filmy dew,
Dipp'd in the richest tincture of the skies,
Where light disports in ever-mingling dyes;
Where ev'ry beam new transient colors flings,
Colors that change whene'er they wave their
wings.

Amid the circle on the gilded mast,
Superior by the head, was Ariel plac'd;
His purple pinions op'ning to the sun,
He rais'd his azure wand, and thus begun :
Ye sylphs and sylphids, to your chief give

ear;

Fays, fairies, genii, elves, and demons, hear! Ye know the spheres and various tasks assign'd, By laws eternal, to th' aerial kind. be-Some in the fields of purest ether play,

If to her share some female errors fall,
Look on her face, and you'll forget them all.
This nymph, to the destruction of mankind,
Nourish'd two Locks, which graceful hung
hind

In equal curls, and well conspir'd to deck
With shining ringlets the smooth iv'ry neck.
Love in these labyrinths his slaves detains,
And mighty hearts are held in slender chains.
With hairy springes we the birds betray;
Slight lines of hair surprise the finny prey;
Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare,
And beauty draws us with a single hair.

Th' advent'rous Baron the bright locks admir'd;

He saw, he wish'd, and to the prize aspir'd.
Resolv'd to win, he meditates the way,
By force to ravish, or by fraud betray;
For when success a lover's toil attends,
Few ask, if fraud or force attain'd his ends.
For this, ere Phœbus rose, he had implor'd
Propitious Heaven, and ev'ry pow'r ador'd;
But chiefly Love-to Love an altar built
Of twelve vast French romances, neatly gilt.
There lay three garters, half a pair of gloves;
And all the trophies of his former loves;
With tender billet-doux he lights the pyre,
And breathes three am'rous sighs to raise
the fire;

Then prostrate falls, and begs, with ardent eyes,
Soon to obtain, and long possess the prize.
The pow'rs gave ear, and granted half his
pray'r;

The rest, the winds dispers'd in empty air.

But now secure the painted vessel glides, The sun-beams trembling on the floating tides; While melting music steals upon the sky, And soften'd sounds along the water die; Smooth flow the waves, the Zephyrs gently play;

Belinda smil'd, and all the world was gay. All but the Sylph-with careful thoughts opprest,

Th' impending woe sat heavy on his breast. He summon'd straight his denizens of air, The lucid squadrons round the sails repair: Soft o'er the shrouds aerial whispers breathe, That seem'd but Zephyrs to the train beneath.

And bask and whiten in the blaze of day; Some guide the course of wand'ring orbs on

high,

Or roll the planets through the boundless sky; Some, less refin'd, beneath the moon's pale light,

Pursue the stars that shoot athwart the night,
Or suck the mists in grosser air below,
Or dip their pinions in the painted bow,
Or brew fierce tempests on the wint'ry main,
Or o'er the glebe distil the kindly rain:
Others on earth o'er human race preside,
Watch all their ways, and all their actions
guide:

Of these the chief the care of nations own, And guard with arms divine the British throne.

Our humble province is to tend the fair,
Not a less pleasing, though less glorious care;
To save the powder from too rude a gale,
Nor let th' imprison'd essences exhale;
To draw fresh colors from the vernal flow'rs;
To steal from rainbows, ere they drop in
show'rs,

A brighter wash; to curl their waving hairs,
Assist their blushes, and inspire their airs;
Nay oft, in dreams, invention we bestow,
To change a flounce, or add a furbelow.

This day black omens threat the brightest fair
That e'er deserv'd a watchful spirit's care;
Some dire disaster, or by force, or slight;
But what, or where, the fates have wrapt in
night.

Whether the nymph shall break Diana's law,
Or some frail China jar receive a flaw;
Or stain her honor, 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.

Haste then, ye spirits! to your charge repair:
The flutt'ring fan be Zephyretta's care;
The drops to thee, Brillante, we consign;
And, Momentilla, let the watch be thine;

Do thou, Crispissa, tend her fav'rite lock;
Ariel himself shall be the guard of Shock.
To fifty chosen sylphs, of special note,
We trust the important charge, the Petticoat:
Oft have we known that seven-fold fence to fail,
Though stiff with hoops, and arm'd with ribs
of whale :

Form a strong line about the silver bound,
And guard the wide circumference around.
Whatever spirit, careless of his charge,
His post neglects, or leaves the fair at large,
Shall feel sharp vengeance soon o'ertake his
sins,

Be stopp'd in vials, or transfix'd with pins;
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 clogg'd he beats his silken wings in

vain :

Or alum styptics, with contracting pow'r,
Shrink his thin essence like a shrivell'd flow'r:
Or, as Ixion fix'd, the wretch shall feel
The giddy motion of the whirling wheel;
In fumes of burning chocolate shall glow,
And tremble at the sea that froths below.

He spoke; the spirits from the sails de-
scend;

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.

CANTO III.

CLOSE by those meads, for ever crown'd with flow'rs, [tow'rs, Where Thames with pride surveys his rising There stands a structure of majestic frame, Which from the neighb'ring Hampton takes

its name.

come.

At ombre singly to decide their doom;
And swells her breast with conquests yet to
[join,
Straight the three bands prepare in arms to
Each band the number of the sacred nine.
Soon as she spreads her hand, the aerial guard
Descend, and sit on each important card:
First Ariel perch'd upon a matadore,
Then each according to the rank they bore;
For sylphs, yet mindful of their ancient race,
Are, as when women, wondrous fond of
place.

Behold, four kings in majesty rever'd,
With hoary whiskers and a forky beard;
And four fair queens whose hands sustain a
flow'r,

Th' expressive emblem of their softer pow'r;
Four knaves in garbs succinct, a trusty band,
Caps on their heads, and halberds in their
hands;

And party-color'd troops, a shining train,
Drawn forth to combat on the velvet plain.

The skilful nymph reviews her force with
care,
[they were.
Let Spades be trumps! she said, and trumps
Now move to war her sable matadores,
In show like leaders of the swarthy Moors.
Spadillo first, unconquerable lord!
Led off two captive trumps, and swept the

board.

As many more Manillo forc'd to yield,
And march'd a victor from the verdant field.
Him Basto follow'd; but his fate, more hard,
Gain'd but one trump, and one plebeian card.
With his broad sabre next, a chief in years,
The hoary majesty of Spades appears,
Puts forth one manly leg, to sight reveal'd,
The rest his many-color'd robe conceal'd.
The rebel knave, who dares his prince engage,
Proves the just victim of his royal rage.
E'en mighty Pam, that kings and queens o'er-
threw,

Here Britain's statesmen oft the fall foredoom Of foreign tyrants, and of nymphs at home; Here thou, great Anna! whom three realms And mow'd down armies in the fights of Loo, obey, [tea. Sad chance of war! now destitute of aid. Dost sometimes counsel take, and sometimes Falls undistinguish'd by the victor Spade! Hither the heroes and the nymphs resort, To taste a while the pleasures of a court; In various talk the instructive hours they pass'd,

Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last;
One speaks the glory of a British queen,
And one describes a charming Indian screen;
A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes;
At ev'ry word a reputation dies.
Snuff, or the fan, supply each pause of chat;
With singing, laughing, ogling, and all that.
Meanwhile, declining from the noon of day,
The sun obliquely shoots his burning ray;
The hungry judges soon the sentence sign,
And wretches hang, that jurymen may dine;
The merchant from th' Exchange returns in

Thus far both armies to Belinda yield;
Now to the Baron fate inclines the field.
His warlike Amazon her host invades,
Th' imperial consort of the crown of Spades.
The Club's black tyrant first her victim died,
Spite of his haughty mien, and barb'rous pride.
What boots the regal circle on his head;
His giant limbs, in state unwieldy spread;
That long behind he trails his pompous robe,
And, of all monarchs, only grasps the globe?

The Baron now his Diamonds pours apace;
Th' embroider'd king who shows but half his
face,
[bin'd,
And his refulgent queen, with powers com-
Of broken troops an easy conquest find.
Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, in wild disorder seen
With throngs promiscuous strow the level

In heaps on heaps; one fate o'erwhelms them
The knave of Diamonds tries his wily arts,
And wins (oh shameful chance!) the queen
of Hearts.

At this, the blood the virgin's cheek forsook;
A livid paleness spreads o'er all her look ;
She sees, and trembles at the approaching ill,
Just in the jaws of ruin, and Codille.
And now (as oft in some distemper'd state)
On one nice trick depends the gen❜ral fate,
An ace of Hearts steps forth the king, un-
seen,
[queen:
Lurk'd in her hand, and mourn'd his captive
He springs to vengeance with an eager pace,
And falls like thunder on the prostrate ace.
The Nymph exulting fills with shouts the
sky;

The walls, the woods, and long canals reply.
O thoughtless mortals! ever blind to fate,
Too soon dejected, and too soon elate,
Sudden these honors shall be snatch'd away,
And curs'd for ever this victorious day.

For, lo! the board with cups and spoons is crown'd,

The berries crackle, and the mill turns round:
On shining altars of Japan they raise
The silver lamp; the fiery spirits blaze :
From silver spouts the grateful liquors glide,
While China's earth receives the smoking
tide :

At once they gratify their scent and taste,
And frequent cups prolong the rich repast.
Straight hover round the Fair her airy band:
Some, as she sipp'd, the fuming liquor fann'd;
Some o'er her lap their careful plumes dis-
play'd,

Trembling, and conscious of the rich brocade.
Coffee (which makes the politician wise,
And see through all things with his half-shut
eyes)

Sent up in vapours to the Baron's brain
New stratagems, the radiant Lock to gain.
Ah, cease, rash youth! desist, 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 Nisus' injur'd hair!

But when to mischief mortals bend their will,
How soon they find fit instruments of ill!
Just then Clarissa drew, with tempting grace,
A two-edg'd weapon from her shining case:
So ladies, in romance, assist their knight,
Present the spear, and arm him for the fight.
He takes the gift with rev'rence, and extends
The little engine on his finger's ends;
This just behind Belinda's neck he spread,
As o'er the fragrant steams she bends her head.
Swift to the Lock a thousand sprites repair,
A thousand wings, by turns, blow back the
hair;
[ear;
And thrice they twitch'd the diamond in her
Thrice she looks back, and thrice the foe drew

near.

Just in that instant, anxious Ariel sought
The close recesses of the virgin's thought:
As on the nosegay in her breast reclin'd,
He watch'd the ideas rising 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;
Resign'd to fate, and with a sigh retir'd.

The Peer now spreads the glitt'ring forfex wide,

T'inclose the Lock; now joins it to divide.
E'en then, before the fatal engine clos'd,
A wretched sylph too fondly interpos'd;
Fate urg'd the shears, and cut the sylph in
twain,

But airy substance soon unites again ;
The meeting points the sacred hair dissever
From the fair head, for ever, and for ever!

Then flash'd the living lightning from her

BUT anxious cares the pensive nymph oppress'd,

And secret passions labor'd in her breast.
Not youthful kings in battle seiz'd alive,
Not scornful virgins who their charms survive,
Not ardent lovers robb'd of all their bliss,
Not ancient ladies when refus'd a kiss,
Not tyrants fierce that unrepenting die,
Not Cynthia when her mantua's pinn'd awry,
E'er felt such rage, resentment, and despair,
As thou, sad virgin! for thy ravish'd hair.

For, that sad moment, when the sylphs withdrew,

And Ariel weeping from Belinda flew,

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Elegant Extracts: Or, Useful and Entertaining Passages, from ..., Volumes 5-6