Favours to none, to all fhe fmiles extends,
Oft' fhe rejects, but never once offends.
Bright as the fun, her eyes the gazers ftrike,
And, like the fun, they fhine on all alike.
Yet graceful cafe, and fweetness void of pride,
Might hide her faults, if Belles had faults to hide:
If to her share fome female errors fall,
Look on her face, and you'll forget 'em all.
This nymph, to the destruction of mankind, Nourish'd two Locks, which graceful hung behind In equal curls, and well confpir'd to deck With fhining ringlets her fmooth iv'ry neck: Love in thefe labyrinths his flaves detains, And mighty hearts are held in flender chains. With hairy fprindges we the birds betray, Slight lines of hair furprize the finny prey, Fair treffes man's imperial race infnare,
And beauty draws us with a fingle hair.
Th' advent❜rous Baron the bright locks admir'd, He faw, he wifh'd, and to the prize afpir'd: Refolv'd to win, he meditates the way,
By force to ravifh, or by fraud betray;
For when fuccefs a Lover's toil attends,
Few ask, if fraud or force attain'd his ends.
For this, e'er Phoebus rofe, he had implor'd
Propitious heav'n, and ev'ry pow'r ador'd,
But chiefly Love-to Love an altar built,
Of twelve vaft 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 fighs to raise the fire.
Then proftrate falls, and begs with ardent eyes
Soon to obtain, and long poffefs the prize:
The Pow'rs gave ear, and granted half his pray'r,
The reft, the winds difpers'd in empty air.
But now fecure the painted veffel glides, The fun-beams trembling on the floating tydes, While melting mufic fteals upon the sky,
And foften'd founds along the waters die.
Smooth flow the waves, the zephyrs gently play,
Belinda fmil'd, and all the world was gay.
All but the Sylph----with careful thoughts opprest,
Th' impending woe fate heavy on his breast.
He fummons strait his Denizens of air;
The lucid squadrons round the fails repair:
Soft o'er the shrouds aerial whispers breath,
That feem'd but zephyrs to the train beneath.
Some to the fun their infect-wings unfold,
Waft on the breeze, or fink in clouds of gold.
Tranfparent forms, too fine for mortal fight,
Their fluid bodies half diffolv'd in light.
Loofe to the wind their airy garments flew,
Thin glitt❜ring textures of the filmy dew;
Dipt in the richest tincture of the skies,
Where light difports in ever-mingling dies,
While ev'ry beam new tranfient colours flings,
Colours 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 opening to the fun,
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 affign'd, By laws eternal, to th'aerial kind.
Some in the fields of pureft Æther play,
And bask and whiten in the blaze of day.
Some guide the course of wandring orbs on high,
Or roll the planets thro' the boundless sky.
Some lefs refin'd, beneath the moon's pale light
Hover, and catch the shooting stars by night;
Or fuck the mists in groffer air below,
Or dip their pinions in the painted bow,
Or brew fierce tempefts on the wintry main,
Or o'er the glebe distill the kindly rain.
Others on earth o'er humane race prefide,
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 humbler province is to tend the fair;
Not a lefs pleafing, tho' lefs glorious care.
To fave the powder from too rude a gale,
Nor let th' imprifon'd effences exhale,
To draw fresh colours from the vernal flow'rs,
To steal from rainbows e're they drop in fhow'rs
A brighter wash; to curl their waving hairs,
Affift their blushes, and inspire their airs;
Nay oft', in dreams, invention we bestow,
To change a Flounce, or add a Furbelo.
This day, black Omens threat the brightest fair That e'er deferv'd a watchful fpirit's care;
Some dire difafter, or by force, or flight;
But what, or where, the fates have wrapt in night.
Whether the nymph fhall break Diana's law,
Or fome frail China jar receive a flaw,
Or ftain her honour, or her new Brocade,
Forget her pray❜rs, or miss a masquerade,
Or lofe her heart, or necklace, at a Ball;
Or whether heav'n has doom'd that Shock must fall.
Haste then ye fpirits! to your charge repair;
The flutt'ring fan be Zephyretta's care;
The drops to thee, Brillante, we confign;
And Momentilla, let the watch be thine;
Do thou, Crifpiffa, tend her fav'rite Lock;
Ariel himself shall be the guard of Shock.
To fifty chofen Sylphs, of fpecial note,
We trust th' important charge, the Petticoat:
Oft' have we known that fev'nfold fence to fail,
Tho' ftiff with hoops, and arm'd with ribs of whale.
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