1 Not with more glories, in th' etherial plain,
2 The sun first rises o'er the purpled main,
3 Than, issuing forth, the rival of his beams
4 Launch'd on the bosom of the silver Thames.
5 Fair nymphs, and well-dress'd youths around her shone,
6 But ev'ry eye was fix'd on her alone.
7 On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore,
8 Which Jews might kiss, and infidels adore.
9 Her lively looks a sprightly mind disclose,
10 Quick as her eyes, and as unfix'd as those:
11 Favours to none, to all she smiles extends;
12 Oft she rejects, but never once offends.
13 Bright as the sun, her eyes the gazers strike,
14 And, like the sun, they shine on all alike.
15 Yet graceful ease, and sweetness void of pride,
16 Might hide her faults, if belles had faults to hide:
17 If to her share some female errors fall,
18 Look on her face, and you'll forget 'em all.
19 This nymph, to the destruction of mankind,
20 Nourish'd two locks, which graceful hung behind
21 In equal curls, and well conspir'd to deck
22 With shining ringlets the smooth iv'ry neck.
23 Love in these labyrinths his slaves detains,
24 And mighty hearts are held in slender chains.
25 With hairy springes we the birds betray,
26 Slight lines of hair surprise the finney prey,
27 Fair tresses man's imperial race ensnare,
28 And beauty draws us with a single hair.
29 Th' advent'rous baron the bright locks admir'd;
30 He saw, he wish'd, and to the prize aspir'd.
31 Resolv'd to win, he meditates the way,
32 By force to ravish, or by fraud betray;
33 For when success a lover's toil attends,
34 Few ask, if fraud or force attain'd his ends.
35 For this, ere Phbus rose, he had implor'd
36 Propitious Heav'n, and ev'ry pow'r ador'd,
37 But chiefly love--to love an altar built,
38 Of twelve vast French romances, neatly gilt.
39 There lay three garters, half a pair of gloves;
40 And all the trophies of his former loves;
41 With tender billet-doux he lights the pyre,
42 And breathes three am'rous sighs to raise the fire.
43 Then prostrate falls, and begs with ardent eyes
44 Soon to obtain, and long possess the prize:
45 The pow'rs gave ear, and granted half his pray'r,
46 The rest, the winds dispers'd in empty air.
47 But now secure the painted vessel glides,
48 The sun-beams trembling on the floating tides,
49 While melting music steals upon the sky,
50 And soften'd sounds along the waters die.
51 Smooth flow the waves, the zephyrs gently play,
52 Belinda smil'd, and all the world was gay.
53 All but the Sylph--with careful thoughts opprest,
54 Th' impending woe sat heavy on his breast.
55 He summons strait his denizens of air;
56 The lucid squadrons round the sails repair:
57 Soft o'er the shrouds aerial whispers breathe,
58 That seem'd but zephyrs to the train beneath.
59 Some to the sun their insect-wings unfold,
60 Waft on the breeze, or sink in clouds of gold.
61 Transparent forms, too fine for mortal sight,
62 Their fluid bodies half dissolv'd in light,
63 Loose to the wind their airy garments flew,
64 Thin glitt'ring textures of the filmy dew;
65 Dipp'd in the richest tincture of the skies,
66 Where light disports in ever-mingling dyes,
67 While ev'ry beam new transient colours flings,
68 Colours that change whene'er they wave their wings.
69 Amid the circle, on the gilded mast,
70 Superior by the head, was Ariel plac'd;
71 His purple pinions op'ning to the sun,
72 He rais'd his azure wand, and thus begun.
73 "Ye Sylphs and Sylphids, to your chief give ear!
74 Fays, Fairies, Genii, Elves, and Dæmons, hear!
75 Ye know the spheres and various tasks assign'd
76 By laws eternal to th' aerial kind.
77 Some in the fields of purest æther play,
78 And bask and whiten in the blaze of day.
79 Some guide the course of wand'ring orbs on high,
80 Or roll the planets through the boundless sky.
81 Some less refin'd, beneath the moon's pale light
82 Pursue the stars that shoot athwart the night,
83 Or suck the mists in grosser air below,
84 Or dip their pinions in the painted bow,
85 Or brew fierce tempests on the wintry main,
86 Or o'er the glebe distil the kindly rain.
87 Others on earth o'er human race preside,
88 Watch all their ways, and all their actions guide:
89 Of these the chief the care of nations own,
90 And guard with arms divine the British throne.
91 "Our humbler province is to tend the fair,
92 Not a less pleasing, though less glorious care.
93 To save the powder from too rude a gale,
94 Nor let th' imprison'd essences exhale,
95 To draw fresh colours from the vernal flow'rs,
96 To steal from rainbows e'er they drop in show'rs
97 A brighter wash; to curl their waving hairs,
98 Assist their blushes, and inspire their airs;
99 Nay oft, in dreams, invention we bestow,
100 To change a flounce, or add a furbelow.
101 "This day, black omens threat the brightest fair
102 That e'er deserv'd a watchful spirit's care;
103 Some dire disaster, or by force, or slight,
104 But what, or where, the fates have wrapt in night.
105 Whether the nymph shall break Diana's law,
106 Or some frail china jar receive a flaw;
107 Or stain her honour, or her new brocade,
108 Forget her pray'rs, or miss a masquerade;
109 Or lose her heart, or necklace, at a ball;
110 Or whether Heav'n has doom'd that Shock must fall.
111 Haste, then, ye spirits! to your charge repair:
112 The flutt'ring fan be Zephyretta's care;
113 The drops to thee, Brillante, we consign;
114 And, Momentilla, let the watch be thine;
115 Do thou, Crispissa, tend her fav'rite lock;
116 Ariel himself shall be the guard of Shock.
117 "To fifty chosen Sylphs, of special note,
118 We trust th' important charge, the petticoat:
119 Oft have we known that sev'n-fold fence to fail,
120 Though stiff with hoops, and arm'd with ribs of whale.
121 Form a strong line about the silver bound,
122 And guard the wide circumference around.
123 "Whatever spirit, careless of his charge,
124 His post neglects, or leaves the fair at large,
125 Shall feel sharp vengeance soon o'ertake his sins,
126 Be stopp'd in vials, or transfix'd with pins;
127 Or plung'd in lakes of bitter washes lie,
128 Or wedg'd whole ages in a bodkin's eye:
129 Gums and pomatums shall his flight restrain,
130 While clogg'd he beats his silken wings in vain;
131 Or alum styptics with contracting pow'r
132 Shrink his thin essence like a rivell'd flow'r.
133 Or, as Ixion fix'd, the wretch shall feel
134 The giddy motion of the whirling mill,
135 In fumes of burning chocolate shall glow,
136 And tremble at the sea that froths below!"
137 He spoke; the spirits from the sails descend;
138 Some, orb in orb, around the nymph extend,
139 Some thrid the mazy ringlets of her hair,
140 Some hang upon the pendants of her ear;
141 With beating hearts the dire event they wait,
142 Anxious, and trembling for the birth of fate.