Nay, Poll sat mute, and Shock was most unkind! 165 See the poor remnants of these slighted hairs! CANTO V. SHE said: the pitying audience melt in tears; But Fate and Jove had stopp'd the Baron's ears. In vain Thalestris with reproach assails; For who can move when fair Belinda fails? 5 Not half so fix'd the Trojan could remain, While Anna begg'd and Dido rag'd in vain. Then grave Clarissa graceful wav'd her fan; Silence ensu'd, and thus the nymph began: "Say, why are beauties prais'd and honor'd most, 10 The wise man's passion, and the vain man's toast? Why deck'd with all that land and sea afford, Why angels call'd, and angel-like ador'd? Why round our coaches crowd the white-glov'd beaux? Why bows the side-box from its inmost rows? 15 How vain are all these glories, all our pains, Unless good sense preserve what beauty gains, But this bold lord, with manly strength endu'd, 80 She with one finger and a thumb subdu'd: 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 dust. 85 Sudden with starting tears each eye o'erflows, 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 side. (The same, his ancient personage to deck, 90 Her great-great-grandsire wore about his neck, In three seal-rings; which after, melted down, 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; 95 Then in a bodkin grac'd her mother's hairs, Which long she wore, and now Belinda wears.) "Boast not my fall," he cried, "insulting foe! Thou by some other shalt be laid as low. Nor think, to die dejects my lofty mind; 100 All that I dread is leaving you behind! Rather than so, ah let me still survive, And burn in Cupid's flames-but burn alive." "Restore the Lock!" she cries; and all around "Restore the Lock!" the vaulted roofs rebound. 105 Not fierce Othello in so loud a strain Roar'd for the handkerchief that caus'd his pain. But see how oft ambitious aims are cross'd, And chiefs contend till all the prize is lost! The Lock, obtain'd with guilt, and kept with pain, 110 In ev'ry place is sought, but sought in vain. With such a prize no mortal must be blest, So heav'n decrees! with heav'n who can contest? Some thought it mounted to the lunar sphere, Since all things lost on earth are treasur'd there. 115 There heroes' wits are kept in pond'rous vases, And beaux in snuff-boxes and tweezer-cases. There broken vows and death-bed alms are found, And lovers' hearts with ends of riband bound, The courtier's promises, and sick man's pray'rs, 120 The smiles of harlots, and the tears of heirs, Cages for gnats, and chains to yoke a flea, Dried butterflies, and tomes of casuistry. But trust the Muse-she saw it upward rise, Tho' mark'd by none but quick poetic eyes; 125 (So Rome's great founder to the heav'ns withdrew, To Proculus alone confess'd in view) A sudden star, it shot thro' liquid air, And drew behind a radiant trail of hair. 130 The heav'ns bespangling with dishevel'd light. And pleas'd pursue its progress thro' the skies. 135 This the blest lover shall for Venus take, And hence th' egregious wizard shall foredoom 140 The fate of Louis, and the fall of Rome. Then cease, bright nymph! to mourn thy ravish'd Which adds new glory to the shining sphere! When, after millions slain, yourself shall die: RAPE OF THE LOCK. NOTES. The Rape of the Lock is one of the longest occasional poems in any literature. It was translated into French by Marmontel. Pope was extremely proud of the poem, and it is said that the compliment conveyed in it made Miss Arabella Fermor, the heroine, very vain. Nolueram, etc.: "I was unwilling, Belinda, to disarrange thy locks; but it pleases me to pay this tribute to thy prayers." Mrs. Arabella Fermor. Mrs., an abbreviation of Mistress, was then the usual title of an unmarried woman. Cf. Shakespeare's "Mistress Anne Page." CANTO I. Line 3. Caryl: Mr. John Caryl was the gentleman who had suggested to Pope that a humorous poem might restore the families of Miss Fermor and Lord Petre to good nature. 23. Birth-night Beau: Such a fine gentleman as might be seen at the State Ball annually given on the King's birthday. 32. The silver token, etc. Such allusions show that even the artificial eighteenth century had not forgotten the fairy folk-lore dear to the popular heart. 34. Wreaths of heav'nly flow'rs, a possible reminiscence of Massinger's Virgin Martyr, in which the heroine, Dorothea, is so visited, according to an old legend. 39. Doubting Wits: Wit is a favorite word of the period. Here it applies to sophisticated, clever people. It has many other uses. Follow it through the poem. 44. The Box is an opera box. The Ring is originally a circus ring; the reference here is to a circular promenade in Hyde Park. 46. Two pages and a chair: The allusion is to a sedan chair, in which ladies w rried by little pages. 54, 55. "Quae gratia currum Armorumque fuit vivis, quae cura nitentes Pope. 56. Ombre: A game of cards which we are soon to meet, said to be the oldest known to Europe. 59-66. This analysis of the Fair is certainly not flattering. Did Pope know no women except termagants, weaklings, prudes, and coquettes ? 108. "The language of the Platonists." Pope. 115. Shock. Her pet dog; Shock means shaggy. Cf. our phrase, "a shock of hair." 121 seq. The toilet was at that period a solemn and elaborate rite, which is celebrated in drama and essay as well as in poetry. 138. Note the alliteration and the mischief. CANTO II. 7. A sparkling cross: Spenser's Knight of Holiness wore a red cross upon his shield. What a contrast in the two conceptions! But the language of hyperbole rarely turned a more graceful compliment than this. 28. In allusion to those lines of Hudibras, applied to the same purpose, "And tho' it be a two-foot trout, Warburton. 38. These great French romances began to be popular in the 17th century, and were the favorite reading of society. Clélie, one of the best liked, consisted of ten volumes, of eight hundred pages each. The modern novel had not yet appeared. Richardson's Pamela was published in 1740, twenty-eight years after The Rape of the Lock. 45. Pope refers to the Aeneid, Book XI, verses 794-5. It was proper for an epic hero to sacrifice to the gods before starting on his exploit. 47 seq. Note through these lines the liquid flow of the verse. 60 seq. This description shows a sense for color and visible beauty rare in Pope. 74. An imitation of Satan's address to his followers, Paradise Lost, V, 601. "Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers." 90-100. Nothing could be more felicitous or more in the taste of the time than this description, unless it be the sly humor with which the punishments of the Sylphs are described below. 105 seq. woven. 112. Here are antithesis and anticlimax skilfully interThe anticlimax in 106 is repeated in Canto III, 159. Notice the appropriateness of the pretty names. |