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

65

71

The Baron now his Diamonds pours apace; 75
Th' embroider'd King who fhews but half his face,
And his refulgent Queen, with pow'rs combin'd
Of broken troops an eafy conqueft find.

Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, in wild disorder seen,
With throngs promifcuous ftrow the level green.

NOTES.

Thus

VER. 65. Belinda yield;] It is finely contrived that she should be victorious; as it occafions a change of fortune in the dreadful lofs fhe was speedily to undergo, and gives occafion to the Poet to introduce a moral reflection from Virgil, which adds to the pleafantry of the ftory. In one of the paffages where Pope has copied Vida, he has loft the propriety of the original, which arifes from the different colours of the men, at Chefs.

Thus, when difpers'd, a routed army runs, &c.
"Non aliter, campis legio fe buxea utrinque
Compofuit, duplici digeftis ordine turmis,
Adverfifque ambæ fulfere coloribus alæ ;
Quam Gallorum acies, Alpino frigore lactea
Corpora, fi tendant albis in prælia fignis,
Auroræ populos contra, et Phaethonte peruftos
Infano Æthiopas, et nigri Memnonis alas."

WARTON.

Thus when difpers'd a routed army runs,
Of Afia's troops, and Afric's fable fons,
With like confufion different nations fly,
Of various habit, and of various die;
The pierc'd battalions difunited fall,

81

85

In heaps on heaps; one fate o'erwhelms them all.
The Knave of Diamonds tries his wily arts,
And wins (oh fhameful chance!) the Queen of Hearts.
At this, the blood the Virgin's cheek forfook,
A livid paleness spreads o'er all her look;
She fees, and trembles at th' approaching ill,
Juft 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:

90

An Ace of Hearts steps forth: The King unseen 95
Lurk'd in her hand, and mourn'd his captive Queen:
He fprings to vengeance with an eager pace,
And falls like thunder on the proftrate Ace.
The nymph exulting fills with fhouts the sky;
The walls, the woods, and long canals reply.

NOTES.

100

Oh

VER. 95. An Ace of Hearts fteps forth :] Nothing can exceed Pope's powers of defcription, as difplayed in this game of Cards. His mock-heroic paintings of the Kings, their enfigns, and characters, are inimitable. Warton in his Effay, speaking of Windfor Foreft, fays, defcriptive Poetry was by no means the shining talent of Pope. Of rural objects Pope was not an able defcriber, as he could not be an accurate obferver; but in description of scenes taken from artificial Life, his powers are very manifeft. This diftinction fhould be always attended to, in estimating Pope's poetical character.

Oh thoughtless mortals! ever blind to fate,
Too foon dejected, and too foon elate.
Sudden thefe honours fhall be fnatch'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; 106 On fhining altars of Japan they raise

The filver lamp; the fiery fpirits blaze:
From filver spouts the grateful liquors glide,
While China's earth receives the fmoaking tide:
At once they gratify their fcent and taste,
And frequent cups prolong the rich repast.
Straight hover round the Fair her airy band;
Some, as fhe fipp'd, the fuming liquor fann'd,
Some o'er her lap their careful plumes display'd,
Trembling, and confcious of the rich brocade.
Coffee (which makes the politician wife,

III

116

And see through all things with his half-shut eyes)
in vapours to the Baron's brain

Sent up
New Stratagems, the radiant Lock to gain.

120

Ah

VARIATIONS.

VER. 105. Sudden the board, &c.] From hence, the first Edition continues to ver. 134.

POPE.

VER. 101.]

IMITATIONS.

"Nefcia mens hominum fati fortifque futuræ ;
Et fervare modum, rebus fublata fecundis !

Turno tempus erit magno cum optaverit emptum
Intactum Pallanta; et cum fpolia ifta diemque
Oderit."

VIRG.

Ah cease, rafh youth! defift ere 'tis too late,
Fear the juft Gods, and think of Scylla's Fate!
Chang'd to a bird, and fent to flit in air,

She dearly pays for Nifus' injur'd hair!

But when to Mischief mortals bend their will,
How foon they find fit Inftruments of ill?
Just then, Clariffa drew with tempting grace
A two-edg'd weapon from her fhining cafe:
So Ladies in Romance affift their Knight,
Prefent the spear, and arm him for the fight.
He takes the gift with rev'rence, and extends
The little engine on his fingers' ends;
This juft behind Belinda's neck he spread,
As o'er the fragrant steams fhe bends her head.
Swift to the Lock a thousand Sprites repair,

126

130

135

A thousand wings, by turns, blow back the hair;
And thrice they twitch'd the diamond in her ear;
Thrice fhe look'd back, and thrice the foe drew near.
Just in that inftant, anxious Ariel fought
The clofe receffes of the Virgin's thought:
As on the nofegay in her breast reclin'd,
He watch'd th' ideas rifing in her mind,
Sudden he view'd, in spite of all her art,
An earthly Lover lurking at her heart.

140

Amaz❜d,

VARIATIONS.

VER. 134.] In the firft Edition it was thus,
As o'er the fragrant stream she bends her head.

NOTES.

POPE.

VER. 122. and think of Scylla's Fate!] Vide Ovid's Me

tam. viii.

РОРЕ.

Amaz'd, confus'd, he found his pow'r expir'd, 145 Refign'd to fate, and with a figh retir'd.

The Peer now spreads the glitt'ring Forfex wide, T'inclose the Lock; now joins it, to divide.

Ev'n then, before the fatal engine clos'd,

A wretched Sylph too fondly interpos'd;

Fate urg'd the sheers, and cut the Sylph in twain, (But airy substance foon unites again,)

150

VER. 147-]

VARIATIONS.

First he expands the glitt'ring Forfex wide
T' inclose the Lock; then joins it to divide:
The meeting points the facred hair diffever,
From the fair head, for ever, and for ever.
All that is between was added afterwards.

NOTES.

The

POPE.

VER. 152. But airy fubftance] See Milton, lib. vi. of Satan cut afunder by the Angel Michael.

POPE.

This line is an admirable parody on that paffage of Milton, which, perhaps oddly enough, defcribes Satan wounded:

"The griding fword, with discontinuous wound,

Pafs'd thro' him; but th' etherial substance clos'd,
Not long divifible."

The parodies are fome of the moft exquifite parts of this poem. That which follows from the " Dum juga montis aper," of Virgil, contains fome of the moft artful ftrokes of fatire, and the moft poignant ridicule imaginable.

The introduction of frequent parodies on ferious and folemn paffages of Homer and Virgil, gives much life and spirit to heroicomic poetry. "Tu dors, Prelat? tu dors?" in Boileau, is the "Euders Alge vis" of Homer, and is full of humour. The wife of the barber talks in the language of Dido in her expoftulations to her Æneas, at the beginning of the second Canto of the Lutrin. Pope's parodies of Sarpedon in Homer, and of the defcription