And dwells fuch rage in softeft bofons then?
And lodge fuch daring fouls in little men?
Sol thro' white curtains fhot a tim'rous ray,'
And op'd thofe eyes that must eclipse the day;
Now lapdogs give themselves the rowsing shake,
And fleepless lovers juft at twelve awake:
Thrice rung the bell, the flipper knock'd the ground,
And the prefs'd watch return'd a filver found.
Belinda fill her downy pillow preft,
Her guardian Sylph prolong'd the balmy reft.
Twas he had fummon'd to her filent bed
The morning.dream that hover'd o'er head.
A youth more glitt'ring than a birth-night beau,
(That ev'n in flumber caus'd her cheek to glow)
Seem'd to her ear his winning lips to lay,
And thus in whispers faid, or feem'd to fay.
Fairest of mortals, thou diftinguish'd care
Of thousand bright inhabitants of air!
If e'er one vifion touch'd thy infant thought,
Of all the nurse and all the priest have taught,
Of airy elves by moonlight shadows feen,
The filver token, and the circled green,
Or virgins vifited by angel-pow'rs,
With golden crowns and wreaths of heav'nly flow'rs,
Hear and believe! thy own importance know,
Nor bound thy narrow views to things below.
Some fecret truths, from learned pride conceal'd,
To maids alone and children are reveal'd:
What tho' no credit doubting wits may give?
The fair and innocent shall still believe.
Know then, unnumber'd spirits round thee fly,
The light militia of the lower fky;
Thefe, tho' unfeen, are ever on the wing,
Hang o'er the box, and hover round the ring:
Think what an equipage thou haft in air,
And view with fcorn two pages and a chair.
As now your own, our beings were of old,
And once inclos'd in woman's beauteous mold;
Thence, by a foft tranfition we repair
From earthly vehicles to these of air.
Think not, when woman's tranfient breath is fled,
That all her vanities at once are dead:
Succeeding vanities fhe ftill regards,
And tho' fhe plays no more, o'erlooks the cards.
Her joy in gilded chariots when alive,
And love of Ombre, after death furvive.
For when the fair in all their pride expire,
To their firft elements the fouls retire: -
The fprites of fiery termagants in flame
Mount up, and take a Salamander's name.
Soft yielding minds to water glide away,
And fip, with nymphs, their elemental tea.
The graver prude finks downward to a Gnome,,
In fearch of mischief still on earth to roam.
The light coquettes in Sylphs aloft repair,
And fport and flutter in the fields of air.
Know farther yet; whoever fair and chafte
Rejects mankind, is by fome Sylph embrac'd:
For fpirits, freed from mortal laws, with ease
Affume what fexes and what fhapes they please..
What guards the purity of melting maids,
In courtly balls, and midnight masquerades,
Safe from the treach'rous friend, and daring spark,
The glance by day, the whifper in the dark;
When kind occafion prompts their warm defires,
When mufick foftens, and when dancing fires?
Tis but their Sylph, the wife celeftials know,
Tho' honour is the word with men below.
Some nymphs there are, too confcious of their face,
For life predeftin'd to the Gnomes embrace.
These fwell their profpects, and exalt their pride,
When offers are difdain'd, and love deny'd.
Then gay ideas crowd the vacant brain,
While Peers and Dukes, and all their fweeping train,
And garters, ftars, and coronets appear,
And in foft founds, your grace falutes their ear.
'Tis thefe that early taint the female foul,
Inftruct the eyes of young coquettes to roll,
Teach infants cheeks a bidden blush to know,
And little hearts to flutter at a beau..
Oft when the world imagine women ftray,
The Sylphs thro' myftic mazes guide their way,
Thro' all the giddy circle they purfue,
And old impertinence expel by new..
What tender maid but must a victim fall
To one man's treat, but for another's ball?
When Florio fpeaks, what virgin could withstand,
If gentle Damon did not squeeze her hand?
With varying vanities from ev'ry part,
They shift the moving toyshop of their heart;
Where wigs with wigs, with fword-knots fword
Beaus banish beaus, 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 fprite, and Ariel is my name.
Late, as I rang'd the cryftal wilds of air,
In the clear mirror of thy ruling ftar
I faw, alas! fome dread event impend,
E'er to the main this morning Sun defcend.
But heav'n reveals not what, or how, or where: Warn'd by the Sylph, oh pious maid, beware! This to difclofe is all thy guardian can;
Beware of all, but most beware of man!
He faid; when Shack, who thought fhe flept too
Leap'd up, and wak'd his mistress with his tongue. 'Twas then Belinda! if report fay true,
Thy eyes firft open'd on a billet-doux;
Wounds, charms, and ardors, were no fooner read,
But all the vifion vanifh'd from thy head.
And now, unveil'd, the toilet ftands display'd, Each filver vafe in myftic order laid,
First, rob'd in white, the nymph intent adores
With head uncover'd, the cofmetic pow'rs.
A heav'nly image in the glafs appears,
To that the bends, to that her eyes the rears;
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