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fetched conceits, too ingenious resemblances, etc.; cf. ll. 140-43. ¶159. upon content= upon trust.

(88) 170. decent-becoming, attractive. 179. Fungoso: a character in Ben Jonson's Every Man out of His Humour. ¶ 196. open vowels: vowels that "open," or gape, on each other, with no consonant between; cf. the modern term "hiatus" (Latin "hiare," to gape). ¶207. Alexandrine: a line of six iambic feet; supposed to be so called from an old French romance, in that meter, about Alexander the Great.

(89) 211. praise: in the imperative mood and co-ordinate with "leave" (1. 209), not with "know." 212. Cf. note on Spring," 1. 46 (p. 444). ¶ 217-24. Cf. Vida's De arte

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poetica (1537), III. 365-68, 388-90, 394-96, 415-17:

Haud satis est illis utcunque claudere versum,
Et res verborum propria vi reddere claras:
Omnia sed numeris vocum concordibus aptant,
Atque sono quaecunque canunt imitantur.

Tunc longe sale saxa sonant, tunc et freta ventis
Incipiunt agitata tumescere: littore fluctus
Illidunt rauco.

Cum vero ex alto speculatus caerula Nereus
Leniit in morem stagni placidaeque paludis,
Labitur uncta vadis abies, natat uncta carina.

Atque adeo, siquid geritur molimine magno,

Adde moram, et pariter tecum quoque verba laborent
Segnia.

"It is not enough for them to close the verse in whatever way happens, and to make things clear by words of suitable meaning; but they fit all things to appropriate measures of words, and imitate in sound whatever things they sing." "Then from afar the rocks resound to the sea, and the straits, troubled by the winds, begin to rise; the billows dash against the hoarse shore." "But when blue Nereus, gazing from the deep, calms it to the semblance of a quiet, placid pool, the ship glides smoothly over the waves, and smoothly swims the keel." "And moreover, if you are concerned with some great mass, make delay, and in like degree with your thought let your slow words also labor." ¶ 221, 222. In the Iliad, vii. 268, 269, and xii. 383-85, Ajax is described as throwing stones; but the verse is not labored, either in the original or in Pope's translation. 223. Camilla: a maiden-warrior, very fleet of foot, described in the Eneid, vii. 803 ff. ¶ 225. See Dryden's "Alexander's Feast" (p. 53).

(89) THE RAPE OF THE LOCK. The first edition, published in 1712, consisted of only two cantos, containing 334 lines. In the second version the poem was expanded to 794 lines, chiefly by the addition of the description of the game of cards and the "machinery" of the sylphs and gnomes. "The first sketch of this poem was written in less than a fortnight's time, in 1711."-P. "Mr. Caryll. originally proposed the subject to him, in a view of putting an end, by this piece of ridicule, to a quarrel that was risen between two noble families, those of Lord Petre and of Mrs. Fermor, on the trifling occasion of his having cut off a lock of her hair."-W. "The stealing of Miss Belle Fermor's hair was taken too seriously, and caused an estrangement between the two families, though they had lived so long in great friendship before. A common acquaintance and well-wisher to both desired me to write a poem to make a jest of it, and laugh them together again. It was with this view that I wrote 'The Rape of the Lock.'. . . . The machinery was added afterwards, to make it look a little more considerable."-P., quoted in Spence's Anecdotes, Section V (1737–39). Pope dedicated the second version to Miss Fermor, "as a piece of justice in return to the wrong interpretations she has suffered under on the score of that piece" (letter to Caryll, December 15, 1713); the dedication is in part as follows: "It was intended only to divert a few young ladies, who have good sense and good humor enough to laugh not only at their

sex's little unguarded follies but at their own. . . . The machinery, madam, is a term invented by the critics to signify that part which the deities, angels, or demons are made to act in a poem. . . . . ... These machines I determined to raise on a very new and odd foundation, the Rosicrucian doctrine of spirits. . . . . According to these gentlemen the four elements are inhabited by spirits, which they call sylphs, gnomes, nymphs, and salamanders. The gnomes, or demons of earth, delight in mischief; but the sylphs, whose habitation is in the air, are the best conditioned creatures imaginable. . . The human persons are as fictitious as the airy ones; and the character of Belinda, as it is now managed, resembles you in nothing but in beauty."

(89) Canto I.

(90) 12. Cf. the Eneid, i. 11: "Tantaene animis caelestibus irae ?" "Can such wrath be in celestial minds?" 17. When the hand-bell (which was the only kind then used for summoning servants) was not answered, ladies were accustomed to knock with a slipper. ¶ 18. "Repeater" watches, when a spring is pressed, strike the last hour, and thus save languid belles the exertion of looking at the watch. 19-148. Added in the second version. ¶ 23. a birth-night beau: at the court balls in honor of the birthdays of the king, queen, and other members of the royal family, the costumes were unusually brilliant. ¶32. silver token: the silver coin that fairies used to put overnight in the shoes of tidy house-maids. the circled green: "Their [the fairies'] diversion was dancing hand-in-hand in a circle; and the traces of their tiny feet, which were held to be visible on the grass long afterwards, were called fairy rings."-Brand's Popular Antiquities. 44. the box: i. e., at the theater. the Ring: a circular drive in Hyde Park. ¶46. a chair: a sedan chair, a vehicle much used at this period, especially by ladies; it was closed on all sides, and was borne by two men. (91) 55, 56. Pope compares the Eneid, vi. 653-55:

Quae gratia curruum

Armorumque fuit vivis, quae cura nitentis
Pascere equos, eadem sequitur tellure repostos.

Cf. also Dryden's translation of the lines:

The love of horses which they had alive,

And care of chariots, after death survive.

¶56. ombre: a game at cards. ¶57-66. Elwin says that in the doctrines of the Rosicrucians the moral and mental natures of the sylphs, gnomes, nymphs, and salamanders "are not, as in 'The Rape of the Lock,' the counterpart of their corporeal qualities, and they are a race of beings distinct from man, and not deceased mortals, as with Pope, who was indebted for this circumstance to the account of the fairy train in Dryden's 'Flower and Leaf' [ll. 482, 483]: And all those airy shapes you now behold

Were human bodies once, and clothed with earthly mould."

69, 70. Cf. Paradise Lost, I. 423, 424:

For spirits, when they please,

Can either sex assume, or both.

81. "These" refers to the gnomes; "their," to the nymphs. ¶85 garters, stars: the insignia of the Knights of the Garter, the highest order of knighthood in England. coronets: lords and ladies may wear coronets, although only kings and queens may wear crowns.

(92) 105. thy protection claim: i. e., claim the right or privilege to protect thee. ¶ 108. "The language of the Platonists, the writers of the intelligible world of spirits."-P. 127. Th' inferior priestess: Belinda's maid, the Betty of 1. 148.

(93) Canto II. ¶4-46. In the first draft; all the rest of the canto was added in the second version.

(94) 45, 46. Pope compares the Eneid, xi. 794, 795:

Audiit et voti Phoebus succedere partem
Mente dedit, partem volucris dispersit in auras.

Cf. Dryden's rendering of the lines:

Apollo heard, and, granting half his prayer,

Shuffled in winds the rest, and tossed in empty air.

Cf. also the Iliad, xvi. 249, 250. ¶64. "The gossamer, which is spun in autumn by a species of spider, .... was formerly supposed to be the product of sunburnt dew."-Elwin. (95) 73. sylphids: "sylphid" is a diminutive of "sylph"; but the word may be used here (like the French "sylphide") for female sylphs. ¶79. wand'ring orbs: comets.

(96) 113. drops: ear-drops, set with brilliants. ¶ 115. Crispissa: from "crisp," to curl. 132. rivelled=shrivelled. ¶ 133. Ixion: a fabulous Greek king, father of the Centaurs, who for his boasting of Hera's supposed love for him was fastened to a revolving wheel in Hades. ¶ 134. mill: "Chocolate was made in a kind of mill."--Croker.

(96) Canto III. ¶3. a structure: Hampton Court, a royal palace, some twelve miles from London, built by Cardinal Wolsey.

(97) 25-104. Added in the second version. ¶27. ombre: "Ombre was invented in Spain, and owed its name to the phrase which was to be used by the person who undertook to stand the game-'Yo soy l'hombre,' 'I am the man.'"-Elwin. singly: the game was usually played by three persons, one pitted against the other two. 30. Nine cards were dealt to each player. ¶33. Matadore: "From the Spanish 'matador,' a murderer, because the matadors in ombre were the three best cards and the slayers of all that came into competition with them."-Elwin. ¶43. parti-coloured variegated.

(98) 47. "The whole idea of this description of a game at ombre is taken from Vida's description of a game at chess in his poem intitled 'Scacchia Ludus.'"-W. "Pope not only borrowed the general conception of representing the game under the guise of a battle, but he has imitated particular passages of his Latin prototype."-Elwin. 49. Spadillio: "From Espadilla,' the Spanish term for the ace of spades."-Elwin. ¶ 51. Manillio: "The second in power of the three Matadores."-Elwin. ¶ 53. Basto: "The Spanish name for the ace of clubs."-Elwin. 61. Pam: the knave of clubs; the highest in the game of loo.

(99) 92. codille: "If either of the antagonists made more tricks than the ombre, the winner took the pool, and the ombre had to replace it for the next game; this was called codille."-Elwin. ¶ 106. berries: coffee berries. ¶ 122. Scylla: daughter of Nisus, king of Megara, in Greece; she fell in love with Minos, leader of the Cretans who were warring upon Nisus, and gave him the purple lock of her father's hair on which depended the safety of Megara; as a punishment she was turned into a bird.

(100) 135-46. Added in the second version. ¶150. fondly-foolishly; but there seems to be also the idea of affectionate devotion to Belinda. 152. "See Milton, Lib. VI. 330. of Satan cut asunder by the angel Michael."-P. The lines cited are these:

But the ethereal substance closed,

Not long divisible.

¶ 165. 'Atalantis': a scandalous novel, by Mrs. Manley, published in 1709. ¶ 166. the small pillow: "Ladies in those days sometimes received visits in their bed-chambers, when the bed was covered with a richer counterpane, and 'graced' by a small pillow with a worked case and lace edging."-Croker. Cf. The Spectator, No. 45.

(101) 171. date: i. e., last date, ending. ¶ 172. Cf. Juvenal, x. 146. “Quandoquidem data sunt ipsis quoque fata sepulchris," "Since fates are given also to the graves themselves." 173-78. Pope compares Catullus, lxvi. 43-47:

Ille quoque eversus mons est, quem maximum in orbi
Progenies Thiae clara supervehitur,

Cum Medi peperere novom mare, cumque juventus
Per medium classi barbara navit Athon.

Quid facient crines, cum ferro talia cedant?

"That mountain, also, which the bright offspring of Thia passes over greatest upon earth, was overturned, when the Medes created a new sea and the barbarian youth sailed with their

fleet through the midst of Athos. What shall hair do, when such things yield to iron ?" 178. unresisted-irresistible.

(101) Canto IV. Cf. the descent of Ulysses (Odyssey, xi) and of Eneas (Æneid, vi) into Hades. 1, 2. Pope compares the Eneid, iv. 1, 2:

At regina gravi jamdudum saucia cura
Volnus alit venis, et caeco carpitur igni.

Cf. Dryden's translation:

But anxious cares already seized the queen;
She fed within her veins a flame unseen.

¶ 11-93. Added in the second version. ¶13. Umbriel: diminutive from Latin "umbria,” shadow. 20. The dreaded cast: the east wind was thought to cause spleen. ¶24. Megrim low spirits, the "blues"; also, resulting whims.

(102) 38. night-dress: the modern dressing-gown. gives a new disease: i. e., is the occasion of affecting to be ill, when the new gown may be displayed to the doctor and sympathetic friends; cf. 1. 36. ¶43. spires-coils. ¶46. angels in machines: angels coming to the aid of mortals. In ancient Greek and Latin plays, when the plot had reached a crisis where human power was helpless, a god descended by means of a stage device, or "machine," and extricated the characters from their troubles. ¶51. Homer's tripod: "See Hom. Iliad, xviii, of Vulcan's walking tripods."-P. ¶52. a goose-pie talks: "Alludes to a real fact; a lady of distinction imagined herself in this condition."-P. ¶ 59. vapours-depression of spirits, the "blues." "The disease was probably named from the atmospheric vapors which were reputed to be a principal cause of English melancholy."—Elwin.

(103) 82. See the Odyssey, x. 102. loads of lead: "The curl-papers of ladies' hair used to be fastened with strips of pliant lead."-Croker.

(104) 117. Hyde Park Circus: see note on Canto I. 44 (p. 448). ¶ 118. The church of St. Mary-le-Bow stood in the center of the business part of the city, where the "wits" and fine gentlemen would scorn to live. ¶ 121. Sir Plume: the original was Sir George Brown, brother of "Thalestris." "Nobody but Sir George Brown was angry, and he was a good deal so and for a long time. He could not bear that Sir Plume should talk nothing but nonsense." -P., as quoted in Spence's Anecdotes, Section V (1737-39). Spence adds, "I have been assured by a most intimate friend of Mr. Pope's . . . . that what was said of Sir George Brown in it was the very picture of the man." ¶ 124. clouded covered with spots darker than the rest of the wood; cf. The Tatler, No. 103. ¶ 133-36. "In allusion to Achilles' oath in Homer, Il. [233-37]."-P. 137. Cf. Dryden's translation of the Iliad, i. 88: "That while my nostrils draw this vital air." ¶ 141, 142. Added in the second version. ¶ 149. 150. Cf. the Eneid, iv. 657, 658:

Felix heu nimium felix, si litora tantum
Nunquam Dardaniae tetigissent nostra carinae.

"Happy, alas too happy, if only the Dardanian keels had never touched our shores."

(105) Canto V. 2. Cf. the Eneid, iv. 440, "Fata obstant, placidasque viri deus obstruit auris"; and Dryden's translation, "Fate and the gods had stopped his ears to love." 15. the Trojan: Æneas; obedient to the command of Jupiter, he prepared to leave Carthage in spite of the frantic grief of Dido and the entreaties of her sister Anna; see the Æneid, iv. 416-49. ¶7-36. Added in the edition of 1717. ¶ 7. Clarissa: "a new character introduced in the subsequent editions, to open more clearly the moral of the poem, in a parody of the speech of Sarpedon to Glaucus in Homer [Iliad, xii. 310 ff.].”—P.

953.

(106) 45. "Homer, I., xx."-P. ¶53-56. Added in the second version. sconce's: a sconce is a bracket-candlestick. "Minerva in like manner, during the battle of Ulysses with the suitors in the Odyssey, perches on a beam of the roof to behold it."-P.

(107) 64. “Those eyes are made so killing": "The words of a song in the opera of Camilla."-P. 65. Pope compares Ovid, Epistles, vii. 1, 2:

Sic ubi fata vocant, udis abjectus in herbis,

Ad vada Maeandri concinit albus olor,

"So when the fates call, the white swan sings by the streams of Maeander, lying helpless in the damp grass." ¶83, 84. Added in the second version. ¶89-96. "In imitation of the progress of Agamemnon's sceptre in Homer, Il., ii [101–9].”—P.

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(108) 113, 114. "Vide Ariosto, Canto XXXIV."-P. Cf. Paradise Lost, III. 440–59. 115. heroes' wits: among the things in the lunar limbo of Ariosto's poem are the wits of Orlando, the distracted hero. ¶ 129. Berenice's locks: Berenice, wife of one of the Egyptian kings, dedicated her hair to the gods for the safe return of her husband from a military expedition, and an astronomer reported that the hair had been transformed into the constellation "Coma Berenices. ¶ 131, 132. Added in the second version. ¶133. the Mall: a promenade in St. James's Park, London, much frequented by the fashionable world; bands of music apparently played there. ¶ 136. Rosamonda's lake: a small body of water in St. James's Park. 137. Partridge: "John Partridge was a ridiculous star-gazer, who in his almanacs every year never failed to predict the downfall of the Pope and the King of France, then at war with the English."-P. 138. Galileo's eyes: the telescope.

(109) TRANSLATIONS FROM HOMER. Iliad, i. 640-61. Cf. Dryden's translation of the same passage, on p. 60.

(109) ELOISA TO ABELARD. Lines 1-58, 207-48, 277-302. Peter Abelard (10791142), of a noble French family, early came to great distinction as a lecturer upon divinity; thousands crowded to hear him in Paris and elsewhere, and his lectures largely determined for centuries the method of scholastic theology. In the midst of this brilliant career, at the age of thirty-six, he fell in love with a beautiful and intellectual girl of eighteen, Heloise, who it is said knew Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; he became her tutor, and soon won her passionate love. When the illicit connection became known to her uncle, Abelard consented to marry her on condition that the marriage should be kept secret; the uncle, however, soon revealed it, and the lovers parted, Heloise becoming a nun and Abelard a monk. Years after, according to tradition, Abelard wrote a letter to a friend in distress and sought to console him by telling the story of his own greater sorrows; the letter in some way reached Heloise, and drew from her a letter to Abelard-the basis of Pope's poem. There is doubt as to the authenticity of the letters, although they have generally been considered genuine. The originals were written in Latin. In 1693 a garbled French translation was published; and in 1714 the French version was translated into English. Pope follows the English translation.

(110) 20. Cf. Milton's Comus, l. 429, "By grots and caverns shagged with horrid shades." ¶ 22. weep: a reference to the moisture which collects upon stone in damp air. 24. forgot myself to stone: cf. Milton's "Il Penseroso," l. 42, "Forget thyself to marble." ¶36. Cf. John Pomfret's "Love Triumphant over Reason" (1699), l. 213, “Which breeds such sad variety of woe."

(111) 64. "Taken from Crashaw."-P. Line 16 in Crashaw's "Description of a Religious House and Condition of Life" (1646).

(112) 101-14. A comparison with the corresponding passage in the English translation will show something of Pope's manner of handling his original: "I am a miserable sinner prostrate before my judge, and with my face pressed to the earth I mix my tears and sighs in the dust when the beams of grace and reason enlighten me. Come, see me in this posture and solicit me to love you! Come, if you think fit, and in your holy habit thrust yourself between God and me, and be a wall of separation! Come and force from me those sighs, thoughts, and vows which I owe to Him only! Assist the evil spirits, and be the instrument of their malice! But rather withdraw yourself, and contribute to my salvation. Let me remove far from you, and obey the apostle, who hath said, 'Fly!'''

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