Th' inferior priestess, at her altar's fide,
Trembling, begins the facred rites of pride.
Unnumber'd treasures ope at once, and here
The various off'rings of the world appear ; ·
From each fhe nicely culls with curious toil,'
And decks the Goddefs with the glitt'ring fpoil.
This cafket India's glowing gems unlocks,
And all Arabia breathes from yonder box.
The tortoife here, and elephant unite,
Transform'd to combs, the fpeckled, and the white,
Here.files of pins extend their fhining rows,
Puffs, powders, patches, bibles, billet-doux.
Now awful beauty puts on all its arms:
The fair each moment rifes in her charms,
Repairs her smiles, awakens ev'ry grace,
And calls forth all the wonders of her face;
Sees by degrees a purer blush arife,
And keener lightnings quicken in her eyes.
The bufy Sylphs furround their darling care,
These fet the head, and thofe divide the air,'
Some fold the fleeve, while others plait the gown ;*
And Betty's prais'd for labours not her own.
CANTO II.
OT with more glories in th' etherial plain,
The fun first rifes o'er the purpled main,
Than iffuing forth, the rival of his beams
Lanch'd on the bofom of the filver Thames.
Fair nymphs, and well-dreft youths around her shone,
But ev'ry eye was fix'd on her alone.
On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore,
Which Jews might kifs, and Infidels adore.
Her lively looks a fprightly mind difclofe,
Quick as her eyes, and as unfix'd as thofe :
Favours to none, to all the fmiles extends,
Oft the rejects, but never once offends.
Bright as the fun, her eyes the gazers ftrike,
And, like the fun, they fhine on all alike,
Yet graceful eafe, and fweetness void of pride,
Might hide her faults, if Belles had faults to hide:
If to her share fome female errors fall,
Look on her face, and you'll forget 'em all.
This nymph, to the deftruction of mankind, Nourish'd two locks, which graceful hung behind! In equal curls, and well confpir'd to deck With shining ringlets her smooth iv'ry neck: Love in these labyrinths his flaves detains, And mighty hearts are held in flender chains. With hairy springes we the birds betray, Slight lines of hair fuprize the finny prey, Fair treffes man's imperial race infnare,
And beauty draws us with a single hair.
Th' advent'rous Baron the bright locks admir'd,
He faw, he wifh'd, and to the prize afpir'd:
Refolv'd to win, he meditates the way,
Bý force to ravish, or by fraud betray;
For when fuccefs a lover's toil attends,
Few afk, if fraud or force attain'd his ends.
For this, e'er Phabus rofe, he had implor'd
Propitious heav'n, and ev'ry pow'r ador'd,
But chiefly Love
to Love an altar built, ci
romances, neatly gilt,
D 6
There lay three garters, half a pair of gloves;
And all the trophies of his former loves.
With tender billet-doux he lights the pyre,
And breathes three am'rous fighs to raise the fire.
Then proftrate falls, and begs with ardent eyes
Soon to obtain, and long poffefs the prize:
The pow'rs gave ear, and granted half his pray'r,
The reft, the winds difpers'd in empty air.
But now fecure the painted veffel glides,
The fun-beams trembling on the floating tides,
While melting mufic fteals upon the sky,
And foften'd founds along the waters die.
Smooth flow the waves, the zephyrs gently play,
Belinda fmil'd, and all the world was gay.
All but the Sylph-with careful thoughts oppreft:
Th' impending woe fate heavy on his breast.
He fummons ftrait his denizens of air;
The lucid fquadrons round the fails repair:
Soft o'er the shrouds aerial whispers breathe,
That feem'd but zephyrs to the train beneath.
Some to the fun their infect-wings unfold,
Waft on the breeze, or fink in clouds of gold.
Tranfparent forms, too fine for mortal fight,
Their fluid bodies half diffolv'd in light.
Loofe to the winds their airy garments flew,
Thin glitt'ring textures of the filmy dew;
Dipt in the richest tincture of the skies,
Where light difports in ever-mingling dies,
While ev'ry beam new tranfient colours flings,
Colours that change whene'er they wave their wings,
Amid the circle, on the gilded mast,
Superior by the head, was Ariel plac'd;
His purple pinions op'ning to the fun,
He rais'd his_azure wand, and thus begun.
Ye Sylphs and Sylphids to your chief give ear,
Fays, Fairies, Genii, Elves, and Damons hear!
Ye know the spheres and various tasks affign'd,
By laws eternal, to th' aerial kind.
Some in the fields of pureft Ether play,
And bask and whiten in the blaze of day.
Some guide the course of wand'ring orbs on high,
Or roll the planets thro' the boundless fky.
Some lefs refin'd, beneath the moon's pale light
Hover, and catch the shooting stars by night;
Or fuck the mifts in groffer air below,
Or dip their pinions in the painted bow,
Or brew fierce tempefts on the wintry main,
Or o'er the glebe diftil the kindly rain.
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