This place (quoth fhe) they fay 's inchanted,
And with delinquent fpirits haunted,
That here are ty'd in chains, and scourg'd,
Until their guilty crimes be purg'd:
Look, there are two of them appear,
Like perfons I have feen fomewhere.
Some have mistaken blocks and pofts
For fpectres, apparitions, ghosts,
With faucer-eyes, and horns; and fome
Have heard the devil beat a drum;
But if our eyes are not false glaffes,
That give a wrong account of faces,
That beard and I fhould be acquainted,
Before 'twas conjur'd and inchanted;
For tho' it be disfigur'd fomewhat,
As if't had lately been in combat,
It did belong to a worthy Knight,
Howe'er this goblin is come by't.
S. B. I. E. 148. Sein Lockenraub, The Rape of the Lock, in vier Gesången, hatte, wie Boileau's Luz trin, eine zufällige und an sich unwichtige Veranlassung, nåmlich die etwas weit getriebene Galanterie eines juugen Lord Petre, der eine Haarlocke der Miß Arabella Fermor abgeschnitten und erbeutet hatte. Zur Schlichtung des dadurch entstandnen Zwiftes wurde Pope von seinem Freunde Caryl aufgefordert, den Vorfall zum Inhalte eines komischen Gedichts zu machen; und sowohl dieser Zweck, als sein Gedicht selbst gelang ihm vollkommen. Mit Recht nennte cs Addison merum fal; denn es übertrifft gewiß an Witz und Eleganz alle die åltern und neuern Versuche, die man je in dieser oder einer ähnlichen scherzhaften Gattung gemacht hat. Auch die Einführung der Sylphen, als Maschinen, war eine überaus glückliche Idee, wozu ihm, wie bekannt, der Comte de Gabalis des Abbe Villars Gelegenheit gab. Warton's geschmackvolle Zers gliederung der großen Schönheiten dieses Gedichts (Essay on Pope, Vol. I. p. 226 f. u. Uebers. S. 196 ff.) ist sehr Lesenswürdig. Auch vergleiche man Dr. Johnson in Pos pe's Leben, (Lives, Vol. IV. p. 186 fl.) wo er sein Urs theil über den Lockenraub gleich mit folgenden Worten einleitet: To the praises which have been accumulated on The Rape of the Lock by readers of every class, from the critick to the waiting - maid, it is difficult to make any addition. Of that which is univerfally allowed to be the most attractive of all ludicrous compofitions, let it rather be now enquired, from what fources the power of pleafing is dirived. Und hievon findet er den Grund vors nehmlich darin, daß Pope in diesem Gedichte die beiden wirksamßten Kräfte eines Schriftstellers in sehr hohem Grade geduffert habe, das Neue auf eine gewöhnliche, und das Gewöhnliche auf eine neue Art zu behandeln.
THE RAPE OF THE LOCK,
Canto III.
Clofe by thofe meads, for ever crown'd with
Where Thames with pride furveys his rising
tow'rs
There ftands a ftructure of majestic frame,
Which from the neighb'ring Hampton takes its
Here Britain's ftatesmen oft the fall foredoom
Of foreign tyrants, and of nymphs at home;
Here thou, great ANNA! whom three realms
obey,
Doft fometimes counsel take and fometimes tea.
Hither the heroes and the nymphs refort,
To tafte a while the pleafures of a court;
In various talk th' inftructive hours they paft,
Who gave the ball, or paid the vifit laft;
One speaks the glory of the British Queen,
And one defcribes a charming Indian fcreen;
A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes;
At ev'ry word a reputation dies.
Snuff, or the fan, fupply each pause of chat,
With finging, laughing, ogling, and all that.
Meanwhile, declining from the noon of day
The fun obliquely fhoots his burning ray;
The hungry judges foon the fentence fign,
And wretches hang, that jurymen may dine;
The merchant from th' exchange returns in peace,
And the long labours of the toilet cease.
Belinda now, whom thirft of fame invites,
Burns to encounter two advent'rous knights,
At Ombre, fingly to decide their doom;
And fwells her breaft with conquefts yet to come.
Straight the three bands prepare in arms to join,
Each band the number of the facred nine.
Soon as the fpreads her hand, th' aëral guard
Descend, and fit on each important card:
First Ariel perch'd upon a Matadore,
Then each according to the rank they bore;
For fylphs, yet mindful of their ancient race,
Are, as when women, wondrous fond of place.
Behold, four kings in majesty rever'd,
With hoary whiskers and a forky beard;
And four fair queens, whofe hands fuftain a
flow'r,
Th' expreffive emblem of their fofter pow'r;
Four knaves in garbs fuccinct, a trufty band;
Caps on their heads, and halberts in their hand;
And party-colour'd troops, a fhining train,
Draw forth to combat on the velvet plain.
The fkilful nymph reviews her force with
Let Spades be trumps! she said, and trumps they
Now move to war her fable Matadores,
In fhow like leaders of the fwarthy Moors.
Spadillio firft, unconquerable Lord!
Led off two captive trumps, and fwept the board.
As many more Manillio forc'd to yield,
And march'd a victor from the verdant field.
Him Bafto follow'd; but, his fate more hard,
Gain'd but one trump and one plebeian card,
With his broad fabre next, a chief in years,
The hoary majesty of Spades appears,
Puts forth one manly leg, to fight reveal'd,
The reft his many-colourd robe conceal'd.
The rebel knave, who dares his prince engage,
Proves the juft victim of his royal rage.
Ev'n mighty Pam, that kings and queens o'er
And mow'd down armies in the fights of Lu,
Sad chance of war! now deftitute of aid,
Falls undistinguish'd by the victor Spade!
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 first 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 spread;
That long behind he trails his pompous robe,
And, of all monarchs, only grafps the globe?
The Baron now his Di'monds pours apace;
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, Di'monds, Hearts, in wild diforder feen,
With throngs promifcuous ftrow the level green.
Thus when dispers'd a routed army runs,
Of Afia's troops, and Afric's fable fons,
With like confufion diff'rent nations fly,
Of various habit, and of various dye,
The pierc'd battalions difunited fall,
In heaps on heaps; one fate o'erwhelms them all.
The knave of Di'monds tries his wily arts,
And wins (o fhameful chance!) the queen of
Hearts,
At this, the blood the virgin's cheek forfook,
A livid palenefs fpreads o'er all her look;
She fees, and trembles at th' approaching ill,
Just in the jaws of ruin, and Codille.
And now (as oft in fome diftemper'd state)
On one nice trick depends the gen'ral fate.
An ace of Hearts fteps forth: the king unfeeen
Lurk'd in her hand, and mourn'd his captive queen:
|