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 fhall ftill believe.
Know, then, unnumbered Spirits round thee fly,
The light Militia of the lower sky:

Thefe, tho' unfeen, are ever on the wing,
Hang o'er the Box, and hover round the Ring.
Think what an equipage thou hast in air,
And view with scorn two Pages and a Chair.
As now your own, our beings were of old,
And once inclos'd in Woman's beauteous mould;
Thence, by a foft tranfition, we repair

From earthly vehicles to thefe 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 survive.
For when the Fair in all their pride expire,
To their firft Elements their Souls retire:
The fprites of fiery Termagan:s 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 chafle, Rejects mankind, is by fome Sylph embrac❜d: For Spirits, 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, the daring spark, The glance by day, the whisper in the dark, When kind occafion prompts their warm defires, When mufic foftens, and when dancing fires? "Tis but their Sylph, the wife Celestials know, Tho' Honour is the word with Men below.

Some nymphs there are, too confcious of their face,
Earlife predeftinal to the Gnomes embrace.
Thefe (well their profpects and exalt their pride,
When offers are dam'd, and love deny'd:
Then gay ideas. croud the vacant brain,

While Rers, antibukes, and all their fweeping train,
And Garters, Stars, and Coronets appear,
And, in foft founds, Your Grace falutes their ear.
'Tis these that early taint the female soul,
Inftruct the eyes of young Coquettes to roll,
Teach infant 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 pursue,
And old impertinence expel by new.
What tender maid but muft a victim fall
To one man's treat, but for another's ball?

When

When Florio fpeaks, what virgin could withftand,
If gentle Damon did not squeeze her hand;
With varying vanities, from ev'ry part

They shift the moving Toy-shop of their heart; Where wigs with wigs, with sword-knots fword-knots

strive,

Beaux banish beaux, and coaches coaches drive.
This ering mortals Levity may call,
Oh blind to truth! the Sylphs contrive it all.
Of thefe am I, who thy protection claim;
A watchful sprite, and Ariel is my name.
Late, as I rang'd the crystal wilds of air,
In the clear Mirror of thy ruling ftar
I faw, alas, fome dread event impend,
Ere to the main this morning fun 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, moft, beware of Man!

He faid; when Shock, who thought she slept too

long,

Leap'd up, and wak'd his mistress with his tongue. 'Twas then, Belinda, if report say true,

Thy eyes firft open'd on a Billet-doux ;

Wounds, Charms, and Ardors, were no fooner read, But all the Vifion vanish'd from thy head.

And now, unveil'd, the Toilet ftands difplay'd, Each filver vase 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 fhe rears;
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 the nicely culls, with curious toil,
And decks the Goddess with the glitt'ring spoil.
This casket, India's glowing gems unlocks,
And all Arabia breathes from yonder box.
The Tortoife here and Elephant unite,

Transform'd to combs, the speckled and the white.
Here files of pins extend their shining rows,
Puffs, Powders, Patches, Ribles, Billet-doux.
Now awful beauty puts on all its arms;
The fair each moment rises in her charms,
Repairs her smiles, awakens every grace,
And calls forth all the wonders of her face:
Sees by degrees a purer blush arise,
And keener lightnings quicken in her eyes.
The bufy Sylphs furround their darling care,
Thefe fet the head, and thofe divide the hair;
Some fold the fleeve, whilft others plait the gown;
And Betty's prais'd for labours not her own.

Not with more glories, in th' etherial plain,
The fun first rifes o'er the purpled main,
Than, iffuing forth, the rival of his beams
Launch'd on the bofom of the filver'd Thames.

Fair Nymphs, and well-drefs'd Youths, around her

fhone,

But ev'ry eye was fix'd on her alone.

On her white breast a sparkling Cross she wore,
Which Jews might kiss, 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 fhe fmiles extends;
Oft he 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 sweetness 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 fhining ringlets, the fmooth iv'ry neck. Love in these labyrinths his slaves detains,

And migh

hearts are held in flender chains.

With hairy fpringes we the birds betray,
Slight lines of hair furprize the finny prey,
Fair treffes men's imperial race infnare,
And beauty draws us with a single hair.

Th' advent'rous Baron the bright locks admir'd;
He faw, he wif'd, and to the prize afpir'd.]
Refolv'd to win, he meditates the way,
By force to ravish, or by fraud betray;
For when fuccefs a lover's toil attends,
l'ew ask, if fraud or force attain'd his ends.

For this, 'ere Phoebus rofe, he had implor'd
Propitious heav'n, and ev'ry pow'r ador'd ;
B4

But