Belinda now, whom Thirft of Fame invites,
Burns to encounter two adventrous Knights,
At Ombre fingly to decide their Doom;

And fwells her Breaft with Conquefts yet to come.
Strait the three Bands prepare in Arms to join,
Each Band the Number of the Sacred Nine.
Soon as the fpreads her Hand, th' Aerial Guard
Defcend, and fit on each important Card :
First Ariel perch'd upon a Matadore,

Then each, according to the Rank they bore;
For Sylphs, 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 softer Pow'r ;
Four Knaves in Garbs fuccinct, a trufty Band,
Caps on their Heads, and Halberds in their Hand;
And particolour'd Troops, a fhining Train,
Draw forth to combat on the Velvet Plain.

The skilful Nymph reviews her Force with Care; Let Spades be Trumps, fhe faid, andTrumps they were. Now move to War her fable Matadores,

In Show like Leaders of the fwarthy Moors.
Spadilio firft, unconquerable Lord!

Led off two captive Troops, and swept 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 Sabre next, a Chief in Years,
The hoary Majefty of Spades appears;

Puts forth one manly Leg, to Sight reveal'd;
The reft his many-colour'd Robe conceal'd.
The Rebel Knave, that dares his Prince engage,
Proves the juft Victim of his Royal Rage.

Ev'n mighty Pam that Kings and Queens o'erthrew,
And mow'd down Armies in the Fights of Lu,
Sad Chance of War! now deftitute of Aid,
Falls undiftinguifh'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 firft 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 State unweildy spread?
That long behind he trails his pompous Robe,
And of all Monarchs only grafps the Globe?

The Baron now his Diamonds pours apace;
Th' embroider'd King who shows but half his Face,
And his refulgent Queen, with Pow'rs combin'd,
Of broken Troops an eafy Conqueft find.
Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, in wild Disorder feen,
With Throngs promifcuous ftrow the level Green.
Thus when difpers'da routed Army runs,
Of Afia's Troops, and Afric's fable Sons,
With like Confufion different Nations fly,

In various Habits, and of various Dye;

The pierc'd Battalions dif-united fall,

In Heaps on Heaps; one Fate o'erwhelms them all.
The Knave of Diamonds now exerts his Arts,
And wins (oh fhameful Chance!) the Queen of Hearts.
At this, the Blood the Virgin's Cheeks forfook,
A livid Paleness spreads o'er all her Look;
She fees, and trembles at th' approaching Ill,
Juft in the Jaws of Ruin, and Codille,
And now, (as oft in some diftemper'd State)
On one nice Trick depends the gen❜ral Fate,
An Ace of Hearts steps forth: the King unseen
Lurk'd in her Hand, and mourn'd his captive Queen.

He

He fprings to Vengeance with an eager Pace,
And falls like Thunder on the proftrate Ace.
The Nymph exulting fills with Shouts the Sky,
The Walls, the Woods, the long Canals reply.

The two Lines, where Belinda bewails the Lofs of her Hair:

Oh! had'ft thou, Cruel, been content to seize Hairs lefs in Sight, or any Hairs but these.

It is faid, that to fome very nice Ears of the Fair Sex they have given Offence, by Reafon of the Double-Intendre they admit of; but as there is a Poffibility to take them in a Sense, wholly innocent and chafte, it is hoped they will conftrue them fo.

Let them fuppofe that Belinda fays, fhe would rather have loft all the Hair that lay conceal'd under her Head-dress, than that small fingle Lock, which hung in Sight, and was ornamental. A Gentleman has appear❜d to their Defence, understanding them in their most ludicrous Sense:

Who cenfure moft, more precious Hairs would To have the Rape recorded by his Mufe.

[lofe,

Upon the whole, this Poem has more Humour and good-natur'd Mirth in it, than any other of our Author's; and is his only Attempt in this Way.

At the Time of the writing of this Poem he was about twenty-four Years old: It was firft printed without the Author's Name; but after the Addition of the Machinery, (which was wanting before) Mr. Pope publifh'd it, and prefix'd the Dedication.

So cautious he was of making his Fame fecure, not to trust his Name to fo small a Work, 'till he was fure of Applaufe; which fully proves the Prudence of his Conduct, and that he refolv'd, either

to

to have proper Fame, or die in Oblivion; and this was often his Practice afterwards.

Some Pieces ftaid in their State of Probation seven Years, and he was late to confefs to what many would not have loft the Pleasure of immediately owning, on any Confideration whatever. But he, tho' not fo eager and greedy, was yet defirous of, and laying continual Claim to the Reputation of the best Poet living; and he was that.

There always is a Drawback upon Fame; Mr. Pope drew upon him the Envy of many of his. contemporary Poets; and in particular, that of Mr. (*) Dennis, who, though a very good Critick

and

(*) Mr. Dennis was born in the Year 1657, and Son of an eminent Citizen of London. He had his firft Education at Harrow on the Hill, under the pious and learned Mr. William Horn; having with him as School-Fellows, the late Lord Francis Seymour, afterwards Duke of Somerset, the prefent Duke of Somerfet his Brother, and feveral others, who have fince made no inconfiderable Figure in the World. He remov'd from Harrow to CaiusCollege in Cambridge, where he took the Degrees of Batchelor and Mafter of Arts; and afterwards, defiring ra ther to improve his Mind than his Fortune, he faw France and Italy. In his Youth he was very familiarly converfant with feveral Gentlemen about Town remarkable for their Wit and Gallantry; and the Affection he always had for Poetry, and which began in his very Infancy, brought him acquainted with fome of the most celebrated Dramatick Writers of the Age, viz. Mr. Dryden, Mr. Wycherley, Mr. Congreve, and Mr. Southern. Mr. Dennis is excellent at Pindarick Writings, perfectly regular in all his Performances, and a Person of found Learning: And that he is Mafter of a great Deal of Penetration and Judgment, his Criticisms, particularly on Sir Richard Blackmore's Prince Arthur, fufficiently demon

and Poet, was mistaken in regard to Mr. Pope; and being grown old, in Ill-nature very unfairly, ungenerously, and weakly, attacks Mr. Pope. In a Pamphlet called, Remarks on Mr. Pope's Rape of the Lock, in feveral Letters to a Friend: In his Preface he fays, he was provok'd to it by the Folly, the Pride,

demonstrate. He has obliged the World with the following Plays:

I. A Plot and no Plot; a Comedy, acted at the Theatre Royal, 1697. Dedicated to the Right Hon. the Earl of Sunderland. This Play, I am informed, Mr. Dennis intended as a Satire upon the Credulity of the Jacobite Party at that Time; and, as a certain Author has obferved, is exactly regular, and discovers itself to be written by a Mafter of the Art of the Stage, as well as by a Man of Wit.

II. Rinaldo and Armida; a Tragedy, acted at the Theatre in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, 1699. Dedicated to the Duke of Ormond.

III. Iphigenia; a Tragedy, acted at the Theatre in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, 1700.

IV. Liberty Afferted; a Tragedy, acted at the Theatre in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, by her Majefty's Servants, 1704. This Play is dedicated to Anthony Henley, Efq; and was acted with very great Applause.

V. Appius and Virginia, a Tragedy, acted at the Theatre Royal; Dedicated to Sidney Earl of Godolphin.

VI. The Comical Gallant; with the Humours of Sir John Falftaff; a Comedy. Being an Alteration of ShakeSpear's Merry Wives of Windfor.

VII. Gibraltar, or the Spanish Adventure; acted at the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane.

This Gentleman, in his Comedy, hath fhewn a great Deal of Juftnefs and Delicacy of Reflection; a Pleasantnefs of Humour, a Novelty and Diftinction of Characters, and admirable Conduct and Defign, and a ufeful Moral. When he first began to write Tragedy, he faw, with Concern, that Love had got the entire Poffef