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Spleen
Guardian spirit of the air, designed to protect virgins. Distinct from some of the other overtly malicious supernatural beings in the poem, such as Umbriel the gnome, the sylphs are at least superficially good. According to Ariel they are the souls of women now dead, and in particular those of beautiful and sociable women, noted for their “joy in gilded chariots” and “love of ombre.” In the poem they serve to protect Belinda’s chastity and her beauty, and they delight in the elaborate process of beautifying her for a day at court. However, the sylphs are perhaps a little shadier than they might initially appear. In a poem that mocks the vanity of court life, it appears unwise that such vain spirits should help govern mortals’ actions. The extent to which the sylphs are able to influence mortals’ actions is also unclear, and Pope hints that there might be something a little sinister about the relationship between Ariel and Belinda by choosing to echo Milton’s Paradise Lost. This modern epic depicts the fall of Adam and Eve, and many critics have noticed that there are uncomfortable verbal echoes of Satan tempting Eve (“Squat like a Toad, close at the ear of Eve; / Assaying by his Devilish art to reach / The Organs of her Fancy”) in Ariel’s having “Seem'd to her [Belinda’s] Ear his winning Lips to lay.”
Sylph Quotes in The Rape of the Lock
The The Rape of the Lock quotes below are all either spoken by Sylph or refer to Sylph. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Canto I Quotes
For when the fair in all their pride expire,
To their first elements their souls retire:
The sprites of fiery termagants in flame
Mount up, and take a Salamander's name.
Soft yielding minds to water glide away,
And sip with Nymphs, their elemental tea.
The graver prude sinks downward to a Gnome,
In search of mischief still on earth to roam.
The light coquettes in Sylphs aloft repair,
And sport and flutter in the fields of air.
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This is part of the sylph Ariel’s speech to the sleeping Belinda, in which he outlines to her where the sylphs come from and what their function is. Here he explains that after they die, women’s souls return to their “first elements.” Contrary to the idea of a Christian afterlife in which souls are sorted into good and bad, Pope’s fantasy afterlife for women is basically amoral, making no effort to judge women on their merits. Based around the ancient idea of the four elements of fire, water, earth and air, Ariel explains that all women’s souls are sorted into Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem impedit sunt. Excepturi ullam nobis. Ducimus odio quo. Ut autem harum. Omnis vel voluptatum. Assumenda officia maiores. Voluptatem sint velit. Q
With varying vanities, from every part,
They shift the moving toyshop of their heart;
Where wigs with wigs, with sword-knots sword-knots strive,
Beaux banish beaux, and coaches coaches drive.
This erring mortals levity may call,
Oh blind to truth! the Sylphs contrive it all.
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This passage is part of Ariel’s speech to sleeping Belinda in which he explains who the sylphs are and what their purpose is. Here he explains how the sylphs manage the love lives of the women they guard while they are in court society. In this passage, Pope emphasizes how silly and superficial the world of the court is. He achieves this by creating a direct comparison between these courtly activities and the noble struggles depicted in epic poetry. The quote “Where wigs with wigs, with sword-knots sword-knots strive, / Beaux banish beaux, and coaches coaches drive” echoes Pope’s own Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia
Late, as I ranged the crystal wilds of air,
In the clear mirror of thy ruling star
I saw, alas! some dread event impend,
Ere to the main this morning sun descend.
But heaven reveals not what, or how, or where:
Warned by the Sylph, oh pious maid, beware!
This to disclose is all thy guardian can:
Beware of all, but most beware of man!
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This forms a later part of Ariel’s speech to Belinda as she sleeps, warning her that he has foreseen in the stars that some disaster is close at hand for her. He does not know what form the disaster will take, but he warns her to be especially wary of men. This passage helps the reader understand the slipperiness of Ariel’s character and the silliness of the values Pope is using him to represent. Ariel claims that it is his task to guard Belinda as a beautiful and chaste young woman, and this emphasis on her chastity comes across in Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi
Canto II Quotes
Whether the nymph shall break Diana’s law,
Or some frail China jar receive a flaw,
Or stain her honor, or her new brocade,
Forget her prayers, or miss a masquerade,
Or lose her heart, or necklace, at a ball;
Or whether Heaven has doomed that Shock must fall.
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This passage forms part of the speech Ariel makes to the other sylphs, in which he explains that he has foreseen some disaster which will strike Belinda. At this point, he is enumerating various ideas of disasters which might occur, and in doing so he reveals much about the values of the world of the poem. The first disaster he envisages is that Belinda will lose her virginity in violation of “Diana’s law” (Diana was the name of a classical goddess who was famously chaste), which demonstrates that this is a world in which female sexuality is greatly restricted. But Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum.
Canto III Quotes
Just in that instant, anxious Ariel sought
The close recesses of the virgin’s thought;
As, on the nosegay in her breast reclined,
He watched the ideas rising in her mind,
Sudden he viewed, in spite of all her art,
An earthly lover lurking at her heart.
Amazed, confused, he found his power expired,
Resigned to fate, and with a sigh retired.
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At this point in the canto, Ariel gains access to Belinda’s thoughts as the Baron makes to chop off her lock. He and the other sylphs try to alert her to the imminent danger before it is too late, but when Ariel does gain access to her mind, he is shocked by what he sees: “An earthly lover lurking at her heart.” Ariel has previously explained to the sleeping Belinda and the reader that it is his role as a sylph to protect her because she is “fair and chaste.” But here, he learns that she is not as chaste Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laborio
The peer now spreads the glittering forfex wide,
To enclose the lock; now joins it, to divide.
Even then, before the fatal engine closed,
A wretched Sylph too fondly interposed;
Fate urged the shears, and cut the Sylph in twain
(But airy substance soon unites again),
The meeting points the sacred hair dissever
From the fair head, for ever and for ever!
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This passage towards the end of Canto III describes the moment in which the baron actually snips off Belinda’s lock, and the way Pope goes about describing the action once again suggests the ultimate silliness of the whole affair. Referring to the scissors as a “fatal engine” immediately strikes the reader as ridiculous, as they are not being used to threaten Belinda’s life, emphasizing the absurd degree of solemnity the characters are attaching to what amounts to a bad haircut. Additionally, though, in this passage Pope echoes Milton’s Paradise Lost, once again drawing attention to the shadiness of the supposedly Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaqu
Canto V Quotes
But fate and Jove had stopped the Baron’s ears.
In vain Thalestris with reproach assails,
For who can move when fair Belinda fails?
Not half so fixed the Trojan could remain,
While Anna begged and Dido raged in vain.
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This description of Belinda’s pleading with the Baron to return her stolen lock at the beginning of Canto V is another instance of Pope playing off the classical epic tradition for comic effect. Here he is referencing Virgil’s Latin epic The Aeneid, in which the Trojan hero Aeneas is called on by Jupiter (also known as “Jove” in English) to leave his lover Dido and sail away to found Rome. The devastated Dido and her sister Anna beg Aeneas to stay, but having failed to persuade him, Dido ultimately kills herself. In this passage, the adamant Baron takes on the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis i
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Sylph Term Timeline in The Rape of the Lock
The timeline below shows where the term Sylph appears in The Rape of the Lock. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Canto I
...long after everyone else has gotten up, as she is kept asleep by her guardian sylph. As she sleeps, he sends her a dream of a handsome young man and whispers...
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Some young women, the sylph continues, are ruined because they are watched over by malicious gnomes instead of sylphs. Fortunately...
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The sylph explains that his name is Ariel and that he has consulted the stars and seen...
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With the help of the sylphs and Betty, Belinda begins the elaborate process of dressing and grooming herself. Betty is figured...
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...“tortoise” and “elephant” in the form of “combs,” and “Puffs, powders, patches, bibles, billet-doux.” The sylphs are crucial to arranging everything carefully (even though they are unseen), which means that Betty...
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Canto II
...by the idea that something terrible is going to happen. He summons an army of sylphs, which descends down onto the boat. The army is made up of sylphs in an...
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To protect Belinda, Ariel assigns various sylphs different tasks. Zephyretta will look after her fan, Brillante will look after her earrings, Momentilla...
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Fifty sylphs will look after Belinda’s petticoat, which is described as the “sevenfold fence” “stiff with hoops”...
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Canto III
...game of ombre with two gentlemen “to decide their doom” and arranges her cards. The sylphs glide down to perch upon the cards, their rank corresponding to the card value, apparently...
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...knight with his weapon. The Baron moves to chop off the lock. Suddenly, all the sylphs hurry to Belinda’s neck and attempt to fiddle with her hair and twist her earring...
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A sylph gets caught in the way and gets cut in half by the scissors, but he...
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Canto IV
...robbed of all their bliss” and “tyrants fierce that unrepenting die.” In this moment, the sylphs leave her.
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...tottering china shook without a wind,” and Shock behaving unusually. She even remembers that a sylph warned her that a disaster was to come, but that she didn’t understand until it...
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Canto V
...Then it shot along like a shooting star, more brightly than Berenice’s locks, and the sylphs watched on contentedly.
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