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Lines: 252-259. But what.....charge repair.
Summary: In these lines, Ariel, the chief of the Sylphs informs the spirit that some dark forebodings threaten Belinda with some mischief. Some harm might be done to her either by force or by trickery. But the exact nature of the calamity and the place of its happening are still enveloped in mystery. Ariel has different apprehensions. He is not sure whether Belinda will lose her virginity or some delicate porcelain vase will be cracked or broken; whether her honor or her new brocade will be defiled; whether she will forget to say her prayers or fail to attend a masked ball or else lose her heart or her necklace at a dance or else her lap-dog Shock may be doomed for a fall. Ariel, concerned about the welfare of his ward, orders the spirits to keep guard on the things they have been charged to guard.
Critical Analysis: These lines are good example of Pope's wit and sarcasm. Ariel's apprehension is conceived in perfectly mock-heroic style. Pope's criticism of the fashionable women of his age is made sharp and enjoyable by his implied suggestions that it is all the same to such women to lose their chastity, honor or heart, or a mere porcelain jar, a new brocade, a necklace, or a lap dog. The lines full of anti-climax, irony and innuendo, present the most characteristic features of Pope's satiric genius.