According
to Addison ('Spectator', No.
Alexander Pope
Morley (Thalestris).
He was
not unnaturally offended at the picture drawn of him in this poem. Pope
told a friend many years later that
"nobody was angry but Sir George Brown, and he was a good deal so, and
for a long time. He could not bear that Sir Plume should talk nothing
but nonsense. "
'124 a clouded cane':
a cane of polished wood with cloudlike markings. In the 'Tatler', Mr.
Bickerstaff sits in judgment on canes, and takes away a cane, "curiously
clouded, with a transparent amber head, and a blue ribband to hang upon
his wrist," from a young gentleman as a piece of idle foppery. There are
some amusing remarks on the "conduct" of canes in the same essay.
'133'
The baron's oath is a parody of the oath of Achilles ('Iliad', I, 234).
'142'
The breaking of the bottle of sorrows, etc. , is the cause of Belinda's
change of mood from wrath as in l. 93 to tears, 143-144.
'155 the gilt Chariot':
the painted and gilded coach in which ladies took the air in London.
'156 Bohea:'
tea, the name comes from a range of hills in China where a certain kind
of tea was grown.
'162 the patch-box:'
the box which held the little bits of black sticking-plaster with which
ladies used to adorn their faces.
According to Addison ('Spectator', No.
81), ladies even went so far in this fad as to patch on one side of the
face or the other, according to their politics.
CANTO V
'5 the Trojan:'
AEneas, who left Carthage in spite of the wrath of Dido and the
entreaties of her sister Anna.
'7-36'
Pope inserted these lines in a late revision in 1717, in order, as he
said, to open more clearly the moral of the poem. The speech of Clarissa
is a parody of a famous speech by Sarpedon in the 'Iliad', XII, 310-328.
'14'
At this time the gentlemen always sat in the side boxes of the theater;
the ladies in the front boxes.
'20'
As vaccination had not yet been introduced, small-pox was at this time a
terribly dreaded scourge.
'23'
In the 'Spectator', No. 23, there is inserted a mock advertisement,
professing to teach the whole art of ogling, the church ogle, the
playhouse ogle, a flying ogle fit for the ring, etc.
'24'
Painting the face was a common practice of the belles of this time. 'The
Spectator', No. 41, contains a bitter attack on the painted ladies whom
it calls the "Picts. "
'37 virago:'
a fierce, masculine woman, here used for Thalestris.
'45'
In the 'Iliad' (Bk. XX) the gods are represented as taking sides for the
Greeks and Trojans and fighting among themselves. Pallas opposes Ares,
or Mars; and Hermes, Latona.
not unnaturally offended at the picture drawn of him in this poem. Pope
told a friend many years later that
"nobody was angry but Sir George Brown, and he was a good deal so, and
for a long time. He could not bear that Sir Plume should talk nothing
but nonsense. "
'124 a clouded cane':
a cane of polished wood with cloudlike markings. In the 'Tatler', Mr.
Bickerstaff sits in judgment on canes, and takes away a cane, "curiously
clouded, with a transparent amber head, and a blue ribband to hang upon
his wrist," from a young gentleman as a piece of idle foppery. There are
some amusing remarks on the "conduct" of canes in the same essay.
'133'
The baron's oath is a parody of the oath of Achilles ('Iliad', I, 234).
'142'
The breaking of the bottle of sorrows, etc. , is the cause of Belinda's
change of mood from wrath as in l. 93 to tears, 143-144.
'155 the gilt Chariot':
the painted and gilded coach in which ladies took the air in London.
'156 Bohea:'
tea, the name comes from a range of hills in China where a certain kind
of tea was grown.
'162 the patch-box:'
the box which held the little bits of black sticking-plaster with which
ladies used to adorn their faces.
According to Addison ('Spectator', No.
81), ladies even went so far in this fad as to patch on one side of the
face or the other, according to their politics.
CANTO V
'5 the Trojan:'
AEneas, who left Carthage in spite of the wrath of Dido and the
entreaties of her sister Anna.
'7-36'
Pope inserted these lines in a late revision in 1717, in order, as he
said, to open more clearly the moral of the poem. The speech of Clarissa
is a parody of a famous speech by Sarpedon in the 'Iliad', XII, 310-328.
'14'
At this time the gentlemen always sat in the side boxes of the theater;
the ladies in the front boxes.
'20'
As vaccination had not yet been introduced, small-pox was at this time a
terribly dreaded scourge.
'23'
In the 'Spectator', No. 23, there is inserted a mock advertisement,
professing to teach the whole art of ogling, the church ogle, the
playhouse ogle, a flying ogle fit for the ring, etc.
'24'
Painting the face was a common practice of the belles of this time. 'The
Spectator', No. 41, contains a bitter attack on the painted ladies whom
it calls the "Picts. "
'37 virago:'
a fierce, masculine woman, here used for Thalestris.
'45'
In the 'Iliad' (Bk. XX) the gods are represented as taking sides for the
Greeks and Trojans and fighting among themselves. Pallas opposes Ares,
or Mars; and Hermes, Latona.
