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.
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.
Alexander Pope
Old-fashioned hair-rings of this kind are still
to be seen.
'117 Hyde-park Circus':
the Ring of Canto I, l. 44. Grass was not likely to grow there so long
as it remained the fashionable place to drive.
'118 in the sound of Bow':
within hearing of the bells of the church of St. Mary le Bow in
Cheapside. So far back as Ben Jonson's time (Eastward Ho, I, ii, 36) it
was the mark of the unfashionable middle-class citizen to live in this
quarter. A "wit" in Queen Anne's day would have scorned to lodge there.
'121 Sir Plume':
this was Sir George Brown, brother of Mrs. 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.
to be seen.
'117 Hyde-park Circus':
the Ring of Canto I, l. 44. Grass was not likely to grow there so long
as it remained the fashionable place to drive.
'118 in the sound of Bow':
within hearing of the bells of the church of St. Mary le Bow in
Cheapside. So far back as Ben Jonson's time (Eastward Ho, I, ii, 36) it
was the mark of the unfashionable middle-class citizen to live in this
quarter. A "wit" in Queen Anne's day would have scorned to lodge there.
'121 Sir Plume':
this was Sir George Brown, brother of Mrs. 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.
