The flutt'ring fan be Zephyretta's care; The drops to thee, Brillante,[409] we consign; And, Momentilla, let the watch be thine; Do thou, Crispissa,[410] tend her fav'rite lock; 115 Ariel himself shall be the guard of Shock.[411] "To fifty chosen Sylphs, of special note, We trust th' important charge, the petticoat: Oft have we known that seven-fold fence[412] to fail, Though stiff with hoops and armed with ribs of whale; 120 Form a strong line about the silver bound, And guard the wide circumference around.[413] "Whatever spirit, careless of his charge, His post neglects, or leaves the fair at large, Shall feel sharp vengeance soon o'ertake his sins, 125 Be stopped in vials, or transfixed with pins; Or plunged in lakes of bitter washes lie, Or wedged, whole ages, in a bodkin's eye: Gums and pomatums shall his flight restrain, While clogged he beats his silken wings in vain; 130 Or alum styptics with contracting pow'r Shrink his thin essence like a rivelled flow'r:[414] Or, as Ixion fixed, the wretch shall feel The giddy motion of the whirling mill,[415] In fumes of burning chocolate shall glow, 135 And tremble at the sea that froths below!"[416] He spoke; the spirits from the sails descend: Some, orb in orb, around the nymph extend; Some thrid the mazy ringlets of her hair; Some hang upon the pendants of her ear; 140 With beating hearts the dire event they wait, Anxious, and trembling for the birth of fate. CANTO III.