...; 170 The sister-lock now sits uncouth, alone, And in its fellow's fate foresees its own ; Uncurled it hangs, the fatal shears demands, And tempts once...hands. Oh hadst thou, cruel ! been content to seize 175 Hairs less in sight, or any hairs but these !" CANTO V. SHE said : the pitying audience melt in...

...; 170 The sister-lock now sits uncouth, alone, And in its fellow's fate foresees its own ; Uncurl'd it hangs, the fatal shears demands, And tempts once...Fate and Jove had stopp'd the Baron's ears. In vain Thalestris with reproach assails, For who can move when fair Belinda fails ? ZJ«£W<$ ~~> Not half...

...own; 170 Uncurled it hangs, the fatal shears demands, And tempts, once more, thy sacrilegious hands." CANTO V. SHE said: the pitying audience melt in tears; But Fate and Jove had stopped the Baron's ears. In vain Thalestris with reproach assails, For who can move when fair Belinda...

...neck. The sister Lock now sits uncouth, alone ; And in its fellow's fate foresees its own ! Uncurled it hangs ! The fatal shears demands ; And tempts once...seize Hairs less in sight ; or any hairs but these ! ' THE RAPE OF THE LOCK. CANTO V. SHE said. The pitying audience melt in tears : But Fate and JOVE...

...sits uncouth, alone, And in its Fellow's Fate foresees its own ; Uncurl'd it hangs, the fatal Sheers demands; And tempts once more thy sacrilegious Hands. Oh hadst thou, Cruel! been content to seize 175 Hairs less in sight, or any Hairs but these! CANTO V SHE said : The pitying Audience melt in Tears,...

...of what she regards as a violation of her honor, concluding her speech with the memorable couplet, Oh hadst thou, Cruel! been content to seize Hairs less in sight, or any Hairs but thesel (4.175-76) Book 4 thus ends in a deadlock similar to the one in the Iliad involving Agamemnon,...

...ventriloquism - and it finds its subject again in the memorable verbal conceit at the end: Oh hadst them, Cruel! been content to seize Hairs less in sight, or any Hairs but these! (iv, lines 1 75-6) The pun not only brings us back to the sexual content and subject matter of the...

...meaning that persistently lurks within the metaphor. Thus he quotes Belinda's "anguished" exclamation: Oh hadst thou, cruel! been content to seize Hairs less in sight, or any hairs but these! and remarks that it "carries on, unconsciously, the sexual suggestion" present throughout the poem...

...conscious hypocrisy: Belinda may after all intend only the innocent half of the double entendre: O hadst thou, Cruel! been content to seize Hairs less in sight, or any Hairs but these! (IV. 175) Whether or not we believe that Belinda means the full implications of her words, this reallocation...

...Devil? / Z - ds! damn the Lock! . . .' (p. 194, cant. iv, lines 127-8), or Belinda's lapsus linguae: 'Oh hadst thou, Cruel! been content to seize / Hairs less in sight, or any hairs but these!' (p. 198, cant. iv, lines 175-6). See also her hysterical outburst in the fourth canto. 8 The Rape of...