payment page
Th' advent'rous Baron the bright locks admir'd; / He saw, he wish'd, and to the prize aspir'd. / Resolv'd to win, he meditates the way, / By force to ravish, or by fraud betray…
This quotation from Canto 2 introduces the Baron. Notably, he pursues Belinda’s hair as a conquest. He describes her hair as a prize, an object independent from Belinda herself. He meditates a strategy, much like a commander might approach a battle. This language is part of the poem’s mock epic tone, casting a battle of the sexes as a storied battle. However, this language also adds an aggressive sexual undertone to the Baron’s actions.
But chiefly Love — to Love an Altar built, / Of twelve vast French Romances, neatly gilt. / There lay three garters, half a pair of gloves; / And all the trophies of his former loves; / With tender Billet-doux he lights the pyre, / And breathes three am'rous sighs to raise the fire.
This quotation comes from Canto 2, describing how the Baron builds and burns an altar to Love to pray for Belinda’s hair. His actions here parody the kinds of offerings the warriors of the Iliad make before setting off to battle. The amount of various tokens here so easily burned suggests that the Baron has pursued many women other than Belinda. However, his willingness to do away with them so easily in pursuit of Belinda, as opposed to keeping them as trophies, implies he may be merely flighty as opposed to philandering.
Steel could the works of mortal pride confound, / And hew triumphal arches to the ground. / What wonder then, fair nymph! thy hairs should feel, / The conqu'ring force of unresisted steel?
The Baron makes this statement at the end of Canto 3, in his triumphant speech after cutting off Belinda’s hair. Here he compares the work of his scissors to that of steel (signifying a sword) used to topple monuments and cities. Once again, he positions himself as a warrior of epic poetry, behaving as a warrior must. As the Baron explains it, Troy’s fall by conquest was inevitable, as all human monuments fall, if not to time then to conquering armies. He portrays his actions as not only grandiose but inevitable.
But by this Lock, this sacred Lock I swear, / (Which never more shall join its parted hair; / Which never more its honours shall renew, / Clipp'd from the lovely head where late it grew) / That while my nostrils draw the vital air, / This hand, which won it, shall for ever wear.
The Baron makes this speech in Canto 4, after being yelled at incoherently by Sir Plume. The Baron here pledges to wear Belinda’s lock as a token forever. His grandiose speech is in stark contrast to Sir Plume’s, which is full of words akin to cursing (zounds and pox) and inarticulate. The difference is not only humorous but emphasizes the grand way he sees his action. In the Baron’s mind, Belinda’s lock is a war trophy, and he will not apologize for his triumph.
