Summary

The poet solicits the help of the muses to tell this tale. The poem then asks what could lead a young lord to "assault" a young lady (7). The story begins with the morning dawning in a household, the sun rising and little dogs waking up to greet the day. The beautiful Belinda, though, is still fast asleep even past noon. Her guardian spirit, a sylph called Ariel, watches over her. She has been dreaming of spirits who, like Ariel, are sent to protect the chastity of young women. Sylphs, in particular, protect women who reject men – like Belinda. Ariel warns her to beware of men and that something terrible will happen to her that day. She awakes to the kiss of her dog, Shock, and finds a love letter. As soon as she reads it, she forgets the dream, and goes instead to begin...