This quote actually comes towards the beginning of this
excellent mock epic, and is part of the description of Pope's speculation of what might
happen to the poor Belinda on a particularly forboding day. The full quote is as
follows:
Whether the Nymph shall break Diana's
Law,
Or some frail China Jar receive a Flaw,
Or stain her Honour,
or her new Brocade,
Forget her Pray'rs, or miss a Masquerade,
Or
lose her Heart, or Necklace, at a
Ball....
Note the way that
this quote involves the use of contrast in the way that the trivial and the important
are contrasted in these five lines. Thus he muses about the various possibilities: will
she lose her chastity, or will she just forget about her prayers or miss a masquerade
ball? There is actually an example of zeugma in the third and fifth lines of this quote,
as the speaker wonders if Belinda will "stain her Honour, or her new Brocade" and then
if she will "loseher Heart, or Necklace, at a ball." Note the way that "stain" and
"lose" both work to link two different concepts. Of course, lace (or "brocade") and a
necklace are much more easy to replace or to find again rather than a stained honour and
a lost heart. Through these lines therefore, Pope beings to poke gentle fun at the
ensuing action by the contrast between the serious and the
trivial.
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