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All side in parties, and begin the attack; Fans clap, silks rustle, and tough whalebones crack; Heroes’ and heroines’ shouts confusedly rise, And bass and treble voices strike the skies. No common weapons in their hands are found, Like gods they fight, nor dread a mortal wound. So when bold Homer makes the gods engage, And heavenly breasts with human passions rage; ’Gainst Pallas, Mars; Latona, Hermes arms; And all Olympus rings with loud alarms. Meaning. This is a description of the courtly battle that ensues in Canto V after the Baron refuses to return Belinda’s lock. Belinda and Thalestris, having scoffed at Clarissa’s speech on the unimportance of beauty, lead the charge against the Baron and his crew of aristocratic cronies. Here Pope once again draws out the silliness of the world of the court and its values by evoking a comparison with the battles of classical epics. While the struggles depicted in epic involve huge clashes between gods (like “Pallas, Mars; Latona, Hermes”) and are incredibly high stakes, Pope makes it clear that this is not really the case here. The most ominous sounds of battle here are the “clap” of “Fans” and the “rustle” of “silks,” not the “loud alarms” of “Olympus” and even the raised voices of those engaged in battle are described in music terms (“bass” and “treble”), making the battle noises sound more harmonious than discordant. This juxtaposition between the intensity of epic battle and the frivolity of the courtly battle serves to once again highlight to the reader the ultimate triviality of the court’s concerns.