on his friend John Caryll Caryll was the person who asked Pope to write this poem This new and funny way of beginning the poem is shown in the line I sing This verse to Caryl Muse is due This line shows Pope uses an unusual and humorous beginning for his mock-epic poem Supernatural Spirits In real epic poems gods help brave heroes They guide and protect them in war Pope also uses such supernatural help But his gods are not real gods He creates small air spirits called sylphs These sylphs protect proud and pretty girls Ariel is the leader of these spirits He is the guardian of Belinda He says A watchful Sprite and Ariel is my Name In her dream he warns Belinda that something bad may happen But she forgets the warning The sylphs try to save her from shame but they are too weak and fail to stop the Baron War over A Curl Epic poetry generally deals with war and heroic deeds However in this poem the poet compares the party fight to a battle This makes the poem mock-epic When the hair is cut everyone is angry Belinda wants it back She cries and screams Then the party turns into a battle They throw fans and snuff They shout and fight like soldiers Pope writes this like a big fight But the weapons are funny The war is not real It is only a party fight Heroic Language Pope uses high and rich words He writes like a serious poet But the topic is very small He compares Belinda s clothes to a soldier s arms He compares her mirror to a holy place He talks about the hair as if it were gold The style is big but the story is small Lessons and Fun At the end Pope gives a message He says beauty is not forever Belinda s hair goes to the sky It becomes a star Now people will remember her The following quotation shows this This Lock the Muse shall consecrate to Fame And mid'st the Stars inscribe Belinda's Name Pope wants us to laugh But he also wants us to learn That is the aim of a mock-epic In conclusion The Rape of the Lock is a perfect mock-epic It has all the parts of a real epic But the story is not serious Pope uses this form to make fun of rich people He shows their false pride and silly lives He adds spirits battles and big words But the poem is full of jokes This makes it both funny and wise So Pope uses the mock-epic form to teach and entertain at the same time