He spoke of his new device to Addison, who administered--and there is not the slightest reason for doubting his perfect sincerity and good meaning--a little dose of cold water.

The poem, as it stood, was a "delicious little thing"-- _merum sal_--and it would be a pity to alter it.

Pope, however, adhered to his plan, made a splendid success, and thought that Addison must have been prompted by some mean motive.

The _Rape of the Lock_ appeared in its new form, with sylphs and gnomes, and an ingenious account of a game at cards and other improvements, in 1714.

Pope declared, and critics have agreed, that he never showed more skill than in the remodelling of this poem; and it has ever since held a kind of recognised supremacy amongst the productions of the drawing-room muse.
The reader must remember that the so-called heroic style of Pope's period is now hopelessly effete.