E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Belin’da.
The heroine of Pope’s serio-comical poem, entitled the Rape of the Lock. The poem is based on a real incident:—Lord Petre cut off a lock of Miss Fermor’s hair, and this liberty gave rise to a bitter feud between the two noble families. The poet says that Belinda wore on her neck two curls, one of which the baron cut off with a pair of scissors borrowed of Clarissa. Belinda, in anger, demanded back the ringlet; but it had flown to the skies and become a meteor, which “shot through liquid air, and drew behind a radiant trail of hair.” (See BERENICE.)
