Explanation:
What terrible offense can result from romantic pursuits,
What great fights can arise from trivial things,
I sing- this poem for Caryll, muse is needed:
Even Belinda can do me the favor of reading this verse
The subject of the poem is trivial, but the praise could be great
If she (Belinda) inspires and he (Caryll) approves my poem.
Tell me, what strange motive could compel a well bred Lord (aristocrat or a gentleman) to assault a gentle girl?
Tell me, what even stranger cause, as yet unheard of,
could compel a gentle girl to reject a Lord?
Small men can undertake such bold actions
And soft-hearted women can hold so much anger?
It sets the scene of pre-revolutionary France and demonstrates dickens’ sympathy toward the people of France at this time. The quote is important because it still shows the humanity of the peasants before it is ripped away from them by the hatred and violence brought on by the revolution.
