Explanations:

How vain are all these Glories, all our Pains,

Unless good sense preserve what Beauty gains:

Answer: These lines have been selected from the Canto-V of the famous mock-epic “The Rape of the Lock” composed by Alexander Pope. Clarissa, the mouthpiece of the poet here makes a plea for good humour before the enraged Thalestris and the sorrowful Belinda.

At the outset, of her moralizing speech, Clarissa puts a series of questions and then supplies the answer. She questions why women are called angels and adored like angels. They should, therefore, prove worthy of their honour. Men pay homage to them and they take immense pains to earn this. But these are all useless unless women show good humour and preserve their achievements. All these honours and all the pains are valueless unless women are able to retain by their intelligence what they gain by their beauty.

In fact, Clarissa is a puppet in the hands of the poet. She is the symbol of sanity in this world of vanity. Pope lays down the moral of the poem through Clarissa’s speech.