Note 379 — RAPE OF THE LOCK.
Reading edition
The drive in Hyde Park is still called the ring, though the site and shape have been changed.—Croker.
The box at the theatre, and the ring in Hyde Park, are frequently mentioned as the two principal places for the public display of beauty and fashion. Thus Lord Dorset, in his lines on Lady Dorchester:
Wilt thou still sparkle in the box Or ogle in the ring.
And Garth, in the Dispensary, speaking of a deceased young lady, says:
How lately did this celebrated thing Blaze in the box, and sparkle in the ring.