I call not that virginity a virtue, which resideth only in the bodies integrity; much less if it be with a purpose of perpetually keeping it: for then it is a most inhumane vice. - But I call that Virginity a virtue which is willing and desirous to yield itself upon honest and lawful terms, when just reason requireth; and until then, is kept with a modest chastity of body and mind.
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Lord, Make me chaste, but not yet
Lord, Make me chaste, but not yet
That chastity of honour which felt a stain like a wound.
That chastity of honour which felt a stain like a wound.
An unattempted lady could not vaunt of her chastity.
An unattempted lady could not vaunt of her chastity.
If she seem not chaste to me,
What care I how chaste she be?
If she seem not chaste to me,
What care I how chaste she be?
Mine honor's such a ring;
My chastity's the jewel of our house,
Bequeathed down from many ancestors,
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Mine honor's such a ring;
My chastity's the jewel of our house,
Bequeathed down from many ancestors,
Which were the greatest obloquy i' th' world
In me to lose.
Then she rode forth, clothed on with chastity:
The deep air listen'd round her as she rode,
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Then she rode forth, clothed on with chastity:
The deep air listen'd round her as she rode,
And all the low wind hardly breathed for fear.
Me of my lawful pleasure she restrained
And prayed me oft forbearance--did it with
A pudency so read more
Me of my lawful pleasure she restrained
And prayed me oft forbearance--did it with
A pudency so rosy, the sweet view on't
Might well have warmed old Saturn--that I thought her
As chaste as unsunned snow.
As pure as a pearl,
And as perfect: a noble and innocent girl.
As pure as a pearl,
And as perfect: a noble and innocent girl.
Chastity does not mean abstention from sexual wrong; it means something flaming, like Joan of Arc.
Chastity does not mean abstention from sexual wrong; it means something flaming, like Joan of Arc.
