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.

I call not that virginity a virtue, which resideth only in the bodies integrity; much less if it be with read more

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.

Even from the body's purity, the mind
Receives a secret sympathetic aid.

Even from the body's purity, the mind
Receives a secret sympathetic aid.

Mine honor's such a ring;
My chastity's the jewel of our house,
Bequeathed down from many ancestors,
read more

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.

Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.

Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.

An unattempted lady could not vaunt of her chastity.

An unattempted lady could not vaunt of her chastity.

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.

'Tis Chastity, my brother, Chastity: She that has that, is clad in complete steel

'Tis Chastity, my brother, Chastity: She that has that, is clad in complete steel

'Tis chastity, my brother, chastity;
She that has that is clad in complete steel,
And, like a read more

'Tis chastity, my brother, chastity;
She that has that is clad in complete steel,
And, like a quiver'd nymph with arrows keen,
May trace huge forests, and unharbour'd heaths,
Infamous hills, and sandy perilous wilds;
Where, through the sacred rays of chastity,
No savage fierce, bandite, or mountaineer,
Will dare to soil her virgin purity.