Lord, Make me chaste, but not yet

Lord, Make me chaste, but not yet

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.

A nun of winter's sisterhood kisses not more religiously; the
very ice of chastity is in them.

A nun of winter's sisterhood kisses not more religiously; the
very ice of chastity is in them.

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.

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.

There are few virtuous women who are not bored with their trade.

There are few virtuous women who are not bored with their trade.

Like the stain'd web that whitens in the sun,
Grow pure by being purely shone upon.

Like the stain'd web that whitens in the sun,
Grow pure by being purely shone upon.

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?

So dear to Heaven is saintly chastity,
That, when a soul is found sincerely so,
A thousand read more

So dear to Heaven is saintly chastity,
That, when a soul is found sincerely so,
A thousand liveried angels lacky her,
Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt.