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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

The noble sister of Publicola,
The moon of Rome, chaste as the icicle
That's curded by the read more

The noble sister of Publicola,
The moon of Rome, chaste as the icicle
That's curded by the frost from purest snow
And hangs on Dian's temple--dear Valeria!

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.

'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