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.

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.

It is difficult to believe in a religion that places such a high premium on chastity and virginity.

It is difficult to believe in a religion that places such a high premium on chastity and virginity.

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.

'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

Of all the sexual aberrations, chastity is the strangest.

Of all the sexual aberrations, chastity is the strangest.

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.

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.

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.