When Lovely Woman Stoops to Folly

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When lovely woman stoops to folly,
 And finds too late that men betray,
What charm can sooth her melancholy,
 What art can wash her guilt away?

The only art her guilt to cover,
 To hide her shame from every eye,
To give repentance to her lover,
 And wring his bosom—is to die.

© Mark van Doren