A Sequel to Don Juan — page 228: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

DON JUAN. 219 XXXIX. How dear was honour, then, to both! But she Of whom we write, held, in comparison With the existence and security | Of the much-loved though too neglectful one, Her honour as mere dross. Yet it might be That she would also have refused a throne Sooner than wed where Love preferred no claim,— Or died to vindicate her ravished fame ! XL. Yet there will not be wanting prudes to say That woman ne’er is justified to yield Her honour—no, not e’en to turn away The shafts of death from parents, or to shield Her tender offspring !—Gently there, I pray, Good moralists: the arguments ye wield Are based upon those narrow views which find A ready patron in each little mind. XLI. O Prudery ! like Charity, thou art For a whole host of sins the covering : Ever a hypocrite, thou play’st thy part— A snake coiled up beneath Religion’s wing ! Thou hast the poisoned tongue, the envious heart, And lust as hot as the Icelandic spring Beneath a frozen aspect :—Oh! to thee How many a demirep bows down the knee ! CoOmicloOoks.conn