138. When lovely woman stoops to folly. O. Goldsmith. The Golden Treasury

Francis T. Palgrave, ed. (1824–1897). The Golden Treasury. 1875.

O. Goldsmith

CXXXVIII. "When lovely woman stoops to folly"

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

The only art her guilt to cover,	5
To hide her shame from every eye,
To give repentance to her lover
And wring his bosom, is—to die.