Classic Poem

I.

Your Modesty grows Impudence,
By which, you for a Maid wou'd pass;
So that to Virtue, your Pretence
Makes your feign'd Honour your Disgrace;
Your Truth, none wou'd in Question call,
Wou'd you pretend to none at all;

II.

You Blush, but out of Impudence,
Not to show Grace, but hide your Shame;
Which proves your Guilt, not Innocence,
And does your Modesty defame;
You Jilt us, by feign'd Virtue, more,
Were less a Cheat, if more a Whore;

III.

You Blush then, to your Infamy,
Stand falsly on your Truth's Defence,
Give your Sincerity the Lie,
The more you feign your Innocence;
Since, most Dissimulation's shown,
By its pretending to be none;

IV.

Be not so bold, in Blushing so,
Us of thy Shame more to convince;
For Bashfulness to make that go,
Which is the Height of Impudence;
For, like the Hypocrite, the Jilt,
Hiding her Faults, shows more her Guilt.