Page:Romance of the Rose (Ellis), volume 2.pdf/91

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They’d ne’er affect, except with wish

Immodest, vile, and devilish.

To dazzle foolish men, and draw

Them on to break God’s holy law.

But those who look with equal eye

Will see that women woefully

Put God to shame, when in their fits

Of folly, so beside their wits

Are they as not to be content

With fairness such as God hath sent,

But each one on her head must set

Fine gear with many a gay floweret

Of silk or gold adorned, whene’er

She marches forth to take the air.

Alas! the silly fool succeeds

Only in proving that she needs

Good sense and modesty, when thus

She strives to make her beauteous

With foolish gewgaws (which e’en less

Of worth than her poor self possess),

Beyond the point that God saw good,

As though He had not understood

His handicraft, but such a whelp

As she must needs consult for help

To perfect that His hand begun.

So, from all creatures ’neath the sun

That God created, she doth ask

Assistance in her foolish task,

Metals and minerals, and flowers,

O’er which she idly wasteth hours.

But for that matter, truth to speak,

Men oft are foolish, vain, and weak