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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


TO A GENTLEMAN WHO DISORDERED A LADY'S HANDKERCHIEF, ... CUT HIS THUMB by ELIZABETH TEFT

First Line: YOUR PUNISHMENT IS JUST, YOU MUST CONFESS
Last Line: LEST SERPENTS STING YOU, WHEN YOU NEXT INTRUDE.
Subject(s): PUNISHMENT; RUDENESS; BAD MANNERS;

Your punishment is just, you must confess,
'Cause you the rules of chastity transgress.
Good heaven saw, and did the sight detest,
An impious hand upon a virgin's breast.
To expiate the fault that hand had done,
Blood runs in torrents from your wounded thumb;
Let this deter you from an act so rude,
Lest serpents sting you, when you next intrude.



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