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 | Studies in verse (1865) |  |
But he with an assumed and faltering mien,
Beginning in a snaky deference,
As he that in the new world tempted Eve,
So wrought upon her nature, tone by tone;
The man of subtle brain and selfish aim,
Of large experience, wealth, and intellect,
Acting the scholar to a country girl
To touch the woman instinct vanity;
Mysterious mainspring of that intricate heart
Divine in weakness, that indwelling flaw,
Fault-like, that moves in nobly-natured men
Forbearance, but is pastime to the fiends.
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As he that in the new world tempted Eve,
So wrought upon her nature, tone by tone;
The man of subtle brain and selfish aim,
Of large experience, wealth, and intellect,
Acting the scholar to a country girl
To touch the woman instinct vanity;
Mysterious mainspring of that intricate heart
Divine in weakness, that indwelling flaw,
Fault-like, that moves in nobly-natured men
Forbearance, but is pastime to the fiends.
| Studies in verse (1865) | |