The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley

Ah, dire effect of female pride!
How deep our mother's sin, and wide,
Through all her daughters spread!
Since first she pluck'd the mortal tree,
Each woman would a goddess be
In her Creator's stead.

This fatal vanity of mind,
A curse entail'd on all the kind,
Her legacy we feel;
We neither can deny nor tame
Our inbred eagerness for fame,
And stubbornness of will.

The poison spreads throughout our veins,
In all our sex the evil reigns,
The arrogant offence;
In vain we strive the plague to hide;
Our fig-leaves but bewray our pride,
And loss of innocence.

Deeper we sink, and deeper still,
In pride instructed, and self-will,
As custom leads the way:
The world their infant charge receive,
To pleasure our young hearts we give,
And bow to passion's sway.

437

By folly taught, by nature led,
In sensual delicacy bred,
In soft luxurious ease:
A feeble mind and body meet,
And pride and ignorance complete
Our total uselessness.

University of Virginia Library

HYMN LXVII.

PART I.

[Ah, dire effect of female pride!]