XXIV.
Misread by man, this sign of his misdeed
Was held as symptom of her nubile need,
And on through history’s length her tender age
Has still been victim to his adult rage;
He, by his text, with irony serene,
Banned her resultant “manner” as “unclean”;
The censure base upon himself recoils,
Yet leaves the woman wan and cumbered in his toils.