XXXIV.
For autocrats of old, with treacherous guile,
Had bribed the villain’s soul by sensual wile;
To meanest man a lower drudge assigned,—
With gift of female thrall cajoled the hind;
The stolid churl his servitude forgave
Whilst he in turn was master to a slave;
Through every rank the sexual serfdom ran,
And woman’s life was bound in vassalage to man.