How self-deceitful is the sagest part

Of mortals whom thy lure hath led along!—

The precipice she stood on was immense,

So was her creed in her own innocence.[S]

CVII.

She thought of her own strength, and Juan's youth,

And of the folly of all prudish fears,

Victorious Virtue, and domestic Truth,

And then of Don Alfonso's fifty years:

I wish these last had not occurred, in sooth,