To shield herself from force of sensual foes;
Impending motherhood might win no rest
Or refuge sacred from the satyr quest;
Unripe maternity, untimely birth,
The woman’s constant dole in those dark days of earth.
XXIII.
Action repeated tends to rhythmic course,
And thus the mischief, due at first to force,
Brought cumulative sequence to the race,
Till habit bred hereditary trace;