He had to deal with—oh, not mother Eve

Alone, permissibly in Paradise

Naked and unashamed,—but dared achieve

Dreadful distinction, at soul-safety's price,

By also painting women—(why the need?)

Just as God made them: there, you have the truth!

Yes, rosed from top to toe in flush of youth,

One foot upon the moss-fringe, would some Nymph

Try, with its venturous fellow, if the lymph

Were chillier than the slab-stepped fountain-edge;