Marriage, at best, is but a vow, 155
Which all men either break or bow: 
Then what will those forbear to do,
Who perjure when they do but woo? 
Such as before-hand swear and lie
For earnest to their treachery; 160
And, rather than a crime confess,
With greater strive to make it less;
Like thieves, who, after sentence past,
Maintain their innocence to the last;
And when their crimes were made appear 165
As plain as witnesses can swear,
Yet, when the wretches come to die,
Will take upon their death a lie,
Nor are the virtues you confest
T’ your ghostly father, as you guest, 170
So slight as to be justify’d
By being as shamefully deny’d,
As if you thought your word would pass
Point-blank on both sides of a case;
Or credit were not to be lost 175
B’ a brave Knight-Errant of the Post,
That eats perfidiously his word,
And swears his ears through a two inch board: 
Can own the same thing, and disown,
And perjure booty, Pro and Con:  180
Can make the Gospel serve his turn,
And help him out, to be forsworn;
When ’tis laid hands upon, and kist,
To be betray’d and sold like Christ. 
These are the virtues in whose name 185
A right to all the world you claim,
And boldly challenge a dominion,
In grace and nature, o’er all women;
Of whom no less will satisfy
Than all the sex your tyranny, 190
Although you’ll find it a hard province,
With all your crafty frauds and covins,
To govern such a num’rous crew,
Who, one by one, now govern you: 
For if you all were Solomons, 195
And wise and great as he was once,
You’ll find they’re able to subdue
(As they did him) and baffle you.

And if you are impos’d upon
’Tis by your own temptation done, 200
That with your ignorance invite;
And teach us how to use the slight. 
For when we find y’ are still more taken
With false attracts of our own making;
Swear that’s a rose, and that a stone, 205
Like sots, to us that laid it on,
And what we did but slightly prime,
Most ignorantly daub in rhime;
You force us, in our own defences,
To copy beams and influences; 210
To lay perfections on the graces,
And draw attracts upon our faces;
And, in compliance to your wit,
Your own false jewels counterfeit. 
For, by the practice of those arts 215
We gain a greater share of hearts;
And those deserve in reason most
That greatest pains and study cost;
For great perfections are, like heaven,
Too rich a present to be given.