Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

EPICOENE; OR, THE SILENT WOMAN: SONG by BEN JONSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: MODEST, AND FAIR, FOR FAIR AND GOOD ARE NEAR
Last Line: I KNOW TO SPEAK, AND SHE TO HOLD HER PEACE.
Modest, and fair, for fair and good are near
Neighbours, howe'er.
No noble virtue ever was alone,
But two in one.
Then, when I praise sweet modesty, I praise
Bright beauty's rays:
And having praised both beauty and modesty,
I have praised thee.
Silence in woman, is like speech in man,
Deny it who can.
Nor, is it a tale,
That female vice should be a virtue male,
Or masculine vice, a female virtue be:
You shall it see
Proved with increase,
I know to speak, and she to hold her peace.



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