“ Even innocence itself has many a wile, And will not dare to trust itself with truth, And love is taught hypocrisy from youth. ”
Lord Byron, Don Juan (1819). copy citation
| Author | Lord Byron |
|---|---|
| Source | Don Juan |
| Topic | hypocrisy youth |
| Date | 1819 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21700/21700-h/21700-h.htm |
Context
“And if she met him, though she smiled no more, She look'd a sadness sweeter than her smile, As if her heart had deeper thoughts in store She must not own, but cherish'd more the while For that compression in its burning core; Even innocence itself has many a wile, And will not dare to trust itself with truth, And love is taught hypocrisy from youth. But passion most dissembles, yet betrays Even by its darkness; as the blackest sky Foretells the heaviest tempest, it displays Its workings through the vainly guarded eye, And in whatever aspect it arrays Itself, 't is still the same hypocrisy;”
source
