Careful Words

virgin (n.)

virgin (adj.)

Virgin me no virgins.

Impatient straight to flesh his virgin sword.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Odyssey of Homer. Book xx. Line 461.

But earthlier happy is the rose distill'd

Than that which withering on the virgin thorn

Grows, lives, and dies in single blessedness.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): A Midsummer Night's Dream. Act i. Sc. 1.