Those pretty wrongs that liberty commits,
When I am sometime absent from thy heart,
Thy beauty, and thy years full well befits,
For still temptation follows where thou art.
Gentle thou art, and therefore to be won,
Beauteous thou art, therefore to be assail’d;
And when a woman woos, what woman’s son
Will sourly leave her till he have prevail’d?
Ay me! but yet thou mightst my seat forbear,
And chide thy beauty and thy straying youth,
Who lead thee in their riot even there
Where thou art forced to break a twofold truth:
Hers by thy beauty tempting her to thee,
Thine by thy beauty being false to me.
In plain English
You're beautiful and young, so it makes sense that women pursue you—and when they do, what man wouldn't give in? I can't really blame you for the times you stray from me while I'm away. Beauty like yours naturally draws attention and temptation follows you everywhere.
But here's what bothers me: you could choose to resist. You could push back against your own beauty and youthful appetite that lead you into these betrayals. When you sleep with another woman, you're breaking two promises at once—you're letting her think your beauty is hers alone, and you're breaking faith with me by using that same beauty to deceive me.
