Robert Herrick’s speaker runs through a catalogue of things women do—refusing an offer they secretly crave, fussing endless over dress, painting their cheeks, padding their clothes, nursing suspicions, and skirting the edge of moral slip-ups. Each time, with a smiling shrug, he insists there is “No fault in women.” The tone is wry and teasing, never heavy. You can almost see the speaker’s playful expression as he issues these mock absolutions, because the repeated “No fault” actually highlights the very behaviors it pretends to forgive. The poem builds to a final, knowing wink: “If they but slip, and never fall” gently pardons a sexual stumble as long as it stops short of outright disgrace. The whole piece creates a mood of light, amused affection—less a serious defense than a fond, slightly naughty chuckle at the little vanities and contradictions men love to blame.
NO FAULT IN WOMEN — Summary
No fault in women, to refuse The offer which they most would chuse. --No fault: in women, to confess How tedious they are in their dress; --No fault in women, to lay on The tincture of vermilion; And there to give the cheek a dye Of white, where Nature doth deny. --No fault in women, to make show Of largeness, when they're nothing so; When, true it is, the outside swells With inward buckram, little else. --No fault in women, though they be But seldom from suspicion free; --No fault in womankind at all, If they but slip, and never fall.